In order to compare groups of road users who have fundamentally different skills, attitudes and behaviours, one of the first in-depth motorcycle simulation studies of its kind was conducted. The project was developed using the innovative ‘MotorcycleSim’ simulator designed and built at the University of Nottingham. The simulator is a research tool to investigate aspects of motorcycle ergonomics and rider human factors and is the first of its kind in the world to incorporate ‘STI-SIM Drive’ software that allows motorcyclists to ride a full size motorcycle and interact with a virtual riding environment (VRE). To build a simulator that was both fit for the purpose of research and provided the desired levels of fidelity associated with real world riding, a user-centred design process was adopted from the outset (based in principles of ISO:13407).

Road traffic accidents are responsible for over 3000 deaths per year in the UK, according to Department for Transport (2004a) figures. Although progress is being made in a number of areas, vehicle occupant fatalities have not been falling in line with casualty reduction targets for the year 2010. A sample of 1185 fatal vehicle occupant cases was considered, from ten UK police forces, from the years 1994–2005 inclusive. The main findings were: (1) over 65% of the accidents examined involved driving at excessive speed, a driver in excess of the legal alcohol limit, or the failure to wear a seat belt by a fatality, or some combination of these. (2) Young drivers have the great majority of their accidents by losing control on bends or curves, typically at night in rural areas and/or while driving for ‘leisure’ purposes. These accidents show high levels of speeding, alcohol involvement and recklessness. (3) Older drivers had fewer accidents, but those fatalities they were involved in tended to involve misjudgement and perceptual errors in ‘right of way’ collisions, typically in the daytime on rural rather than urban roads. Blameworthy right of way errors were notably high for drivers aged over 65 years, as a proportion of total fatal accidents in that age group.

Against a backdrop of motorcyclists being in the order of 51 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than car drivers, one of the first in-depth motorcycle simulation study of its kind was conducted to compare groups of road users who have fundamentally different skills, attitudes and behaviours. A study was designed to compare Novice, Experienced and Advanced trained riders across a range of motorcycle activities. By developing and describing an integrated experiment approach, this paper sets out a protocol for exploring a variety of rider attributes in a single investigation. The process adopted allowed for comprehensive data collection and analysis with minimal disruption to participants or biases creeping into the data. The aim is that this protocol will be informative to other researchers as the experimental design and the measures collected could easily be extended to other areas of road user research.

A sample of over 2000 crashes involving drivers aged 60 years or over was considered, from three UK midland police forces, from the years 1994-2007 inclusive. Each case was summarized on a database including the main objective features (such as time and place), a summary narrative, a sketch plan and a list of explanatory factors. The main findings were that older drivers have significant problems with intersection collisions and failing to give right of way; these formed the largest single class of crashes in the sample. Possible behavioural explanations for this will be discussed, along with other findings regarding older driver blameworthiness, fatigue and illness, time of day factors, and 'unintended accelerations'.

Road traffic collisions while at work are the single largest cause of occupational fatality in the United Kingdom. Work-related road collisions do not comprise a homogenous group, but take many forms, encompassing the use of varying types of vehicle used for diverse purposes. A sample of over 2000 collision cases was considered, over 1000 in detail, from UK police forces, involving drivers/workers of all ages, and covering the years 1996–2004 inclusive. There were three key findings. (1) There were six main classes of collision-involved vehicles. These were company cars, vans/pickups, large goods vehicles (LGVs), buses (PCVs or ‘passenger carrying vehicles’), taxis/minicabs, and emergency vehicles (police, fire/rescue and ambulance). (2) The drivers of company cars, vans/pickups, and large goods vehicles (LGVs) all appeared to have a high ‘blameworthiness ratio’ in their collision involvement. Company car drivers showed excess speed as a causal factor, whereas van drivers showed more observational failures, and LGV drivers showed more fatigue and vehicle defects as factors. (3) The drivers of buses (PCVs), taxis/minicabs, and emergency vehicles showed a low ‘blameworthiness ratio’ in their collision involvement. Their problems seemed to be primarily with the other drivers/parties with whom they share the road. While they made a variety of mistakes or errors, they were more likely to become the victim of another party's mistake or error.

