Citizens’ perceptions in relation to transport systems and infrastructures: a nationwide study in the dominican republic

One of the challenges currently faced by emerging countries is to get their citizens to decide to use sustainable transport for their regular trips, in order to reduce the current vehicular pollution rates. The objective of this descriptive research is to examine the perceptions of Dominicans regarding the state of the country’s transport systems and road infrastructure. For this purpose, a nationwide survey procedure was performed. This cross-sectional research used the data retrieved from a sample of 1260 citizens aged over 18, proportional in gender, age, habitat, and province of the Dominican Republic. The results showed how Dominicans believe that, compared to other road features, pedestrian roads and public transport vehicles remain in a very poor condition. Further, citizens report to be more interested about the improvement of road infrastructures than in the implementation of any other set of measures performed to promote sustainable road mobility, including those related with alternative transport means. Finally, this study claims for the need of fostering educational, communicative and participative actions and measures aimed at increasing the value given to sustainable transportation, and the relevance of integrate potential structural and vehicular improvements with those related to human behavior in mobility

El curtmetratge com a eina de partida per a la transmissió de valors que fomenten la prevenció i resolució de conflictes en l’aula

Máster Universitario en Resolución de Conflictos en el AulaEls conflictes formen part del nostre dia a dia i les aules del centres educatius no són una excepció. La gestió dels conflictes i la seua prevenció mitjançant el treball docent és clau per aconseguir un bon clima d’aula que millore el procés d’ensenyança- aprenentatge. Per tant, la finalitat d’aquest Treball de Final de Màster és fer una proposta pràctica basada en l’educació en valors que ajude a prevenir i resoldre conflicte partint del recurs didàctic dels curtmetratges. D’aquesta manera, es proposen diverses activitats per treballar valors concrets dintre del aula però sempre partint d’un curtmetratge que tracte aquest determinat valor. El recurs didàctic del curtmetratge desperta gran interès per part dels estudiants i augmenta la seua motivació, beneficiant, d’aquesta manera, l’aprenentatge dels alumnes. Amb aquesta proposta pràctica es pretén donar una opció interessant per treballar en l’educació primària que ajude a millorar l’àmbit social i educatiu de la vida quotidiana dels alumnes.Los conflictos forman parte de nuestro día a día y las aulas de los centros educativos no son una excepción. La gestión de los conflictos y su prevención mediante el trabajo docente es clave para conseguir un buen clima de aula que mejore el proceso de enseñanza- aprendizaje. Por lo tanto, la finalidad de este Trabajo de Final de Máster es hacer una propuesta práctica basada en la educación en valores que ayude a prevenir y resolver los conflictos partiendo del recurso didáctico del cortometraje. De esta manera, se proponen diversas actividades para trabajar valores concretos dentro del aula, pero siempre partiendo de un cortometraje que trate este determinado valor. El recurso didáctico del cortometraje despierta gran interés por parte de los estudiantes y aumenta su motivación, beneficiando, de este modo, el aprendizaje de los alumnos. Con esta propuesta práctica se pretende dar una opción interesante para trabajar en la educación primaria que ayude a mejorar el ámbito social y educativo de la vida cotidiana de los alumnos.Conflicts are part and parcels of our daily life and schools’ classrooms are not an exception. The conflict management and prevention through teaching work is key to achieve a good classroom atmosphere that improves the teaching and learning process. Thus, the purpose of this Final Master Project is to include a practical proposal based on education in values that helps the prevention and resolution of conflicts through the didactic resource of the short films. Therefore, various activities are proposed in which different values are worked, but always starting from a short film that deals with this particular value. The didactic resource of the short film increases our students’ interest and motivation; hence, it benefices the students’ learning process. This practical proposal provides an interesting option to work in primary education that improves the social and education environment of our students’ daily lives.Educació

Are adult driver education programs effective? A Systematic Review of evaluations of accident prevention training courses

Road safety training programs are commonly used to raise awareness of risky attitudes and behaviors. The evaluation of road safety education courses aimed at children is carried out with some assiduity. However, this does not usually occur in courses aimed at young people and adults. The present systematic review aims to identify studies that evaluate the effectiveness of road safety training programs in this population group. This systematic review followed the PRISMA methodology, by which the relevant articles based on the research term were identified. A total number of 1,336 indexed articles were filtered, and a final selection of 22 articles directly addressing the issue was obtained. Search strategies were developed and conducted in WOS, Scopus, NCBI, Google Scholar and APA databases. The selected articles indicate that the effects of road safety training programs in adults are mild to moderate. Their effectiveness is substantially increased when they are aimed at improving risk perception and decision making rather than training in driving skills. In any case, more evaluations of these courses are needed to identify which tools are effective and which should be replaced by new behavior modification methods in the design of future driver education programs

