Gun attitudes on campus: United and divided by safety needs

All people share a need for safety. Yet people’s pursuit of safety can conflict when it comes to guns, with some people perceiving guns as a means to safety and others perceiving guns as a threat to safety. We examined this conflict on a U.S. college campus that prohibits guns. We distinguished between people (N = 11,390) who (1) own a gun for protection, (2) own a gun exclusively for reasons other than protection (e.g., collecting, sports), and (3) do not own a gun. Protection owners felt less safe on campus and supported allowing guns on campus. They also reported that they and others would feel safer and that gun violence would decrease if they carried a gun on campus. Non-owners and non-protection owners felt the reverse. The findings suggest that protection concerns, rather than gun-ownership per se, account for diverging perceptions and attitudes about guns and gun control.     

Designing road safety interventions for young drivers – The power of peer influence

Peer passengers are associated with risky driving behaviour and increased collision rate in young drivers, but the mechanism by which young drivers are influenced by their peers is not well understood. Here we report two studies that explore the effect of peer influence on young drivers. The first explored the relationship between susceptibility to peer influence and young drivers’ engagement in risky driving behaviour. 163 young drivers completed self-report measures of risky driving behaviour and susceptibility to different forms of peer influence. Results showed that young drivers who were influenced by their peers to attain social prestige and through peers intervening in their decisions committed more driving violations. The second study sought to utilise the susceptibility of young drivers to peer influence by using peers to design and deliver a safety intervention, following the ‘U in the Driver Seat’ model from the US. When compared to a traditional fear appeal and a control, the peer intervention group reported safer attitudes and intentions to drive safely at follow-up. Together these studies provide insight into how peers influence young drivers’ risky behaviour, and support the notion of using peer education tools in young driver safety interventions.     

Cyclist efficiency and its dependence on infrastructure and usual speed

Bicyclists are a heterogeneous group, with varying abilities, traffic education and experience. While efficiency was identified as an important factor on utility bicycle trips, it might be traded for experienced safety, for example by choosing different pathways in a given situation, or by relinquishing one’s right of way. In a semi-controlled study with 41 participants, a grouping was made according to self-reported riding speed in relation to other cyclists. The participants cycled twice along a 3 km inner-city route, passing four intersections with different priority rules. The cyclists were free to choose how to negotiate the intersections. Speed and the traffic surroundings were recorded via gps and cameras on the bike of the participant and of a following experimenter. For each cyclist, the ‘base’ speed on undisturbed segments was determined as reference. Based on this, the efficiency in different types of intersections was computed per cyclist group. It turned out that infrastructural aspects, cyclist group and the presence and behaviour of interacting traffic influenced cyclist efficiency. Faster cyclists were delayed more when the infrastructure required a stop regardless of the traffic situation, like at a red traffic light or a stop sign. The members of the so-called ‘comfort cyclists’ group were delayed the most in a roundabout with mixed traffic, where many chose to get off their bike and walk. In a society working for equality of access to the transport system, it is recommended to develop solutions that consider and accommodate the behaviours of different cyclist groups when planning bicycling infrastructure.     

患者参与患者安全的国内外研究分析

患者是患者安全的主体和核心,保证患者安全,不仅是医护人员和医疗机构的责任,同时需要患者的参与。自1999年美国医学研究院发表了《孰能无错,构建更为安全的卫生保健体系》报告后,患者安全首次成为学术组织、公众媒体关注的焦点,其相关研究如雨后春笋般涌现,包括患者参与患者安全的研究。     

Safe and unsafe school spaces: Comparing elementary school student perceptions to common ecological interventions and operationalizations

There is a burgeoning literature on school safety in the United States. Often, researchers determine the problem and intervention. Few studies, however, examine how students understand school safety. In this study, elementary school students in the United States (n = 225) marked safe and unsafe school places; this was correlated with other commonly used school safety measures. Results indicate that children have different perceptions of safety based on school location. Additionally, for older children, unsafe places correlated with injury data, adult absence and low levels of territoriality. For younger children, unsafe places were associated with adult absence and referrals. Safe places were places that were more likely to have an adult. Results bring into question some common safety interventions. Implications include working with children to determine what is meant by ‘safe’ and interventions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大学时期早期的通识伦理教育

通识教育的目的在于建立人的主体性,以完成人之自我解放,并与所互为之人文及自然环境建立生存主体性的关系.通识教育可区分为核心课程与一般课程两个层次.伦理是教养之大成,医学伦理是医者把认知、发展与修养在医患关系上的努力.动之以情,说之以理,诉立以法,是通识伦理教育的一般方法.     

活体肝移植与供体安全

等候移植的病人增多和可用器官短缺,是我们目前所面临的主要问题。为降低等候期间的死亡率,活体肝移植(LDLT)是一种不错的选择,但其前提是要确保供体的安全。尽管活体肝移植术对供体而言是安全可行的,然而供体所发生的严重并发症、甚至死亡则是我们所不应忽视和低估的。     

Surrogate safety indicator for unsignalised pedestrian crossings

ProblemAlthough the road safety situation in Poland is generally improving, the number of accidents at pedestrian crossings has not decreased in the last four years. This paper presents the results of the MOBIS research project, the aim of which was to develop surrogate safety indicators, based on detection of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts using video analysis.MethodPedestrian and vehicle traffic was filmed at two unsignalised pedestrian zebra crossings in Warsaw and Wrocław for over 40 days. Motion trajectories of vehicles and pedestrians were determined based on video processing. Several variables describing pedestrian-vehicle interactions were calculated, such as speed, post-encroachment time, distance between the participants, decelerations, etc. Classification of encounters was based on interactions of pedestrians and vehicles i.e. drivers yielding to pedestrians, vehicles passing just in front of, or behind pedestrians.Results and discussionCriteria for identification of dangerous encounters were selected with the assumption that it should be possible to automate the assessment process. The selected variables were: pedestrian-vehicle passing distance and the vehicle speed at that moment. Other criteria were used in cases of abrupt braking – deceleration exceeding 4 m/s² and vehicle speed. A Dangerous Encounter Index is proposed as a surrogate safety indicator for pedestrian crossings. It relates the occurrence of dangerous events to exposure, defined as the number of pedestrian-vehicle encounters.Practical applicationsThe proposed index shows that crossing two lanes involves more risk than crossing one lane, given similar traffic flow. Some improvement of safety at both types of crossing was observed after active signage involving blinking lights had been introduced. The proposed method is a step towards automation of safety assessment.     

Motivating signage prompts safety belt use among drivers exiting senior communities

Senior drivers are vulnerable to automobile crashes and subsequent injury and death. Safety belts reduce health risks associated with auto crashes. Therefore, it is important to encourage senior drivers to wear safety belts while driving. Using an AB design, replicated five times, we evaluated the short- and long-term effects of a sign with the message "BUCKLE UP, STAY SAFE" attached to a stop sign at the exits of five different senior communities. Safety belt use was stable during two pretreatment assessments averaged across the five sites and 250 drivers (72% and 68% usage), but significantly increased following installation of these signs (94% usage). Six months after installation of the signs, the effect persisted (88% usage). Use of such signs may be a cost-effective way of promoting safety belt use.