Child restraint system use in the United Arab Emirates

ObjectiveDeaths and injuries among infants due to traffic crashes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are very high when compared to other countries. An efficient way to improve the safety of children in moving vehicles is to use Child Restraint Systems (CRS) to hold the child during any possible collision. The aim of this study is to estimate the rate of CRS use among children under the age of five in UAE, to determine demographic characteristics that affect CRS use, such as parent’s age, and education level, and to assess parents’ perceptions and knowledge of this issue.MethodsA roadside observational study was done in two of the seven emirates that constitute UAE, involving 1000 randomly taken observations. Also, a questionnaire was randomly distributed to a sample of 494 parents of children under the age of five.ResultsResults of the observational study show that 16.7% of parents restrain their children in moving motor vehicles. Questionnaire results show that approximately 9% of respondents reported not or rarely restraining their children in moving motor vehicles. Also, 3.4% of them indicated their disbelief in the importance of CRS in reducing harm in case of a crash. Moreover, questionnaire results indicate that young, less educated and male parents reported lower use rate and have less belief in the importance of CRS use in harm reduction in crashes than other groups of parents.ConclusionsCRS use in UAE is very low and awareness of its importance needs to be improved. Based on the results, practical suggestions are put forward to increase CRS use rate and improve safety conditions for this group of road users.     

Sharing is (s)caring? Interactions between buses and bicyclists on bus lanes shared with bicyclists

This paper presents the results of an observation study of interactions between bicyclists and buses on shared bus lanes. The aim of the paper is to analyse bicyclists’ safety on bus lanes shared with bicyclists. Straight sections of two bus lanes shared with bicyclists in Belgium are observed. All interactions between bicyclists and buses over two full weeks are recorded and analysed. Additionally, the lateral position and riding speed of bicyclists that are in interaction with buses are compared with the behaviour of bicyclists that are not in interaction with buses. One of the observed bus lanes is in line with road design guidelines in a number of countries that state that a sufficiently narrow bus lane (<3.5 m) is hypothesised to be safer than a somewhat wider bus lane; the other observed bus lane is deemed too wide according to these guidelines and is hypothesised to lead to close overtaking manoeuvres.The results show that close interactions between bicyclists and buses are relatively frequent on both types of analysed bus lanes. Close overtaking manoeuvres (a bus overtakes a bicyclist with a lateral distance less than 1 m) as well as close bicycle-following situations (a bus drives behind a bicyclist with a time gap less than 2 s) are quite common on both analysed bus lanes. The analyses could not confirm the hypothesis that a sufficiently narrow bus lane is safer than a wider bus lane. On the contrary, close interactions seem even slightly more common on the narrower bus lane. Slightly more close overtaking manoeuvres take place on the narrower bus lane, but the difference is not statistically significant. Additionally, more bicycle-following situations take place on the narrower bus lane because overtaking is more difficult. The results show that buses often maintain a close time gap in these situations. The overtaking speed of the buses is, however, significantly higher on the wider bus lane compared to the narrower one.Moreover, the presence of a bus has an influence on the behaviour of bicyclists. Bicyclists who get overtaken by a bus ride more closely to the edge of the road than bicyclists who are not in interaction with a bus. While the road design guidelines assume that bicyclists take up a width of one meter from the edge on bus lanes shared with bicyclists, the observations show that bicyclists take up much less space while being overtaken. The presence of a bus does not have a significant influence on the standard deviation of the lateral position of the bicyclist. On the narrower bus lane, some findings suggest that bicyclists who are involved in an interaction with a bus ride faster than bicyclists who are not involved in an interaction with a bus.     

Développement des collectifs de travail et développement de la sécurité : une étude sur les décisions à risque en anesthésie

This article highlights the collective dimensions of risk management for patients before an anesthesia. After a phase of observation of real activity, interviews were conducted with 20 anesthetists from two French hospitals. The analysis reveals interindividual diversity in practices. This diversity is explained by the inclusion, in decisions, of knowledge about “distributed” skills in the team and about local “shared practice”. The results establish a link between the site where the anesthetists are working and the choice of an anesthetic technique. They also show that the positioning of anesthetist vis-à-vis the “shared practice” is significantly related to their seniority in the profession. These results open perspectives for research and intervention for the joint development of collective work and safety.     

自动化信任和依赖对航空安全的危害及其改进

自动化系统在现今航空业中得到了广泛应用,然而复杂的自动化系统的引入产生了新的失误模式,使航空人因安全问题变得更加突出。受多种因素影响,操作者在与自动化系统的交互过程中并不总能达到适度的信任校准水平。非适度自动化信任和依赖引发了严重的航空安全事故。值得欣慰的是,以人为中心的自动化显示设计和训练能够将非适度自动化信任和依赖调整到适度状态。     

Teaching preschool children to avoid poison hazards

We evaluated the effectiveness of group safety training and in situ feedback and response interruption to teach preschool children to avoid consuming potentially hazardous substances. Three children ingested ambiguous substances during a baited baseline assessment condition and continued to ingest these substances following group safety training. In situ feedback and response interruption resulted in a decrease in opening ambiguous containers; this decrease was maintained when ambiguous novel containers were presented and when assessments occurred in a novel setting and with a novel experimenter. For 2 children, these gains were also maintained during a brief follow-up period. Twelve children did not ingest ambiguous substances prior to training, and group safety training did not evoke inappropriate ingestion.     

