Differences in cognitive process-related skills between taxi and non-taxi drivers between 50 and 70 years old.

This study investigated differences between 50- to 70-yr.-old taxi and non-taxi drivers with respect to cognitive process-related skills. Psychological indicators associated with perceptuomotor, attentional, and spatial memory recall abilities were collected for 173 taxi drivers (7 women, 166 men; M age = 57.

The use of a quasi-naturalistic riding method to investigate bicyclists' behaviors when motorists pass.

The present study aimed to investigate how motorized vehicle-related factors, road-related factors, and bicyclist-related factors influenced motorists' decisions about initial passing distances and bicyclists' behaviors after the motorists started to pass. A quasi-naturalistic riding method was used for thirty-four participating bicyclists riding an instrumented bicycle in real traffic. The study included 1380 incidents of left-side passing by motorists and revealed that the factors studied influenced both the motorists' initial passing distance and the bicyclists' position (lateral distance from the passing motorists), wheel angle, and speed control behaviors while the motorists passed.

The response patterns of young bicyclists to a right-turning motorcycle: a simulator study.

This study was designed to assess how bicyclists (30 men, 30 women) responded to right-turning motorised vehicles, which is a risky situation for bicyclists, and employed a scenario in which a motorcycle made a right turn in front of a bicyclist. The factors of speed difference and cut-in time gap were generated to objectively investigate steering control, speed, and the associated collisions in a bicycle simulator. There was no effect for sex, but as expected, for shorter cut-in time gaps, the steering angles were smaller (deflected to the right to avoid the passing motorcycle), the speeds were lower, and the variations in the steering angle and speed were larger.

Risk factors for child and adolescent occupants, bicyclists, and pedestrians in motorized vehicle collisions.

Objective: The aim was to use similar population data to examine the relative risk of collision injury among children of different ages and adolescents involved in various collision types and to elucidate the possible risk factors related to road collisions involving children and adolescents in a large, 2-wheeled vehicle environment.

Methods: We used data from a society with a large population of motorcyclists to examine the relative risk of injury among children and adolescents aged 0 to 6, 7 to 9, 10 to 12, 13 to 15, and 16 to 17 years old who were involved in single motorized vehicle, multiple motorized vehicle, bicycle-to-vehicle, and pedestrian-to-vehicle collisions. Police reports for 73,232 collision injuries between the years 2003 and 2009 were analyzed using multicategory logit models of the 4 collision types.

Responses in a manual tracking and visual detection task.

To investigate interference between the sustained and occasional attention required in driving, performance of 36 participants engaged in a focal manual tracking task and a peripheral detection task, representing sustained and occasional attention, respectively, was studied. Error ratio, tracking distance, tracking speed, and root mean squared tracking distance error were taken for manual tracking, and response times were measured on the detection task. Analysis indicated that multiple tasks or highly sustained attentional demands preceded lower performance on sustained attention tasks.

Integrated model of simulated occupant injury risk and real medical costs.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated methodology that links occupant injury risk functions, estimated in the laboratory, with real world medical treatment costs by using the abbreviated injury score (AIS). Using our model, the expected medical treatment costs for crash injuries to various body regions and of different severities can be investigated.

Methods: First, the simulation results are compared with NHTSA crash data.

Survival hazards of road environment factors between motor-vehicles and motorcycles.

Motorcycles are frequently used in middle- and low-income societies. They are often involved in crashes, and account for a noticeable percentage of fatalities secondary to crashes. Comparing motor-vehicle occupants and motorcycle riders, the present study examined the survival hazard of crash injuries with respect to road environmental factors (i.

Psychological benefits of virtual reality for patients in rehabilitation therapy.

Context: Whether virtual rehabilitation is beneficial has not been determined.

Objective: To investigate the psychological benefits of virtual reality in rehabilitation.

Design: An experimental group underwent therapy with a virtual-reality-based exercise bike, and a control group underwent the therapy without virtual-reality equipment.

Evidence for the selective attention mechanism and dual-task interference.

In order to explore the selective attention mechanism and the dual-task information-processing model, two experiments were carried out involving a visual search task and a visual detection task. The results showed that the early period of attention selection is controlled in a bottom-up manner. With respect to the dual-task information-processing model, the results showed that the central information-processing model would include a sequence model for tasks that use the same perception resource, causing a bottleneck in information processing.

