European TeleFOT project: Benefit-cost analysis for SatNav and EcoDrive technologies

Calculation of benefit-cost-ratios (BCRs) is a commonly used methodology by governments in determining the need for future regulation. This study was undertaken as part of the European Commission’s field trial TeleFOT program provided new findings on the likely benefit-cost safety and environmental outcomes for satellite navigation (SatNav) and (EcoDrive) technologies in Europe. The findings showed that for a range of scenarios, the best benefit-cost-ratio for SatNav was markedly above its economic cost (BCR>1). While a BCR for EcoDrive could not be calculated because of missing data, the fitment rates required to achieve a breakeven outcome were quite achievable. The figures for the worst scenario outcomes were less impressive, generally failing to achieve break-even (BCRs less than one) or required higher fitment rates. BCRs for both technologies combined showed ratios between 3.16 and 2.78, assuming a 5% EcoDrive fitment rate

Analysis of injuries to young and old Victorian public transport users: 2006-2010

A study was undertaken to identify injurious events to users of public transport systems in Australia to assist in the UK project on Improving the Safety for Older Public Transport Users. Two analyses were undertaken comprising an analysis of surveillance data (the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset), collected at a number of participating trauma hospitals in the state of Victoria, and an analysis of National Coronial Information System (NCIS) data in Australia. For the VEMD database, details of injuries were recorded on attendance and the patients’ account of the circumstances of the accident and causation factors were noted. Data from the NCIS involved a collection of coronial data on deaths reported to the Australian coroner from 2000 onwards and contains details on the police report of death, autopsy reports, toxicology reports and coronial findings. The VEMD results showed that injury was more common among bus passengers than those on either trams or trains, especially when taking account of their relatively lower usage. The most common injuries from these incidents were to the head and face regions and upper and lower limbs. Chest injuries were especially problematic for older travellers: they sustained more multiple injuries especially those likely to be life-threatening than their younger counterparts. Getting on or off the vehicle accounted for almost two-thirds of all injury-causing events and the most common mechanisms involved a slip, trip or fall while getting on and off the vehicle or while onboard or running to catch public transport. Being hit, struck or crushed by another person or an object was also reported. Injuries to older public transport users appeared to be positively correlated with increasing age. The majority of those injured only required out-patient treatment at the participating hospital but this too was somewhat dependent on the participant’s age. The NCIS results further showed that for fatal outcomes to public transport users, self-harm was a predominant cause and older people seemed less involved than younger ones, albeit young-older groups. Males predominated over females and most mechanisms involved external impacts. Trains were heavily over-involved as a vehicle type and there were high proportions of multiple injuries, especially those judged to be intentional. A range of possible interventions to prevent these events and mitigate injury severity was identified and a number of limitations in this study were noted. Several areas requiring further research were identified for future studies, in particular, the need for more definitive in-depth studies of public transport injurious incidents was especially noteworthy

Challenges of using the bus as an older person

The UK public transport system is generally considered to be safe. However, annually around 6,000 people are reported to be injured whilst using buses with more than 400 persons killed or seriously injured. Approximately 50% of those injured or killed are aged over 65 years. Free travel on buses has allowed senior citizens the freedom to travel for pleasure and social inclusion, but injuries or near-falls that may occur during the journey can impact on future decisions to travel leading to anxiety/fear of sustaining further injury, loss of personal mobility and ultimately social isolation. A study was undertaken to examine the general safety of older bus users. It explored injury type and causation and proposed design interventions for injury prevention with an objective of exploring how public transport use could possibly be made safer. Consultations were also undertaken with stakeholders which revealed the perceived need for better data systems. Industry stakeholders supported the concept of national injury surveillance databases that could enhance bus safety and inform policy and procedures. Older bus passengers enjoyed the freedom that ‘free’ travel brought to their everyday lives and this social impact dominated discussions with them. However, many had witnessed near-falls and ‘stumbling’ and some had experienced this type of event. However interestingly, many did not report these events to the drivers and accepted that it was an everyday occurrence. None of the interviewees normally asked drivers to wait for them to sit down after they had boarded the bus before the bus moved - but also complained that the drivers were not obliging in this regard. Further to this, observation studies revealed that many older passengers were standing up to alight for a considerable length of time prior to the bus stopping at their individual stops thereby significantly increasing their chances of falling