Is safety in the eye of the beholder? Discrepancies between self-reported and proxied data on road safety behaviors-A systematic review

Recent studies have problematized on the lack of agreement between self-reported and proxied data in the field of road safety-related behaviors. Overall, and although these studies are still scarce, most of them suggest that the way we perceive our own road behavior is systematically different from the perspective from which we perceive others' behavior, and vice versa. The aim of this review paper was to target the number and type of studies that have researched the behavioral perceptions of different groups of road users, contrasting self-reported behavioral data with those reported by other users (proxied), and their outcomes. This systematic review followed the PRISMA methodology, which allows for the identification of relevant articles based on the research term. A total number of 222 indexed articles were filtered, and a final selection of 19 articles directly addressing the issue was obtained. Search strategies were developed and conducted in MEDLINE, WOS, Scopus and APA databases. It is remarkable how road users perceive themselves as behaviorally 'safer' than the rest of road users in what concerns the knowledge of traffic norms and their on-road performance. In addition, and regardless of the type of user used as a source, self-reported data suggest their perceived likelihood to suffer a traffic crash is lesser if compared to any other user. On the other hand, proxied reports tend to undervalue third users' performance, and to perceive riskier behaviors and crash-related risks among them. The outputs of this systematic review support the idea that the perception of road users' behavior and its related risks substantially differ according to the source. It is also necessary to increase the number, coverage and rigor of studies on this matter, perhaps through complementary and mixed measures, in order to properly understand and face the bias on road users' risk-related behaviors

Silent, Unsafe...and Underestimated?. Exploring the relationships between life stress and safety issues among spanish drivers

Almost all the recent studies addressing road safety from the approach of human factors agree that stress is one of the most considerable (but underestimated) threats for safe driving. However, evidence on the relationship between stressful life events and driver performance remains scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess life stress-related perceptions of Spanish drivers, as well as exploring their relationships with self-reported driving performance, decision-making and other road safety-related issues. Methods: This cross-sectional research analysed the information gathered from a nationwide sample of n=840 Spanish drivers responding to an electronic survey on psychosocial issues, stress-related factors and driving issues. The results show that a high percentage (75%) consider that stress may impair their driving performance, while 76.9% of drivers report having experienced at least one major stressful life event during the last year. Despite this relatively high awareness of the negative role of stress and its associated factors for driving safety, this study found that drivers tend to 'ignore the alarm signals', as they often reported keeping driving, even when noticing their driving fitness and performance might be impaired by stress-related factors. This study highlights the need to create and apply interventions aimed at informing and training drivers to identify, manage and cope with stress from different spheres, including stressful life events, as a means of potentially improving their driving safety habits and outcome

Citizens' Perceptions in Relation to Transport Systems and Infrastructures: A Nationwide Study in the Dominican Republic

One of the challenges currently faced by emerging countries is to get their citizens to decide to use sustainable transport for their regular trips, in order to reduce the current vehicular pollution rates. The objective of this descriptive research is to examine the perceptions of Dominicans regarding the state of the country's transport systems and road infrastructure. For this purpose, a nationwide survey procedure was performed. This cross-sectional research used the data retrieved from a sample of 1260 citizens aged over 18, proportional in gender, age, habitat, and province of the Dominican Republic. The results showed how Dominicans believe that, compared to other road features, pedestrian roads and public transport vehicles remain in a very poor condition. Further, citizens report to be more interested about the improvement of road infrastructures than in the implementation of any other set of measures performed to promote sustainable road mobility, including those related with alternative transport means. Finally, this study claims for the need of fostering educational, communicative and participative actions and measures aimed at increasing the value given to sustainable transportation, and the relevance of integrate potential structural and vehicular improvements with those related to human behavior in mobilit

Are Traffic Announcements Really Effective? A Systematic Review of Evaluations of Crash-Prevention Communication Campaigns

