Factors associated with the relationship between motorcycle deaths and economic growth

This paper examines the Kuznets curve relationship for motorcycle deaths. The Kuznets curve describes the inverted U-shape relationship between economic development and, in this case, motorcycle deaths. In early stages of development we expect deaths to increase with increasing motorization. Eventually deaths decrease as technical, policy and political institutions respond to demands for increased safety. We examine this effect as well as some of the factors which might explain the Kuznets relationship: in particular motorcycle helmet laws, medical care and technology improvements, and variables representing the quality of political institutions. We apply a fixed effects negative binomial regression analysis on a panel of 25 countries covering the period 1970-1999. Our results broadly suggest that implementation of road safety regulation, improvement in the quality of political institutions, and medical care and technology developments have contributed to reduced motorcycle deaths.     

Effects on speed and safety of point-to-point speed enforcement systems: Evaluation on the urban motorway A56 Tangenziale di Napoli

In this paper, we evaluated the effects on speed and safety of the point-to-point (P2P) speed enforcement system activated on the urban motorway A56 in Italy. The P2P speed enforcement is a relatively new approach to traffic law enforcement that involves the calculation of the average speed over a section. To evaluate the speed effects, we performed a before–after analysis of speed data investigating also effects on non-compliance to speed limits. To evaluate the safety effects, we carried out an empirical Bayes observational before-and-after study.     

Traffic safety among motorcyclists in Norway: A study of subgroups and risk factors

Although it is widely recognized that motorcyclists have a particularly high accident risk, our knowledge of the mechanisms producing this accident risk is incomplete. The aims of the present paper are to identify subgroups of motorcyclists with a particularly high accident risk and to identify the relevant risk factors at work. The study presented in this paper relies both on a questionnaire (N = 3356) relating rider characteristics, behaviors and accident risk, and analyses of fatal motorcycle accidents (ca. 100) from 2005 to 2008 in Norway. The results reveal that riders of racing replica bikes (sport bikes), and riders younger than 19 years, including especially youths (16–17 years) riding light motorcycles (≤125 cm³), are subgroups of Norwegian motorcyclists with particularly high accident risks. Analysis of fatal motorcycle accidents reveals that about half of the fatal accidents involve sport bikes. Nearly all fatal accidents with sport bikes involved excessive speed. The combination of low age, low experience, risky behavior and “unsafe” attitudes seems to be a particular potent risk factor for Norwegian motorcyclists.     

Issues in motorcycle sensory and cognitive conspicuity: The impact of motorcycle low-beam headlights and riding experience on drivers’ decisions to turn across the path of a motorcycle

Background

Crashes involving a passenger car and a motorcycle, where the car is turning across the path of the motorcycle, are a major crash type of motorcycle riders. It has been proposed that the incidence of such crashes could be reduced through improvements in motorcycle conspicuity. Operation of low-beam headlights on motorcycles has been discussed as one approach for improving the “sensory conspicuity” of motorcycles during daylight hours, whilst previous experience as a rider may serve to heighten “cognitive conspicuity” through raised awareness of motorcyclists on our roads.

Method

Twenty-three experienced car drivers with no riding experience (“drivers”) and 20 experienced car drivers who were also motorcycle riders (“driver–riders”) completed a series of trials in a driving simulator where their task in each trial was to turn ahead of an oncoming vehicle if they felt that they had sufficient room to do so safely. A key manipulation across trials was whether the oncoming vehicle was a motorcycle with headlights on, or a motorcycle with headlights off. Time gap (short, medium, long) was also manipulated.

Results

Results indicate that, at time gaps defined in the current study as short, low-beam headlights may confer some benefit in gap acceptance by encouraging drivers to accept fewer gaps ahead of a motorcycle with headlights on than ahead of a motorcycle with headlights off. No statistically significant differences in gap acceptance between the headlight conditions were found at either the medium or long time gaps. Irrespective of time gap, driver–riders were found to adopt a more efficient turn strategy than drivers with no direct riding experience.

Conclusions

Overall, the present research provides support for the use of low-beam headlights and riding experience as tools through which to augment the sensory and cognitive conspicuity of motorcycles, respectively. It is proposed that further research aim to explore directly the precise mechanisms underlying the observed effects.     