DR. WARD is medical director of the Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center. The North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association has set up a charity for victims of the Pinelake shooting: Carthage Crisis Assistance Fund, NCHCFA, 5109 Bur Oak Circle, Raleigh, NC, 27612. It was every nursing facility's worst nightmare, only this was all too real. On March 29, a Sunday morning, an armed man entered the Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center in Carthage, N.C., where I am medical director. Police allege that Robert Steward was looking for his wife, who was a nursing assistant there. Instead, they say, he found residents and staff and, before it was over, killed seven residents and a nurse who tried to protect them. With the shooting came confusion and fear as law enforcement agencies, media, and other groups descended on the small town. The church fellowship hall was opened to provide support for the victims' families. On the following day, I attempted to provide psychological support to the numerous individuals with whom I came in contact, along with several family members. I particularly remember being asked to see an elderly gentleman who was complaining of hearing loss in his right ear. When I went to his room to examine him, I found that he did have a perforated ear drum. He told me how he lay quietly behind a curtain while his roommate was murdered. In the following weeks, various agencies—including church clergy and hospice volunteers, along with the nearby Sandhills Center for Mental Health—attempted to provide ongoing psychological support and counseling. Each Thursday evening during the month following the tragedy, they held a meeting was at the Baptist Fellowship Hall to answer questions and provide ongoing psychological support to the stunned family members and the greater community. On Sunday, April 19, we held the Pinelake Memorial Service of Remembrance under a large tent next to the facility. The service included music, prayer, Bible readings, and inspirational singing. This was a special time of healing for family members. Although we have attempted to move forward with a routine at the facility, it will take quite a while for us to accept the truth that Pinelake joins Columbine High School and Virginia Tech as sites of shooting massacres. Once the shock of immediate loss recedes into the past, we will be discussing preparations for future threats to the welfare of the nursing home residents, including gun control and increased security.

BACKGROUND:Marital separation (as distinct from divorce) is rarely researched in the suicidological literature. Studies usually report on the statuses of 'separated' and 'divorced' as a combined category, possibly because demographic registries are not able to identify separation reliably. However, in most countries divorce only happens once the process of separation has settled which, in most cases, occurs a long time after the initial break-up. AIM:It has been hypothesised that separation might carry a far greater risk of suicide than divorce. The present study investigates the impact of separation on suicide risk by taking into account the effects of age and gender. METHODS:The incidence of suicide associated with marital status, age and gender was determined by comparing the Queensland Suicide Register (a large dataset of all suicides in Queensland from 1994 to 2004) with the QLD population through two different census datasets: the Registered Marital Status and the Social Marital Status. These two registries permit the isolation of the variable 'separated' with great reliability. RESULTS:During the examined period, 6062 persons died by suicide in QLD (an average of 551 cases per year), with males outnumbering females by four to one. For both males and females separation created a risk of suicide at least 4 times higher than any other marital status. The risk was particularly high for males aged 15 to 24 (RR 91.62). CONCLUSIONS:This study highlights a great variation in the incidence of suicide by marital status, age and gender, which suggests that these variables should not be studied in isolation. Furthermore, particularly in younger males, separation appears to be strongly associated with the risk of suicide.

