Factors influencing occupant-to-seat belt interaction in far-side crashes.

Seat belt interaction with a far-side occupant's shoulder and thorax is critical to governing excursion towards the struck-side of the vehicle in side impact. In this study, occupant-to-belt interaction was simulated using a modified MADYMO human model and finite element belts. Quasi-static tests with volunteers and dynamic sled tests with PMHS and WorldSID were used for model validation and comparison. Parameter studies were then undertaken to quantify the effect of impact direction, seat belt geometry and pretension on occupant-to-seat belt interaction. Results suggest that lowering the D-ring and increasing pretension reduces the likelihood of the belt slipping off the shoulder. Anthropometry was also shown to influence restraint provided by the shoulder belt. Furthermore, the belt may slip off the occupant's shoulder at impact angles greater than 40 degrees from frontal when no pretension is used. However, the addition of pretension allowed the shoulder to engage the belt in all impacts from 30 to 90 degrees.

An impact evaluation of a falls prevention program among older people.

The aim of this evaluation study was to assess the impact of peer-presented education sessions on the falls-related attitude, knowledge and behaviour of older people. The evaluation was undertaken on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, and adopted a non-randomised pre-test post-test design. Baseline, 3 and 12 months follow-up data were collected for 107 individuals who attended the education sessions and 116 controls, matched by age range and sex. The groups were not strictly equivalent at baseline, with the intervention group having a greater knowledge about falls and falls prevention. Analyses which controlled for baseline differences showed that those who attended the education sessions maintained a greater knowledge of factors that can prevent falls at 12 months follow-up. The intervention group also made more changes in and around their home to prevent falls by 3 and 12 months follow-up. Younger participants who reported a previous history of falls and having taken action to prevent falls were most likely to take additional action. The results can help target this type of education program and suggest that their major benefit may lie in providing those who voluntarily attend with the impetus to take the most effective preventative action.

Young novice driver subtypes: relationship to high-risk behavior, traffic accident record, and simulator driving performance.

Two studies were undertaken to obtain empirical support for the existence of driver subtypes in the young novice driver population. In Study 1, 198 participants (55% male) aged 16 to 19 completed an extensive self-report questionnaire. Five novice driver subtypes were identified through a cluster analysis of personality and driving-related measures. Two relatively high-risk or deviant subtypes (Clusters 1 and 5) were identified, characterized by high levels of driving-related aggression, competitive speed, driving to reduce tension, sensation seeking, assaultiveness, and hostility. The individuals in Cluster 5 also reported low levels of emotional adjustment and high levels of depression, resentfulness, and irritability. In Study 2, a subset of participants from each of the subtypes drove several scenarios in a driving simulator. The subtypes differed in their responses to an emergency situation and several potential traffic hazards. They also differed in the proficiency with which they could control their attention among concurrent tasks in high-workload situations. Most of the significant differences were related to lower levels of driving skill among the two most deviant subtypes (Clusters 1 and 5). The potential applications of this research include the design of training programs and other countermeasures to address the young novice driver crash problem.

Airbag and facebag benefits and costs.

There is debate about the appropriate design of supplementary airbags for passenger car occupants with high levels of seatbelt use. A theoretical analysis was performed to demonstrate the likely costs and benefits of U.S. fullsize driver airbags and the smaller European-style facebag. This study, undertaken for the Federal Office of Road Safety in Australia, builds upon previous work in this area. Benefits were determined using Harm Reductions for front-seat occupants involved in frontal crashes. A sensitivity analysis was undertaken for different benefit scenarios for the facebag, given the lack of available performance data. Likely costs of the components were derived from information provided by the local automobile manufacturers, part suppliers, and vehicle importers, with adjustments made for fitting to Australian vehicles. The results demonstrate the advantage of fullsize airbags over facebags, even when seatbelt wearing rates are high.

Occupant safety in modern passenger cars.

A study was undertaken recently for the Federal Office of Road Safety in Australia of 150 modern vehicle crashes where at least one of the vehicle occupants was admitted to hospital. The types of injuries sustained by occupants of modern Australian passenger cars involved in road crashes (including points of contact within the vehicle) were assessed to provide direction for future improvements in occupant protection. Seat belt performance in all seating positions was of particular interest. While the limited number of cases did not permit a full and detailed statistical analysis of these data, the findings nevertheless show there is scope for improving occupant protection for drivers and passengers of modern passenger cars.

Human orientation with restricted sensory information: no evidence for magnetic sensitivity.

Baker claimed that people are also able to orientate themselves to particular geographical locations as a result of sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field. These claims were disputed by Gould and Able. A study involving a greater number of subjects (n = 103) and more stringent control over environmental sensory cues was carried out to resolve this disagreement. Subjects responded, both with a direct pointing response and with a verbal judgement in terms of an imagined clock face, to the targets of north, home, and the City of Melbourne. In statistical terms, subjects were not able to orientate towards any target by use of either response. No evidence was found for a magnetic sense in humans as claimed by Baker.