Socioeconomic differences and motorcycle injuries: age at risk and injury severity among young drivers. A Swedish nationwide cohort study

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The study examines whether there are socioeconomic differences among young motorcycle drivers (aged 16-25) involved in road-traffic injuries with regard to age and injury severity. DESIGN: Nationwide retrospective register-based cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Subjects born in 1970-1972 were extracted from the Swedish Population and Housing Census of 1985 (n = 334,070). Individual records from the 1985 census were linked to police-reported data and hospital-based data for the period 1988-1995 on the basis of a search for each subject's first registered road-traffic injury as a motorcycle driver (n = 2034). Information on household socioeconomic group was taken from the Swedish census of 1985. Two categories of crash severity were analysed (minor injury and severe/fatal injury), based on assessments of the police and according to length of hospitalization. MAIN RESULTS: Incidence of motorcycle injury varies considerably according to age of driver, reaching a peak at the age of 17. The greatest differences in injury risk between socioeconomic groups are present when their members are aged 17-19. At the age of 18, subjects belonging to low socioeconomic positions run a risk of injury occurrence 2.5 times higher than those belonging to the highest socioeconomic category. Young drivers in lower socioeconomic groups have higher odds for both minor and severe injuries than their counterparts in the highest socioeconomic group, but there is no further increase for the latter. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates how crucial the first years of driving are in relation to injury, and how wide the gap is in terms of socioeconomic differences at these ages, suggesting that this is the most appropriate time for intervention.     

Relationships between interest in motor racing and driver attitudes and behaviour amongst mature drivers: an Australian case study

Interest in motor racing is investigated as a possible source of influence on driver attitudes toward speeding and driver behaviour. Previous studies have identified links between motor racing and road accidents on public roads. One study found that the level of interest in motor racing was positively correlated with risky driving behaviours of young male drivers. This paper outlines a conceptual framework for investigating the association between interest in motor racing and speeding violations on public roads. A sample survey of households in Queanbeyan, NSW, was used to examine the relationship between the level of interest in motor racing and attitudes to speeding and driving violations in a group of mature drivers. Results indicate that the level of interest in motor racing is significantly related to attitudes towards speeding, controlling for age, education level and sensation seeking propensity. Higher levels of interest in motor racing are associated with higher pro-speeding attitudes. Unlike the previous research on young male drivers, there was no significant relationship between interest in motor racing and speeding violations for this study of mature drivers. The implications of the study for road safety interventions are discussed.     

Perception differences between buyer and supplier: the effect of agent negotiation styles

This study investigates the effects of individual negotiation styles on a buyer’s stated behaviour and a supplier’s anticipation of the buyer’s behaviours with regard to opportunism and compliance in a multi-echelon production network under different firm-level governance mechanisms. We design a between-subjects matched-scenario experiment to collect data from both sides of a buyer?supplier dyad. We find that agent negotiation styles do exert influences on opportunism but not compliance. Specifically, we find that the effects of firm-level governing mechanisms dominate the effects of individual negotiation styles with regard to compliance, while individual negotiation styles have influence beyond firm-level governing mechanisms with regard to opportunism. Theoretical contributions of our findings to the current literature and managerial implications to practice are discussed.     

Evidence that attitude accessibility augments the relationship between speeding attitudes and speeding behavior: A test of the MODE model in the context of driving

According to the MODE model of attitude-to-behavior processes, attitude accessibility augments attitude–behavior correspondence, reflecting an automatic influence of attitudes on behavior. We therefore tested whether attitude accessibility moderates the attitude–behavior relationship in a context that is governed by characteristically automatic behavior, namely driving. In study 1 (correlational design), participants (N = 130) completed online questionnaire measures of the valences and accessibilities of their attitudes towards speeding. Two weeks later, online questionnaire measures of subsequent speeding behavior were obtained. Attitude valence was a significantly better predictor of behavior at high (mean + 1SD) versus low (mean – 1SD) levels of attitude accessibility. In study 2 (experimental design), attitude accessibility was manipulated with a repeated attitude expression task. Immediately after the manipulation, participants (N = 122) completed online questionnaire measures of attitude valence and accessibility, and two weeks later, subsequent speeding behavior. Increased attitude accessibility in the experimental (versus control) condition generated an increase in attitude–behavior correspondence. The findings are consistent with the MODE model’s proposition that attitudes can exert an automatic influence on behavior. Interventions to reduce speeding could usefully increase the accessibility of anti-speeding attitudes and reduce the accessibility of pro-speeding attitudes.     

The beliefs which motivate young male and female drivers to speed: A comparison of low and high intenders

In Australia, young drivers aged 17–24 years, and particularly males, have the highest risk of being involved in a fatal crash. Investigation of young drivers’ beliefs allows for a greater understanding of their involvement in risky behaviours, such as speeding, as beliefs are associated with intentions, the antecedent to behaviour. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to conceptualise beliefs using a scenario based questionnaire distributed to licenced drivers (N = 398). The questionnaire measured individual's beliefs and intentions to speed in a particular situation. Consistent with a TPB-based approach, the beliefs of those with low intentions to speed (‘low intenders’) were compared with the beliefs of those with high intentions (‘high intenders’) with such comparisons conducted separately for males and females. Overall, significant differences in the beliefs held by low and high intenders and for both females and males were found. Specifically, for females, it was found that high intenders were significantly more likely to perceive advantages of speeding, less likely to perceive disadvantages, and more likely to be encouraged to speed on familiar and inappropriately signed roads than female low intenders. Females, however, did not differ in their perceptions of support from friends, with all females reporting some level of disapproval from most friends and all females (i.e., low and high intenders) reporting approval to speed from their male friends. The results for males revealed that high intenders were significantly more likely to speed on familiar and inappropriately signed roads as well as having greater perceptions of support from all friends, except from those friends with whom they worked. Low and high intending males did not differ in their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of speeding, with the exception of feelings of excitement whereby high intenders reported speeding to be more exciting than low intenders. The findings are discussed in terms of how they may directly inform the content of mass media and public education campaigns aimed at encouraging young drivers to slow down.     