A preliminary evaluation of passenger airbag effectiveness in Australia

A preliminary case-control study of passenger airbag deployments in frontal crashes (in which a passenger was present) was undertaken. The study was conducted as part of an on-going study of vehicle crash performance and occupant injury at Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC). The results of this preliminary study suggest that the US experience of fatalities caused by interaction of the passenger with the deploying airbag is not shared in Australia. This is probably because the seat-belt use in this study was 100%. These preliminary results reinforce the view that such airbags should be used as supplementary restraint systems. Further studies are planned to monitor the performance of passenger-airbags and to provide more in-depth analyses when more data become available

The effectiveness of airbags in Australia as determined by in-depth crash injury research

This study presents some results from a case-control study of crashed vehicles equipped with Australian airbag technology (Supplementary Restraint Systems). Vehicles were inspected and occupants interviewed according to the National Accident Sampling System (NASS). Data were available for 383 belted drivers involved in frontal crashes including 253 drivers in airbag-equipped vehicles and 130 drivers in non-airbag vehicles. The analysis revealed reductions in the numbers of injuries to the head, face chest and neck in the airbag-equipped vehicles although the numbers of upper extremity injuries increased. At higher injury severities (AIS2+) reductions were also observed in injuries to the head, face, neck and chest. Further analysis using Harm as an outcome measure found that the mean Harm per driver (in terms of $AUD) were 60% greater in the non-airbag vehicles compared with the airbag-equipped vehicles. Thus airbags in Australia would appear to offer a significant saving in terms of costs to society. In general, the main conclusion from the study was that the results offer a strong indication that the Australian Design Rule (ADR) 69 requirement has been successful at addressing some of the outstanding issues that remain for injury prevention for drivers involved in frontal impacts

Analysis of injuries to young and old Victorian public transport users: 2006 to 2010

An injury analysis was undertaken of young and older transport users from 5 years of injury surveillance data collected at participating trauma hospitals in Victoria, Australia. The analysis was undertaken for inclusion in the UK project on Improving the Safety for Older Public Transport Users. Details of injuries were recorded on attendance including the patients’ account of the circumstances of the accident and causation factors. Results showed that injury risk was more common among bus passengers than those on either trams or trains. The most common injuries were to the head and face regions and upper and lower limbs. Chest injuries were especially problematic among older travellers and they sustained more multiple life-threating injuries than their younger counterparts. Entering or exiting the vehicle accounted for almost two-thirds of all injury-causing events. The most common mechanisms involved a slip, trip or fall while getting on and off the vehicle or while on-board or running to catch public transport. Being hit, struck or crushed by another person or an object was also noted. Injuries to older public transport users was positively correlated with increasing age. The majority of those injured required out-patient treatment at the participating hospital but was dependent on the participant’s age. Opportunities for intervention included improved boarding and exiting facilities at bus and tram stops and reducing hazardous structural members inside these vehicles would be helpful. A number of limitations in this study were noted and areas requiring further research were identified for future studies. The need for more definitive indepth studies of public transport injurious incidents was especially noteworthy