It is forecast (Department for Transport, 2007) that, by 2011, there willbe approximately 12.2 million people in the UK over state pension age, many of whom will be continuing to drive for many years after retirement. A sample of over 2,000 reported crashes involving drivers aged over 60 was considered, from three midland UK police forces for the years 1994-2005 inclusive. Drivers aged under 70 years appeared to be no more likely to have caused any given crash than to have been the victim of another driver's carelessness. However, blameworthiness increased with driver age; drivers aged 85 years or more appeared to be over four times as likely to have caused a crash than they were to have been innocently involved. The most frequent class of crash caused by drivers aged over 60 years was right of way crashes; approximately 45% of the crashes where the older driver was to blame involved violation of another driver's right of way. The most frequent failures observed involved visual search errors when turning right onto a more major road. Older drivers also succumbed to illness and fatigue in a significant minority of cases. Cognitive failures also led them to be involved in a minority of cases of 'unintended acceleration'. For the full textof this article see: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/rsrrno109.pdf

Motorcyclists are over-represented in UK traffic accident statistics. Many car–motorcycle accidents are however due to the inappropriate actions of car drivers. It is predicted that car drivers at risk of collision with motorcycles have divergent attitudes and beliefs about motorcyclists compared to safer drivers, which may lead to a deficient mental model guiding their interactions with motorcyclists. To assess car drivers’ attitudes towards motorcyclists, a survey was undertaken. Respondents filled in 26 general and motorcycle-related items and the 24 items of the reduced Driver Behaviour Questionnaire. Compared to an experienced dual driver group (who both drive cars and ride motorcycles), all other drivers showed divergent beliefs and attitudes. Four factors were extracted from the motorcycle items: negative attitudes, empathic attitudes, awareness of perceptual problems, and spatial understanding. Car drivers with a moderate amount of experience (between 2 and 10 years driving) held the most negative views and reported the most violations. The results have lead to several suggestions for interventions aimed at decreasing the divergence between drivers’ perceptions of motorcyclists, and the perceptions of experienced dual drivers.

The Action Analysis Group at the University of Nottingham uses sequence analysis and a range of related techniques to study various psychological problems and processes. Past projects have looked at machine-learning techniques for data analysis, language change, human-computer interaction, and road accidents. Road accident projects undertaken for the Department for Transport/Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) over the last 20 years have investigated, in depth, right-turning accidents, overtaking accidents, young driver accidents, motorcycle accidents, work-related road traffic accidents and in-car fatal accidents. The research shows that police accident reports are 'information-rich' sources that can be a valuable tool for providing information about the causation of a variety of accidents. This paper describes techniques and main findings from each project and also examines some procedural problems affecting the work. For the covering abstract see ITRD E0903020.

Motorcycle accidents have somewhat different characteristics from accidents involving other classes of road user. They include in particular 'right of way' accidents, and accidents involving loss of control on curves or bends. A sample of 1790 accident cases was considered, including 1003 in detail, from UK midland police forces, involving motorcyclists of all ages, and covering the years 1997-2002 inclusive. Significant differences were discovered in the sample with respect to types of accidents involving motorcyclists (and their blameworthiness). There seems to be a particular problem surrounding other road users' perception of motorcycles, particularly at junctions. Such accidents often seem to involve older drivers with relatively high levels of driving experience who nonetheless seem to have problems detecting approaching motorcycles. Motorcyclists themselves seem to have far more problems with other types of accident, such as those on bends or curves. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Young drivers, especially males, have relatively more accidents than other drivers. Young driver accidents also have somewhat different characteristics to those of other drivers; they include single vehicle accidents involving loss of control; excess speed for conditions; accidents during darkness; accidents on single carriageway rural roads; and accidents while making cross-flow turns (i.e. turning right in the UK, equivalent to a left turn in the US and continental Europe).

This paper reports on fatal road traffic accidents, based on detailed case-by-case studies of 1000 police files. Forty-four per cent of fatal accidents sampled involved a vehicle going out of control on a bend or curve. The mean age of drivers was significantly younger than the mean age of drivers in all other accidents in the sample. Approximately five times as many male drivers were at fault as female river in this fatality class. Excessive speed was a major factor in loss of control. 57% of these accidents occurred during the hours of darkness. Of all fatal accidents, 19% involved a driver over the drink drive limit and 4% involved drugs. The incidence of drink and drug related accidents was highest in drivers aged under 30 and lowest in those aged over 70. In 34% of fatal accidents, the fatally injured person was not wearing a safety belt. Fatalities involving drivers engaging in right of way violations formed 16% of the sample and had a greater mean age of driver than all other accidents in the sample. With drivers over 65 years of age 'looked but did not see' or failure to observe correctly accidents explained over 70% of fatalities. The highest incidence of passenger fatalities involved males aged 16-20. Often the occupants of a vehicle had all consumed alcohol, or drugs, or had not worn safety belts. These accidents were commonest after 2200h and before 0200h. The reasons for the increased accident fatality rate among young and old drivers are discussed. For the covering abstract see ITRD E138063.