Bridging the gap between batch and column experiments: A case study of Cs adsorption on granite

Both batch and column methods are conventionally utilized to determine some critical parameters for assessing the transport of contaminants of concern. The validity of using these parameters is somewhat confusing, however, since outputs such as distribution coefficient (Kd) from these two approaches are often discrepant. To bridge this gap, all possible factors that might contribute to this discrepancy were thoroughly investigated in this report by a case study of Cs sorption to crushed granite under various conditions. Our results confirm an important finding that solid/liquid (S/L) ratio is the dominant factor responsible for this discrepancy. As long as the S/L ratio exceeds 0.25, a consistent Kd value can be reached by the two methods. Under these conditions (S/L ratios>0.25), the sorption capacity of the solid is about an order of magnitude less than that in low S/L ratios (<0.25). Although low sorption capacity is observed in the cases of high S/L ratios, the sorption usually takes place preferentially on the most favorable (thermodynamically stable) sorption sites to form a stronger binding. This is verified by our desorption experiments in which a linear isotherm feature is shown either in deionized water or in 1M of ammonium acetate solutions. It may be concluded that batch experiment with an S/L ratio exceeding 0.25 is crucial to obtain convincing Kd values for safety assessment of radioactive waste repository.     

Effects of average speed enforcement on speed compliance and crashes: A review of the literature

Average speed enforcement is a relatively new approach gaining popularity throughout Europe and Australia. This paper reviews the evidence regarding the impact of this approach on vehicle speeds, crash rates and a number of additional road safety and public health outcomes. The economic and practical viability of the approach as a road safety countermeasure is also explored. A literature review, with an international scope, of both published and grey literature was conducted. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest a number of road safety benefits associated with average speed enforcement, including high rates of compliance with speed limits, reductions in average and 85th percentile speeds and reduced speed variability between vehicles. Moreover, the approach has been demonstrated to be particularly effective in reducing excessive speeding behaviour. Reductions in crash rates have also been reported in association with average speed enforcement, particularly in relation to fatal and serious injury crashes. In addition, the approach has been shown to improve traffic flow, reduce vehicle emissions and has also been associated with high levels of public acceptance. Average speed enforcement offers a greater network-wide approach to managing speeds that reduces the impact of time and distance halo effects associated with other automated speed enforcement approaches. Although comparatively expensive it represents a highly reliable approach to speed enforcement that produces considerable returns on investment through reduced social and economic costs associated with crashes.     

The perceptions of young rural drivers in NSW,Australia of speeding and associated risk: A mixed methods study

The study, using mixed methodology, examined perceptions of risk associated with speeding in young rural people. Focus groups discussions (age range 16–24) in which speeding was identified as often being an involuntary driving behaviour, informed the development of a survey instrument. The survey was conducted with two groups of young people, one rural (n = 217) and another semi-rural (n = 235). The results from both the focus groups and surveys indicate that young rural drivers had specific attitudes to speeding, when compared with other risk factors for crashing. Speeding behaviour was viewed as both acceptable and inevitable. Males and those from a rural area viewed speeding, and reducing trip time when compared to that of a peer, to be less risky than did females and those who lived in a semi-rural area. Speeding was considered to be less risky than drink driving. These perceptions of speeding may contribute to the crash rates on rural roads involving young, local drivers and need to be considered in interventions or educational programmes which aim to reduce the rural road crash rate.     

The relationship between safety climate and injury rates across industries: the need to adjust for injury hazards

Previous studies have suggested that strong safety climates (shared perceptions of safe conducts at work) are associated with lower workplace-injury rates, but they rarely control for differences in industry hazards. Based on 33 companies, we assessed its association with injury rates using three rate based injury measures (claims per 100 employees, claims per 100,000 h worked, and claims per 1 million US dollars payroll), which were derived from workers' compensation injury claims. Linear regression models were used to test the predictability of safety climate on injury rates, followed by controlling for differences in hazard across industries gauged by national industry-specific injury rates. In the unadjusted model, company level safety climate were negatively and significantly associated with injury rates. However, all of the above associations were no longer apparent when controlling for the hazardousness of the specific industry. These findings may be due to over adjustment of hazard risk, or the overwhelming effects of industry specific hazards relative to safety climate effects that could not be differentiated with the statistical power in our study. Industry differences in hazard, conceptualized as one type of injury risk, however need to be considered when testing the association between safety climate and injury across different industries.     

