Comparison of contributing factors in hit-and-run crashes with distracted and non-distracted drivers

Among different types of crashes, hit-and-run is driver’s failure to stop after a vehicle crash. There are many accidents where drivers could actually be at fault or totally innocent, and leaving the scene would turn an innocent driver into a criminal. The current paper aims to contribute to the literature by exploring the association of different variables pertaining to the condition of infrastructure, environment, driver, population of the area, and crash severity and type with hit-and-run crashes. The analysis is performed for two data sets: (i) crashes where the driver was distracted; and (ii) crashes where driver was not distracted. Hit-and-run crash data with corresponding factors are police-reported data for crashes within Cook County, Illinois, occurring between 2004 and 2012. A logistic regression model assessed 43 variables within 16 categories for statistically significant association with hit-and-run crashes, for drivers with and without distraction. For both driver distraction statuses, 17 variables were associated with a significant increased probability of a hit-and-run crash and 10 variables were associated with a significant decreased probability. Additionally, it was found that crashes on curve level and curve hillcrest road alignment types were associated with increased likelihood of a hit-and-run crash when the driver was distracted and decreased likelihood when the driver was not distracted. Variables related to hit-and-run crashes vary depending on driver’s distraction status. When comparing likelihood to flee the scene after a crash, non-distracted drivers are 27% less likely to do so compared to distracted drivers.     

Tendency to commit traffic violations and presence of passengers in the car

The present study examined whether the tendency to commit traffic violations differed when drivers were with and without the presence of other persons in the car. One thousand and eight drivers were observed by the road side. The data registered by the observers included estimated age of the driver and the passengers, sex of the driver and number of passengers. Four dependent variables were registered for each driver, which are, wearing seatbelt, signaling, using hand-held cellular phone and keeping the distance from the vehicle in front. It has been found that for both males and females, old and young, a greater proportion of drivers who were alone committed traffic violations as compared to drivers who were not alone. These results are discussed in relation to social influences on drivers and allow insight into how the presence of passengers has an impact on driver behavior and traffic safety.     

Examination of driver detection of roadside traffic signs and advertisements using eye tracking

Research shows that driver factors, particularly driver distraction, are the most common cause of traffic accidents. Among various visual distractions, objects such as advertisements that are commonly prevailing elements at the roadside, represent an important external distractor that may affect driving performance. Research findings on the influence that roadside signs or advertisements have on driver’s attention focus are not consistent. Therefore, with the application of eye-tracking technology, this research was designed to test several assumptions regarding drivers’ detection and perception of roadside elements. Seventeen volunteer participants, 19–76 years old, performed ten kilometres of urban driving, in which they were visually challenged with 56 traffic signs and 31 advertisements. It was found that drivers’ age is not associated with the number of roadside objects detected. Those drivers who detected more traffic signs were also more attentive to visual advertisements. Furthermore, a positive and large effect size between the number of detected street-level and raised-level advertisements was also found.     

Champ et effets de la négation argumentative: contre-argumentation et mise en cause

An argument can be taken as an operation of justification or as the product of this operation. But what about a counter-argument? This article is based on the hypothesis that there exists an operation of argumentative negation, which is both the argumentative and the negative equivalent of the operation of justification. Justification and argumentative negation necessarily act on assertions, for they are active at the level of the epistemic modalities of statements. As an operation, a counter-argument can thus be described, as the application of an argumentative negation; as a product, it can be described as an argument the conclusion of which shows traces of negative modality. Two uses of argumentative negation are distinguished here: counter-argumentation and calling into question. The former can lead only to assertive conclusive statements, but the latter can also lead to directives or commissives. This leads the authors to introduce the notion of pseudo-argument, besides those of argument and counter-argument. It is shown in particular that when a pseudo-argument is rejected, argumentative negation has the effect of making evident an underlying argument. With respect to the latterit functions as a counter-argumentation, whereas with respect to the illocutionary act accomplished by the conclusive statement, it functions as a calling into question of a condition of satisfaction for this act. This article also defines certain characteristics of argument, proposes criteria for identifying argumentative negation in polemical conversations, and distinguishes four modes of counter-argumentation.     

Choice by rats for enriched versus standard home cages: Plastic pipes, wood platforms, wood chips, and paper towels as enrichment items

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether simple additions to the home cages of rats made those cages preferable to standard housing arrangements. Results indicated that most rats preferred cages with wood platforms, wood chips, and paper towels to otherwise identical cages without these items. Wood chips were not, however, practical with the cages used in the present study. Plastic pipes caused no problems but were not preferred by most animals. Both wood platforms and paper towels created no problems and appeared to be useful as enrichment items. The latter were preferred to the former in a direct comparison.     

The differences in hazard response time and driving styles of violation-involved and violation-free taxi drivers

The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between taxi drivers’ traffic violations in past driving and two domains: driving skill (hazard perception skill) and driving style. Five hundred and fifty taxi drivers aged 25 – 59 were recruited to finish a video-based hazard perception test and the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI). The relationships between hazard response time, driving style and traffic violations were examined, and the differences in hazard response times and driving styles of violation-involved drivers (n = 220) and violation-free drivers (n = 330) were compared. The results showed that taxi drivers’ traffic violations are closely related to their driving styles and hazard response time. Violation-involved drivers scored significantly higher in hazard response time and maladaptive driving styles (i.e., anxious, risky and angry styles) and lower in careful driving style than violation-free drivers. More importantly, drivers’ hazard response time and driving styles can effectively predict their violation involvement in the last 12 months with an overall classification accuracy of 66.4%. The findings provide evidence for the usefulness of video-based hazard perception tests and the MDSI in taxi driver testing and training.     

