Accidents, Traffic ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Motor Vehicles ; Security Measures ; statistics & numerical data

OBJECTIVES: Fatigue is a primary human factor for decreased job performance in the workplace. It is well documented that drowsiness is a typical symptom of fatigue and is closely associated with commercial drivers'safety and well-being. However, few studies have been conducted to develop or validate fatigue symptom instruments for a working population. The main purpose of this study was to develop a general fatigue checklist and a driving fatigue checklist for Korean commercial drivers. METHODS: A total of 287 bus drivers in a commercial transportation company participated in a self-administered survey that was designated Study 1. Based on the statistical results of Study 1, a focus meeting with 16 professional consultants was conducted to revise the fatigue symptom instrument for Study 2. In Study 2, 288 commercial drivers (156 bus drivers and 132 truck drivers) participated in the revised questionnaire survey. All collected responses were entered into a SPSS worksheet and the data analysis was conducted using SPSS software 11.1. The exploratory factor analysis used in this study followed the principle component factoring rule and the varimax rotation method for factor extraction. The criteria for item selection were an Eigen value of 1.0 or greater, a communality score of .50 or greater, and no 'fence rider'property over the extracted factors. RESULTS: Through Study 1, the consultant meeting, and Study 2, a general fatigue checklist was developed with a total of 3 factors and 11 items, and a driving fatigue checklist was developed with 2 factors and 10 items. The 3 factors of the general fatigue checklist were physical fatigue, psychological fatigue, and chronic tiredness. The two factors of the driving fatigue checklist were physical fatigue and perceptive and functional fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: The primary contents of general fatigue were different from those of driving fatigue according to the two fatigue instrument factors developed in this study. The primary fatigue symptoms of the commercial driving population were identified as physical fatigue and perceptive and functional fatigue.
Checklist* ; Consultants ; Fatigue* ; Humans ; Motor Vehicles ; Questionnaires ; Sleep Stages ; Statistics as Topic ; Transportation

PURPOSE: Vehicle-pedestrian conflicts are common at road intersections when traffic lights change. However, the impact of traffic light on transportation safety and efficiency remains poorly understood. METHODS: A two-stage study was used to survey the proportion of intersections with conflicting traffic lights and the related transportation efficiency and safety were evaluated as well. First, a cross-sectional study estimated the proportion of signalized intersections with conflicting left-turning vehicle-pedestrian traffic lights in Changsha city, China. Second, a natural experiment compared transportation efficiency and safety between intersections with and without conflicting left-turning vehicle-pedestrian traffic lights. Risky conflicts, where motor vehicles violated laws and failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalk were used as a surrogate for transportation safety. The number of motor vehicles and pedestrians passing through the intersections per second and per meter were used to estimate transportation efficiency. Data were collected and analyzed in 2015 (from March to December). A search of online news from domestic media sources was also conducted to collect pedestrian injury data occurring at the intersections. RESULTS: About one-fourth (57/216) intersections had conflicting left-turning traffic lights (95% CI: 20.5%, 32.3%). Risky vehicle-pedestrian conflicts were more frequently observed at intersections with conflicting lights compared to those without (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 3.13; pedestrians: IRR = 4.02), after adjusting for type of day (weekday vs. weekend), the time period of observation, and motor vehicles traffic flow. Intersections without conflicting vehicle-pedestrian traffic lights had similar transportation efficiency to those with conflicting lights after controlling for covariates (p > 0.05). The systematic review of news media reports yielded 10 left-turning vehicle-pedestrian crash events between 2011 and 2017, involving 11 moderate or severe pedestrian injuries and 3 fatal pedestrian injuries. CONCLUSION Over one-fourth of road intersections in Changsha city, China have conflicting left-turning traffic lights. Conflicting traffic lights cannot improve transportation efficiency, but increase risky conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians.
Accidents, Traffic ; prevention & control ; statistics & numerical data ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Motor Vehicles ; statistics & numerical data ; Pedestrians ; statistics & numerical data ; Safety ; Time Factors ; Wounds and Injuries ; epidemiology

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motor Vehicles ; Occupational Health ; Physical Examination ; statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between pedestrian traffic accidents and the type of vehicles and summarize the characteristics. METHODS: Ninety cases of pedestrian traffic accidents were reviewed, and the relationship between the types of vehicles and the injuries (site, feature and severity) were analyzed. RESULTS: Different impact injuries were caused by different types of vehicles. The primary sites of the impact injuries depended on the body posture and the height of protruding parts of the front when the accident happened. The injury characteristics were related to the size, direction of acting force and contact surface. CONCLUSION The analysis of position, feature, and severity of pedestrian injury can determine the type of injury vehicle.
Accidents, Traffic/statistics & numerical data* ; Female ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Male ; Motor Vehicles ; Posture ; Sickness Impact Profile ; Walking ; Wounds and Injuries/mortality*

OBJECTIVETo describe the epidemiological characteristics of nonfatal child pedestrian injuries and provide information to help understand an important public-health problem.