The relationship between social capital and traffic law violations: Israeli Arabs as a case study

Social aspects of a community may be correlated with driver's involvement in road traffic accidents. This study focused on examining this association in the context of the social capital theory. A survey of 600 Arab drivers living in 19 towns and villages was conducted using a face-to-face interview. Structural equation modeling was applied to explore paths of associations between the model components. Most of the proposed relationships in the path model were found to be significant, where the model explained 37% of the variation. The results indicate that only volunteering and reciprocity have direct correlations with traffic law violations. While the other correlations (except political involvement), were mediated by attitudes toward traffic laws violation.     

Optimising and simulating the assembly line balancing problem in a motorcycle manufacturing company: a case study

In this paper, we present a real life assembly line balancing problem for a motorcycle manufacturing company. Results from the initial situation in the company are compared to those provided by a heuristic method and by a novel neighbourhood search method. An ARENA simulation model is developed to test the different proposals. The model was validated by comparing the simulation results from the initial company scenario with the real operation results. Consequently, the extension to the developed proposals allows us to select an adequate assembly line for the company, resulting in a greater productivity level and a more balanced line with respect to the operation times in the stations and the activity of the workers. The company has subsequently implemented our proposed schedule, obtaining remarkable improvements in its productivity.     

A case study of machinery maintenance protocols and procedures within the UK utilities sector

Failure to conduct periodic fixed-time-to (or scheduled) maintenance on off-highway plant and equipment represents a significant health and safety hazard and major litigation risk for utility contractors completing service excavation and reinstatement works on public highways. Mini-excavators are a ubiquitous mobile plant item used for such tasks and have recently been responsible for several major injuries and fatalities involving workers and members of the public in the United Kingdom (UK). The research utilises the method of triangulation to examine the maintenance practices of utility contractors in the UK. Findings from the research reveal that a combination of prevailing market forces and internal ‘company’ pressures have inadvertently removed knowledgeable and trained operators, site foremen and managerial supervisors from hands-on maintenance inspections. Rather, ‘virtual’ maintenance protocols and procedures are adopted by head office but rarely fully implemented on-site. The research concludes with pragmatic recommendations and direction for future research.     

The effects of error management climate and safety communication on safety: A multi-level study

Work in the construction industry is considered inherently dangerous, despite the technological improvements regarding the safety of work conditions and equipment. To address the urgent need to identify organizational predictors of safety performance and outcomes among construction workers, the present study examined multi-level effects of two important indicators of safety climate, namely contractor error management climate and worker safety communication, on safety behavior, injury, and pain among union construction workers. Data were collected from 235 union construction workers employed by 15 contractors in Midwest and Northwest regions of the United States. Results revealed significant main effects for safety communication and error management climate on safety behaviors and pain, but not on injuries. Our findings suggest that positive safety communication and error management climate are important contributors to improving workplace safety. Specific implications of these results for organizational safety research and practice are discussed.     

The role of carbon pricing in the relationship between air freight and environmental resource depletion: a case study of Saudi Arabia

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - The relationship between air freight and environmental resource depletion is a widely explored area in different economic settings. There, however, is...     

An investigation of the relationship between problem characteristics and algorithm performance: a case study of the GAP

We compare synthetic Generalized Assignment Problems (GAP) generated under two correlation-induction strategics: Implicit Correlation Induction (ICI) and Explicit Correlation Induction (ECI). We present computational results for two commercially-available solvers and four heuristics on 590 test problems. We conclude that the solvers' performances degrade as the population correlation between the objective function and capacity constraint coefficients decreases. However, the heuristics' performances improved as the absolute value of the same population correlation increases. We find that problems generated under ECI arc more challenging than problems generated under ICI and may lead to a better understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the solution methods being evaluated. We recommend that one consider the purpose(s) of an experiment and types of solution procedures to be evaluated when determining what types of test problems to generate.     

The relationship between affecting factors and mass-customisation level: the case of a pigment company in Taiwan

The pigment industry provides a wide range of products with small lots to its customers so the strategy is for mass-customisation. In this study, six factors are proposed and analysed to explore their influence on the customisation level. A regression analysis is conducted for the relationship between the six affecting factors and the level of mass-customisation. Data from a real pigment company in Taiwan is used as a case study. The results indicate that all the proposed factors, return of investment of inventory, inventory turnover, capacity efficiency, capacity utilisation, rate of delivery on time, and time for finishing a unit of a job, statistically affect the mass-customisation level in the pigment company. A company can decide its mass-customisation level according to the proposed relationship model of affecting factors.