Differences in urban and rural accident characteristics and medical service utilization for traffic fatalities in less-motorized societies.

Introduction: Fatalities from traffic accidents in less-motorized societies are an important global issue. We aimed to characterize the geographic differences of fatalities in such societies to facilitate the development of targeted interventions.

Method: This study linked police reports, hospital data, and vital registration data from Taiwan with special reference to accident factors in pre-hospital deaths and medical care in hospital deaths.

Driving performance assessment: effects of traffic accident location and alarm content.

According to accident statistics for Taiwan, the two most common traffic accident locations in urban areas are roadway segments and intersections. On roadway segments, most collisions are due to drivers not noticing the status of leading vehicle. At intersections, most collisions are due to the other driver failing to obey traffic signs.

The assessment of stability and reliability of a virtual reality-based intravenous injection simulator.

The aim of this study was to validate the feasibility of a virtual reality-based (without haptic feedback) intravenous injection system as an effective tool for computer-assisted instruction and training. The stability and reliability of the system were assessed. A personal computer, a needle/catheter device, and a data acquisition interface are included in this system.

Driver fatigue and highway driving: a simulator study.

Long duration of driving is a significant cause of fatigue-related accidents on motorways or major roadways. The fatigue caused by driving for extended periods acutely impairs driver alertness and performance and can compromise transportation safety. This study quantitatively measured the progression of driver fatigue and identified the conservative safe duration of continuous highway driving.

Mortality burden from motor vehicle accidents in Taiwan.

Objective: To examine the risk factors contributing to the mortality burden due to road traffic accidents (RTA) in Taiwan.

Design: We compared RTA years of life lost (YLL) rates of Taiwan with those of the surrounding region. We also investigated the risk factors described by the police in a Linked Database combined from police-reported accident data and vital registration data.

Use of virtual reality to improve upper-extremity control in children with cerebral palsy: a single-subject design.

Background And Purpose: Virtual reality (VR) creates an exercise environment in which the intensity of practice and positive feedback can be systematically manipulated in various contexts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the training effects of a VR intervention on reaching behaviors in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Participants: Four children with spastic CP were recruited.

Rectification of legibility distance in a driving simulator.

Visual differences lead to differences in the legibility distances of traffic signs between driving simulators and real road environments. To ensure that the legibility distance in a simulator is similar to that in the real world, this study proposes a theoretical equation for predicting legibility distance and a simple algorithm for determining the magnifying power of a traffic sign for a display system in a simulator. Experiments of traffic sign recognition using a simulator were conducted under quasi-static and dynamic driving conditions.

The use of virtual reality computer simulation in learning Port-A cath injection.

Cost-benefit management trends in Taiwan healthcare settings have led nurses to perform more invasive skills, such as Port-A cath administration of medications. Accordingly, nurses must be well-prepared prior to teaching by the mentor and supervision method. The purpose of the current study was to develop a computer-assisted protocol using virtual reality (VR) in performing Port-A cath as a training program for novice nurses.

Using data linkage to generate 30-day crash-fatality adjustment factors for Taiwan.

Different countries have their own police reporting time standards for counting the number of fatalities in reported crashes. A rapid estimation method (such as adjustment factor) for the comparison is important. The data-linkage technique was used to combine police-reported crash data and vital registration data, in order to generate 30-day fatality adjustment factors for various reporting time standards, which could also shed light on the fatal injury trend over time.

Evaluation of computer-assisted multimedia instruction in intravenous injection.

The purpose of this study was to develop a computer-assisted multimedia training course for intravenous injection and evaluate its effect on the knowledge and self-perceived performance of intravenous injection for novice nurses. Eighty-one novice nurses randomly assigned to the experimental group and control group participated a designed training procedure and took pretest and posttests. The test results were analyzed using statistical methods.

A virtual reality-based system for hand function analysis.

The goal of this study was to demonstrate the usability and usefulness of virtual reality technology in assessing hand functions. Ten healthy, non-disabled right-handed adult volunteers were recruited. Each volunteer used a dataglove to insert three-dimensional virtual representations of a cylinder and a prism into the target holes.