Australia's national crash in-depth study progress report

Australia’s National Crash In-depth Study (ANCIS) is an ongoing retrospective study of real-world modern vehicle crash performance and occupant injuries undertaken in accordance with the format prescribed by the National Automotive Sampling System. The study primarily focuses on occupants of crashed vehicles that are hospitalised. Study method involves interviewing the patient and/or their relatives, perusal of the clinical records and an engineering assessment of the damaged vehicle. In addition, investigators visit the crash scene to assess various road and crash characteristics. Ten Victorian and three New South Wales hospitals are currently associated with the study. It is anticipated that the study will extend to other states Australia-wide and possibly New Zealand. Data have been collated from 91 cases investigated to date. Statistics and trends regarding various crash configurations such as frontal, side impact and rollovers have been compiled from this data. Injury patterns and scene data associated with these crashes will also be discussed. The study findings will assist in the identification of crash injury trends, emerging vehicle safety problems, as well as confirmation of successful safety developments. Furthermore, a greater understanding of injury biomechanics and possible counter-measures to these injuries may be gained. These data can be used for an in-depth evaluation of modern vehicle crash performance and injury outcomes

Airbag effectiveness in real world crashes

This paper presents results from a sample of 383 belted drivers and 129 belted front seat passengers involved in frontal crashes. Of the drivers 253 vehicles were involved in crashes where the airbag deployed and 130 vehicles were non-airbag equipped. For the front seat passengers, 28 vehicles were also equipped with passenger airbags, with 25 deployed in crashes. The two groups were matched in terms of crash severity. Vehicles were inspected and occupants interviewed according to the National Accident Sampling System (NASS). Analysis of the data identified an overall reduction in the number of injuries sustained by drivers in the airbag-equipped vehicles for all frontal crashes. At the more serious injury levels (AIS 2+), reductions were noted to the head, face neck and chest in drivers in airbag equipped vehicles. Cost analysis using Harm as an outcome measure found that the mean Harm per driver ($AUD) was 60% higher in non-airbag equipped vehicles compared with airbag equipped vehicles. It would appear from these findings that airbags in frontal crashes are contributing to the reduction in driver injuries and also cost to society. Airbags in Australia act as supplementary restraint systems and were introduced to prevent head strikes to the steering wheel by belted drivers. However these findings suggest that airbags also seem to have a positive affect on protecting the chest and neck from injury. This study is the most extensive study of airbag performance in Australia to date

Crash characteristics and injury outcomes for older passenger car occupants

For some time now, it has been recognised that a major shift is occurring in the population age distributions of most motorised countries resulting in a growing number of older persons with an increasing need for mobility. It is expected that the mobility of older persons will become even more reliant on the motor vehicle as European countries in particular undergo transitions towards decentralisation and suburbanisation and because of the well-established longevity factor. This study compares injury outcomes in passenger car crashes for belted occupants of different ages. The study considers drivers and front seat passengers. National accident data in the UK show that whilst older car occupants are less likely to be involved in a car accident than younger occupants, in the event of a crash, older occupants are more likely to be killed or to sustain serious injury. This, in conjunction with the increasing numbers of older licence holder and car users implies that the protection of the inherently frail elderly should become a priority for the future. Analysis of the UK in-depth accident data revealed that the older car occupants were significantly more prone to serious chest injury than their younger counterparts and that these injuries were predominantly due to forces exerted by the restraint system, particularly in frontal impacts. Since by the year 2030 one in four persons will be aged over 65 in most Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the results suggest a need for intervention through vehicle design including in-vehicle crashworthiness systems that take into account the reduced tolerance to impact that occurs with ageing

Review of medical fitness to drive in Europe

Understanding the impact of medical fitness to drive is important as the driving population ages. This desktop study set out to examine older driver safety from international best evidence on various aspects likely to affect an older person’s fitness to drive, including the role of education, driver retraining, self-awareness, and cognitive preconditions. The review also reviewed the influence of medication and the role of the medical practitioner, as well as the effectiveness of mandatory licensing retesting. Key recommendations included the need for a standardised screening process across all Member States in assessing fitness to drive, consistent guidelines to assist medical practitioners in their role of assessing a patient’s level of safety, and promotion of materials to help older people make their own decision when to cease driving. A wider use of Medical Assessment Boards across Europe to ensure a consistent process in assessment of fitness to drive would be helpful and the development of an effective and transparent screening protocol based on functional capability is warranted when assessing fitness to drive among older drivers