Crash causation, countermeasures, and policy - Editorial.

This editorial is both an introduction to the papers that make up this special issue (on the Relationship between Crash Causation, Countermeasures, and Policy) and an attempt at drawing conclusions. To assist the reader, we begin with a brief description of the subject matter of each paper. As expected, the authors tackle different aspects of this general topic and often differ in their conclusions.

Crash causes, countermeasures, and safety policy implications.

There are interrelationships between crash causes, countermeasures, and policy implications, but they are not necessarily direct and obvious. Part of the problem is the definition of a cause. The seminal 1979 Indiana University "Study of Accident Causes" has cemented some false assumptions that must be overcome to yield an effective crash countermeasures policy.

Expert evaluation of traffic signs: conventional vs. alternative designs.

Traffic sign comprehension is significantly affected by their compliance with ergonomics design principles. Despite the UN Convention, designs vary among countries. The goal of this study was to establish theoretical and methodological bases for evaluating the design of conventional and alternative signs.

TV-1380 attenuates cocaine-induced changes in cardiodynamic parameters in monkeys and reduces the formation of cocaethylene.

Background: TV-1380 is a rationally mutated, human BChE fused to human serum albumin that has high hydrolytic enzymatic activity against cocaine and as well as an extended elimination half-life.

Objective: The present studies examined the safety of TV-1380 and its protective effect when given to monkeys alone or concomitantly with cocaine and ethanol.

Methods: A set of studies was conducted in monkeys with TV-1380.

Under-reporting bicycle accidents to police in the COST TU1101 international survey: Cross-country comparisons and associated factors.

Police crash reports are often the main source for official data in many countries. However, with the exception of fatal crashes, crashes are often underreported in a biased manner. Consequently, the countermeasures adopted according to them may be inefficient.

Laquinimod arrests experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.

Laquinimod is an oral drug currently being evaluated for the treatment of relapsing, remitting, and primary progressive multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease. Laquinimod exerts beneficial activities on both the peripheral immune system and the CNS with distinctive changes in CNS resident cell populations, especially astrocytes and microglia. Analysis of genome-wide expression data revealed activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway in laquinimod-treated mice.

Safety and PK/PD correlation of TV-1106, a recombinant fused human albumin-growth hormone, following repeat dose administration to monkeys.

Purpose: TV-1106 is a recombinant human albumin genetically fused to growth hormone which is intended to reduce the frequency of injections for GH therapy users. We report the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of repeated subcutaneous injections of TV-1106 in Cynomolgus monkeys.

Method: Cynomolgus monkeys received four weekly subcutaneous injections of 0, 5, 10 or 20mg/kg TV-1106 and were monitored for safety signals throughout the study.

Cognitive Workload ≠ Crash Risk: Rejoinder to Study by Strayer et al. (2015).

Strayer et al.'s article is a significant attempt to scale the cognitive workload of different potentially distracting tasks. It is tempting but not warranted to equate the workload with the relative risk of crash involvement.

Evaluating the efficiency of local municipalities in providing traffic safety using the Data Envelopment Analysis.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative efficiency of 197 local municipalities in traffic safety in Israel during 2004-2009, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). DEA efficiency is based on multiple inputs and multiple outputs, when their weights are unknown. We used here inputs reflecting the resources allocated to the local municipalities (such as funding), outputs include measures that reflect reductions in accidents (such as accidents per population), and intermediate variables known as safety performance indicators (SPI): measures that are theoretically linked to crash and injury reductions (such as use of safety belts).

Enhancement of road delineation can reduce safety.

Background: New in-vehicle technologies often outpace the scientific support for their value. In lieu of valid and consistent scientific support, common wisdom is used, as in the assumption that enhanced roadway delineation improves driving safety.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a Visibility Enhancement System that selectively improves lane markers' visibility on driving safety.

Radiology department, human factors and organizational perspectives: using action research to improve patient safety.

Background: Action research is a participatory research method based on active cooperation between researchers and subjects. In clinical practice, action research enables active involvement of workers in developing and implementing actions promoting patient safety. This article describes a participatory action research project that was conducted in the radiology department of a tertiary care university hospital.

To call or not to call--that is the question (while driving).

We studied whether decisions to engage in cell phone conversation while driving and the consequences of such decisions are related to the driver's age, to the road conditions (demands of the driving task), and to the driver's role in initiating the phone call (i.e. the driver as caller vs.

Bone progenitors produced by direct osteogenic differentiation of the unprocessed bone marrow demonstrate high osteogenic potential in vitro and in vivo.

Tissue-engineered bone grafts seeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been sought as a replacement for bone grafts currently used for bone repair. For production of osteogenic constructs, MSCs are isolated from bone marrow (BM) or other tissues, expanded in culture, then trypsinized, and seeded on a scaffold. Predifferentiation of seeded cells is often desired.