Gender differences in the use of ADAS technologies: A systematic review

BackgroundIn recent years, Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) have been significantly progressed, opening novel horizons in reducing traffic accidents. Driver gender can be an affecting factor in the utilization of these systems. The purpose of this study is to review articles examining the effect of gender on the use of ADAS technologies.MethodsThis systematic review was conducted in Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed databases using defined key-words in 2018. The retrieved articles were managed and screened through PRISMA-P protocol using EndNote X7 software. The extracted variables were divided into three categories of reaction, behavior, and outcome and also the relevant subgroups. The results for each subgroup were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed to obtain a definite conclusion for each category.ResultsTotally, 1039 articles were retrieved from which 27 were included. The analysis of results in reaction category indicated that in almost all of the variables, there was no significant difference between male and female drivers. In the behavior category, gender showed a significant effect on variables within the subgroups of driving speed, longitudinal distance, and lateral motion. The gender had also significant effect on the variables of the outcome category.ConclusionsThe present review showed that there was no significant difference between male and female drivers in reaction to sudden traffic events alarmed by warning systems. However, in terms of driving behavior, males behaved more dangerous than female. The findings also revealed that the number of crashes in critical situations was higher for female drivers.     

Analysis of the occurrence and severity of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts in marked and unmarked crosswalks through naturalistic driving study

BackgroundAlthough many studies have been conducted on the safety of pedestrian crossings, few researches have been focused on drivers' behavior in unmarked crosswalk and marked crosswalk areas. Considering that statistics of pedestrian accidents are not the same in the two types of crossing area, based on the last report of the World Health Organization, it is very critical to evaluate driver yielding behavior to determine the differences in the actions of drivers when encountering pedestrians in the two areas.MethodsThis study was conducted based on surrogate measures of safety (SMoS) collected through a Naturalistic Driving Study on 52 participants in Iran. The study was carried out from April 2017 to April 2018 using the installation of cameras in the private vehicle of the participants. The analysis of the recorded films showed that 956 conflicts have occurred in unmarked crosswalks and 392 conflicts in marked crosswalks, respectively.ResultsA model was developed for driver yielding behavior using binary logistic regression, and showed that yielding rates in unmarked crosswalsk were about fifty percent of the yielding rates in marked crosswalks. Based on the model, it is indicated that the aggressive behavior of pedestrians during the crossing, such as running, zigzag and diagonal crossing, as well as the late detection of pedestrians by drivers resulting from high-speed driving in the unmarked crossing areas, will reduce the yielding behavior rate. Also, using the Swedish traffic conflicts technique, the severity of the conflicts was classified into four general categories: encounter, potential, slight, and serious conflict, through 30 different levels on the basis of conflicting speed and time to the accident. The results showed that pedestrians behavior during conflicts of the group “encounter” and drivers’ behavior during conflicts of the groups of “potential”, “slight” and “serious”, were the principal factors in preventing collision through an evasive maneuver. The results showed that increasing the level of conflict severity, which indicates an increase of the conflicting speed and a decrease of the time remaining to point of a possible collision with pedestrian, causes drivers to yield a harsh-maneuver to prevent collision. Soft-maneuvers such as deceleration and acceleration, as well as harsh-maneuvers such as changing the lane/stop during conflicts were most driver yielding behavior during conflict groups of slight and serious. According to the results of the analysis, the behavior of drivers in marked crossing areas is better than in the unmarked crossing area, leading to safer crossing for pedestrians.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the significant differences in driver yielding behavior in the two areas is due to the late detection of pedestrians by drivers and also the less proper action by them in unmarked crosswalk areas. Thus, the probability of accidents in Unmarked Crossing areas is higher than in marked crossing areas. Consequently, the design of improved advanced driver assistance systems to identify the risk of pedestrian accident may improve the driver yielding behavior and thus increase the safety of pedestrians.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes in transportation research: A literature review

Dual-Process Models of Attitudes (DPMA) have provided new concepts and methods for attitude-behavior research in the field of transportation. Notwithstanding, there is a lack of critical reviews on this topic; leaving researchers with an unclear picture of the key issues to consider in developing new research. This paper reviews previous studies on DPMA in traffic and transportation research. A systematic review of English and non-English language articles using Transport Research International Documentation (TRID) as main database was conducted. Additional studies were identified by searching in ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. A total of 1674 references were revised. Twenty-eight articles met the inclusion criteria. Four central issues were examined: (a) the role of implicit and explicit attitudes in transport behavior, (b) the degree of relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes, (c) the types of measures used to assess implicit attitudes, and (d) the malleability of implicit attitudes. The review has identified that: (a) implicit attitudes were associated with a wide variety of transport-related behavior, (b) implicit and explicit attitudes were weakly correlated (mean correlation, weighted by sample size was r = 0.11), and little knowledge exists on factors moderating the implicit-explicit relationship, (c) the evidence on the indirect measures’ better resistance to social desirability bias as compared with traditional techniques is scant and inconclusive, (d) some studies exhibit problems in the application of indirect measures, and (e) few studies (n = 2) aimed to evaluate interventions for attitude change. The analysis showed the sustained growth of the applications, the potential of DPMA, and the need for more rigorous research. Most studies of area do not consider the theoretical and methodological shortcomings of the DPMA, and tend to be based on a controversial notion of implicit and explicit attitudes.