Communication campaigns are commonly used in the traffic and road safety sector to raise public awareness of the importance of avoiding risky road user attitudes and behaviors. Surprisingly few of these communication campaigns evaluate their effectiveness in a formal and comprehensive manner. The core aim of the present systematic review is to identify the type of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns in this sector, in order to identify and contrast their main findings. This systematic review followed the PRISMA methodology, by means of which the relevant articles based on the search term were identified. A total of 613 indexed articles were filtered, and a final set of 27 articles directly addressing the issue was analyzed. Search strategies were developed and conducted in WOS, Scopus, NCBI, Google Scholar and APA databases. The selected articles point out that, although advertisements alone have a certain positive effect, their effectiveness is substantially increased if they are accompanied by other preventive measures such as legislation or road safety education. In any case, more evaluations of traffic campaigns are needed to identify which techniques are effective and which are not, and which should therefore be replaced by new methods of behavior modification in future communication campaigns

Smoking while Driving: Frequency, Motives, Perceived Risk and Punishment

When dealing with the duality of traffic accidents and road safety, smoking while driving is one of the factors that, despite the social beliefs and/or misconceptions, causes a large number of injuries and deaths worldwide. Although smoking is a well-known harmful behavior for people's health, it affects health and safety in many ways, perhaps more than some segments of the population can imagine. This is the specific case of drivers. The main objective of this study was to describe the behavioral and representational aspects of drivers that modulate the smoking-accidents relation. Specifically, it focuses in the frequency and reasons why drivers smoke while driving. On the other hand, it was also considered the perception of drivers regarding the probability of penalty, the penalties imposed, and their severity. Finally, drivers' opinion on the effectiveness of such penalty in order to change this behavior was also studied. A sample of 1100 Spanish drivers was obtained from a national sampling process. The results showed that approximately the 11% of drivers circulate regularly smoking. Among the specific reasons, the most common is that constitutes a habit of the interviewed driver. Regarding punishment, drivers considered as limited the probability of being caught. Moreover, there has been no respondents who have been fined for this behavior while driving. In general, it seems that drivers are aware of the risk implied by this behavior. However, there are very few drivers who value this as a high-risk behavior. This agrees with the respondents' opinion that it is, in other words, driving under a low sense of responsibility. This, it results logical that the sanction that the respondents believe more appropriate for the behavior of smoking while driving is an economic penalty. As a conclusion, it has been remarked that there is a clear lack of correspondence between the risk perceived in this misbehavior and the frequency and motives argued to perform it while driving. It is worth mentioning that it makes important to improve the awareness and monitoring of this behavior among Spanish drivers as a manner to, first, promote healthy habits among key sectors of population, and, second, to prevent potential road crasher related to the psychomotor impairments that this behavior implies on driving performance

Prevalence and perception of depressive symptomatology among Spanish drivers and its relation to driving safety

Depression is currently the most frequent mental disorder and one of the main causes of losing years of healthy life. This disorder entails a cognitive and motor deterioration that is seriously detrimental to driving. From the analysis of the interviewed drivers' attitudes, knowledge and behaviors, the objective of this paper was the following one: detect the impact of depressive symptoms on a driver's sample and its relationship with several variables related to driving and road safety. A sample of 1.200 Spanish drivers ranging from 18 to 64 years was used, 666 men and 534 women were asked to answer a questionnaire composed by a set of items structured in different sections. The only selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and drive frequently. 21.9% of the drivers showed signs or symptoms linked with a depressive disorder. There were found significant contingences between the presence of depressive symptoms and a lower risk-taking while driving. It is necessary to propose establishing systems that fulfil two essential requirements: on the one hand, to inform, train and make the drivers aware of detecting and managing the symptoms linked to depression; on the other hand, to detect the drivers that show cognitive and motor deterioration linked to depressive symptoms, and to promote their self-regulation, taking into account the negative implications of driving under depressive symptomatology for performance and road safety in general

Education for Road Safety: What is the State of Affairs in Three Groups of Vulnerable Road Users in Spain?

RSE (Road Safety Education) is well recognized as a reliable predictor of future safety and health outcomes. However, most countries have been slow to develop it, which has contributed to the sensitivity of the situation, as traffic accidents continue to be a major concern for community health. This paper aims to describe and compare key variables related to the RSE among three critical segments of the population, using the data provided by: 477 high school students, 843 university students and 476 older adults. Differential coverage rates were found. Perceived quality, aroused interest and attributed utility for RSE interventions were also compared among groups, finding substantial differences among them in terms of these three aspects of the intervention. Although coverage of RSE-related programs has grown considerably during the last years, substantial difficulties are still evident