Increasing motorcycles attention and search conspicuity by using Alternating-Blinking Lights System (ABLS).

Poor conspicuity of Powered Two-Wheelers (PTW) is one of the main factors contributing to their involvement in accidents. The current study examined the influence of different rider's outfits on PTWs' detectability, and evaluated the potential of a unique Alternating-Blinking Lights System (ABLS) to increase the rider's conspicuity. This study included two experiments that examined the visual search involved in the process of scanning video clips of dynamic traffic scenes.

Comparative long-term preclinical safety evaluation of two glatiramoid compounds (glatiramer Acetate, Copaxone(R), and TV-5010, protiramer) in rats and monkeys.

Glatiramer acetate (GA), the active ingredient in Copaxone®, is a complex mixture of polypeptides used for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Glatiramoids are related mixtures that may differ in some characteristics of the prototype molecule. Our aim is to describe the long-term toxicity studies with protiramer (TV-5010), a new glatiramoid, in comparison with similar studies conducted with GA.

Attention and search conspicuity of motorcycles as a function of their visual context.

Background: Over the years, PTWs' number of accidents have increased dramatically and have accounted for a high percentage of the total traffic fatalities. The majority of those accidents occur in daylight, clear weather, and at light to moderate traffic conditions. The current study included two experiments.

Pedestrians' behaviour in cross walks: the effects of fear of falling and age.

Pedestrians are exposed to risks when crossing roads in urban areas. The crossing behaviour of pedestrians was studied as a factor contributing to their exposure to risks on the road and to their involvement in road accidents. This work explores two specific aspects of crossing behaviour: crossing speed and head pitches-the proportion of time pedestrians point their heads down (rather than towards the traffic) when crossing a road.

Safety and mobility of vulnerable road users: pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.

Traffic safety has improved greatly over the past few decades, but the progress in the safe mobility of vulnerable road users (VRUs) - especially motorcycle riders - has not been as consistent. The changing trends towards healthier and eco-friendlier lifestyle, coupled with the rising costs of fuel have increased the exposure and injury risk of pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists, especially in urban areas. To address the safe mobility issues of VRUs, Israel's National Road Safety Authority organized an international conference on the topic.

An analysis of alcohol breath tests results with portable and desktop breath testers as surrogates of blood alcohol levels.

There is a perceived tradeoff between the ease of measuring alcohol in the body and the accuracy of the result. Direct tests of blood alcohol concentrations are considered the most accurate, desktop stationary breath testers based on electro-chemical infra-red technology are slightly less accurate, but accepted for evidentiary purposes in most jurisdictions, and quick portable breath testers based on fuel-cell technology are the easiest to administer but not acceptable in many courts. This study compared the accuracy of an evidentiary portable breath tester and an evidentiary desktop breath tester relative to blood alcohol concentrations.

Effect of shoulder width, guardrail and roadway geometry on driver perception and behavior.

Roadway design is one of the most significant factors that affect driving behavior and perceived safety. The current study tests the combined effects of three roadway design elements - shoulders width, guardrail existence and roadway geometry (curvature) - on objective driving measures (speed and lane position), and subjective measures (perceived safe driving speed and estimated road safety). Twenty two drivers participated in an experiment with a driving simulation.

Usage and perceived effectiveness of fatigue countermeasures for professional and nonprofessional drivers.

Background: Drivers adopt various strategies in order to cope with fatigue and falling asleep at the wheel. These strategies include a wide range of activities that may invigorate the body and/or the mind.

Objectives: To compare usage patterns and to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of different coping behaviors adopted by professional and nonprofessional drivers in order to maintain alertness.

The effect of alcohol, THC and their combination on perceived effects, willingness to drive and performance of driving and non-driving tasks.

Background: Driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) is one of the main causes of car accidents. Alcohol and marijuana are the most popular drugs among recreational users. Many classify these drugs as "Light" drugs and therefore allow themselves to drive after consuming them.

Age, skill, and hazard perception in driving.

This study examined the effects of age and driving experience on the ability to detect hazards while driving; namely, hazard perception. Studies have shown that young-inexperienced drivers are more likely than experienced drivers to suffer from hazard perception deficiencies. However, it remains to be determined if this skill deteriorates with advancing age.

Evaluation of experience-based fatigue countermeasures.

Background And Objective: Strategies adopted by drivers in order to cope with fatigue and falling asleep at the wheel include a variety of activities that may invigorate the body and/or the mind. The objectives of the current study were to examine the effectiveness of an energy drink and a non-traditional manual-dexterity/mastication activity as fatigue countermeasures.

Method: Twenty subjects participated in this driving simulator study.