METHODSThis was a school-based, cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The sample (42 750 children) was obtained from two urban cities of Guangdong Province, China, using multi-stage randomized sampling. Information was collected by the respondents self-reporting in the classroom.

RESULTSThe incidence rate of nonfatal child pedestrian injuries in the cities was 2.0%. Boys had a higher incidence rate (2.6%) than girls (1.4%). Compared to other children, those aged 10 years are at the highest risk. The primary places of occurrence were sidewalks, residential roads, and crosswalks. High-risk behavior of the children immediately prior to injury included mid-block crossings, playing on roads, and crossing on red lights. The major vehicles that caused pedestrian injuries were bicycles, car or vans, and motorcycles. Bruises, fractures, and injuries to the internal organs were the top three types of injuries. Almost 40% of victims were hospitalized, and nearly 30% of the victims suffered long-term disabilities.

CONCLUSIONThis study shows that nonfatal child pedestrian injuries are a very serious public-health problem in the urban cities of Guangdong. Based on the epidemiological characteristics, prevention strategies and further research should be carried out to reduce the occurrence of injuries.

Accident Prevention ; methods ; Accidents, Traffic ; prevention & control ; statistics & numerical data ; Animals ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Data Collection ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Motor Vehicles ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population ; statistics & numerical data ; Wounds and Injuries ; epidemiology

OBJECTIVETo explore the pattern of road traffic injuries (RTI) in China and to furnish evidence to formulate strategy and measures to improve RTI.

METHODSUsing the data from the National Statistical Office, Ministry of Communications and the Traffic Administration bureau, factors as the time trends, features and risk factors of RTI were analysed for all provinces in China.

RESULTSOver the past 51 years, RTI have increased more than 100-fold. The fatality rate of RTI was up to 8.51 per 100 000 population in 2001, almost doubled for the past ten years. In the past decade, the deaths of RTI always held in the front fifth rank in Guangdong, Shandong and Zhejiang. Calculating mortal coefficient (MC) to evaluate the severity of RTI, Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Ningxia and Gansu stood the worst. The 26 - 45 years age-group represented the majority of all fatalities and overall casualties, and the age-group over 65-year olds having an increased trend in China. The main risk factors of RTI were road quality, motorization, volume of traffic transportation, maldriving and the behaviors of pedestrians.

CONCLUSIONSThe main means to reduce RTI would include: improving road traffic environment, setting road safety rules and securing compliance, changing perception, understanding and practice traffic safety.

Accidents, Traffic ; mortality ; statistics & numerical data ; trends ; Adult ; Automobile Driving ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motor Vehicles ; Motorcycles ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Wounds and Injuries ; epidemiology ; etiology ; mortality

OBJECTIVE: To analyze epidemiological characteristics of road traffic accidents that resulted in injuries in Chengdu area, to find out the cause and to provide scientific a base for accident prevention. METHODS: Appraisal data of the injured in road traffic accident from January 2003 to October 2006 were re-examined. Detailed statistics were made which include gender, age, transportation mode, person types, the accident date and day, and location. RESULTS: Six thousand three hundred and sixty four cases involving road traffic accident were analyzed. Among the injured, male to female ratio was 1.84:1, and the age group of 18-50 were the largest proportion (66.34%). Bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians made up 80.90% of the injured persons. Different age groups, different genders and those who were injured in different regions varied greatly in terms of transport modes they employed. In terms of injured parts, lower limb injury took up the highest proportion (39.49%), with cranium & cerebrum ranking second (22.77%). CONCLUSION Different approaches and measures shall be taken in regard to different age groups, different regions, different times and different transport modes, and corresponding policies shall be adopted.
Accidents, Traffic/statistics & numerical data* ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Lower Extremity/injuries* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motor Vehicles/statistics & numerical data* ; Multiple Trauma/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Distribution ; Time Factors ; Wounds and Injuries/epidemiology* ; Young Adult