飞行管理态度对航线飞行驾驶行为规范性的影响

在对航线飞行管理态度量表进行验证性因素分析的基础上,通过对飞行员航线飞行中所表现出的驾驶行为规范性水平的实时评估, 着重探讨了飞行管理态度与航线飞行员驾驶舱操作行为规范性水平之间的关系。结果表明： （1）由基本组织态度、驾驶舱工作态度和自动化驾驶态度所构成的航线飞行管理态度量表三因素结构模型具有良好的拟合效果和较高的信、效度,达到了心理计量学的标准。（2）基本组织态度中的组织信任度和工作满意度分别对驾驶舱工作态度和自动化驾驶态度产生显著影响,但并不直接影响飞行员的驾驶行为,而驾驶舱工作态度和自动化驾驶态度两个因素对航线飞行驾驶行为的规范性有显著影响。研究提示,基本组织态度通过驾驶舱工作态度和自动化驾驶态度间接影响驾驶行为的规范性。因此,驾驶舱工作态度和自动化驾驶态度构成了影响航线飞行员驾驶行为规范性的两个重要中介变量。研究为中国文化背景下的航空安全文化特征诊断和CRM训练奠定了一定的工作基础     

Field operational test of a seatbelt reminder system: Effects on driver behaviour and acceptance

The long-term effects on driver behaviour and acceptance of a seatbelt reminder system were examined in an on-road study. The system was capable of detecting seatbelt use in all seating positions and produced a two-stage visual and auditory warning if occupants were unrestrained. The effects of this system were evaluated alone and in combination with two other intelligent transport systems: intelligent speed adaptation and a following distance warning system. Twenty-three fleet car drivers drove an instrumented vehicle (SafeCar) for at least 16,500 km as part of their everyday driving. The results revealed that driver and passenger interaction with the seatbelt reminder system led to large and significant decreases in the percentage of trips where occupants were unbelted, in the percentage of total driving time spent unbelted, and in the time taken to fasten a seatbelt in response to system warnings. The seatbelt reminder system was rated by drivers as being useful, effective and socially acceptable, and led to a decrease in drivers’ subjective workload. These results were found even though the baseline pre-exposure seatbelt wearing compliance rates among participants were high.     

辅助生殖技术与女性生殖系统肿瘤的关系及其辩证思考

辅助生殖技术给不孕患者带来了希望,为肿瘤患者保留了生育能力,另一方面也可能导致女性生殖系统肿瘤和一系列伦理学问题。因此,用哲学的观点客观地看待辅助生殖技术与女性生殖系统肿瘤发生风险之间的关系,将有助于临床医生进一步提高辅助生殖技术安全性的认识,选择最佳的促排卵方案。     

上司不当督导对下属建言行为的影响及其作用机制

采用问卷调查法, 以广州、深圳、长沙以及青岛等地区企事业单位的504名员工为被试, 探讨了上司不当督导对下属建言行为的影响及其内在作用机制。结果表明: (1) 不当督导对促进性建言和抑制性建言均具有显著的负向影响; (2) 组织支持感在不当督导与促进性建言之间具有完全中介效应, 组织支持感和心理安全感在不当督导与抑制性建言之间起完全中介作用; (3) 上司地位知觉对不当督导与组织支持感的关系, 以及“不当督导→组织支持感→促进性建言”、“不当督导→组织支持感→抑制性建言”、“不当督导→心理安全感→抑制性建言”三个中介链的效应和不当督导对抑制性建言的总效应均具有显著的调节作用, 当下属知觉到的上司地位越高时, 上述关系及效应也越强。     

Lessons learned from pedestrian-driver communication and yielding patterns

Understanding the hidden patterns of tacit communication between drivers and pedestrians is crucial for improving pedestrian safety. However, this type of communication is a result of the psychological processes of both pedestrians and drivers, which are very difficult to understand thoroughly. This study utilizes a naturalistic field study dataset and explores the hidden patterns from successful and failed communication events using a pattern recognition method known as Taxicab Correspondence Analysis (TCA). The successful communication scenarios indicate the combinations of variable attributes such as eye contact, facial expression, the assertion of crossing, and effective traffic control devices are strongly associated with successful scenarios. The patterns for failed scenarios are most likely to be on the roadway with a relatively higher speed limit (e.g., 35 mph) and a relatively lower speed limit (e.g., 15 mph) under different conditions. On roadways with a higher speed limit, the failed scenarios are highly associated with passive and undecisive pedestrians, pedestrians far away from the crosswalk, regardless of pedestrian-driver eye contact and facial expression of the pedestrians. Instead of waiting for pedestrians to making a crossing decision, overspeeding drivers are more likely to speed up and pass the crosswalk. On roadways with a lower speed limit, the failed scenarios are often associated with distracted pedestrians, vehicles having the right of way, and the absence of effective traffic control devices. These findings could help transportation agencies identify appropriate countermeasures to reduce pedestrian crashes. The findings on driver-pedestrian communication patterns could provide scopes for improvement in computer vision-based algorithms designed for autonomous vehicle industries.