In absolute terms, young drivers have three to four times as many accidents per year as older drivers; and even allowing for their relative numbers in the population, their accident involvement is about 2.5 times higher than older drivers.A sample of 3437 accident reports was considered, including 1296 in detail, from midland police forces in the UK, involving drivers aged 17-25, and covering the years 1994-1996 inclusive. Four types of accident were identified as being of particular concern due to their high frequency: 'cross-flow'-turns; rear-end shunts; loss of control on bends; and accidents in darkness. (The term 'cross-flow' is used in relation to turns to denote an intersection accident where a driver is turning across the path of oncoming traffic, i.e., left turns in the US and continental Europe, but right turns in the UK and other countries where driving on the left side of the road is the norm.)An examination of driver risk taking behaviours as revealed in police interviews gave an insight into some of the motivational factors underlying young driver behaviour. Young driver accidents of all types are found to be frequently the result of 'risk taking' factors as opposed to 'skill deficit' factors. It had previously been thought that one of the main problems that young drivers have is in the area of specific skills needed in the driving task. However, it appears that a large percentage of their accidents are purely the result of two or three failures resulting from voluntary risk taking behaviour, rather than skill deficits per se. It is shown that specific groups of young drivers can even be considered as above average in driving skills, but simultaneously have a higher accident involvement due to their voluntary decisions to take risks. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Findings related to 2111 police case reports involving work-related road traffic accidents from three English Midland police forces are reported. Nearly 90% of the sample was found to contain six main classes of vehicle being used in a work-related capacity. These were company cars, vans / pickup trucks, lorries / large goods vehicles (LGV), buses / public commercialvehicles (PCV), taxis / minicabs and emergency vehicles. Work-related drivers exhibited an elevated blameworthiness ratio for lorry / LGV, van/pickup and company cars whereas emergency vehicles, taxi / minicab and bus / PCV showed decreased blameworthiness. LGVs were more likely than other vehicle groups to be involved in fatal and serious accidents. In accidents where LGV drivers are considered to blame, poor observation and distraction were cited as causes. There was evidence of fatigue or illness in a fifth of fatal accidents caused by LGV drivers. About a quarter of fatalities involved LGV drivers breaking the speed limit. Two fatalities were caused by overloading or insecure loads. However in over half of fatal LGV accidents, the LGV driver was not to blame. Company car drivers and emergency vehicle drivers were also likely to cause fatal accidents. Over half of companycar fatality accidents involved excessive speed on the part of the driverand with emergency vehicles the majority of fatality accidents involved excess speed. In half of emergency vehicle fatality accidents, another driver had also contributed to the accident in some way. An explanatory factors list with 64 items was used to categorise each accident in the sample and results are given for each category of driver. Only 2.6% of the whole sample showed fatigue as a possible causal factor. Causal vehicle defects were found in 1.5% of accidents. Twenty-one accidents related to personnel working on or near the road area also discussed. A list of 23 possible behavioural strategies fro avoiding typical accidents was drawn up using established texts and the data from this study. For the covering abstract see ITRD E157497

Road traffic accidents while at work are the single largest cause of occupational fatality in the United Kingdom. Work-related road accidents do not comprise a homogeneous group, but take many forms, encompassing the use of varying types of vehicle used for diverse purposes and including special sub-groups such as those working in, on, or near the highway. A sample of 2111 accident cases was considered, including 1009 in detail, from Midland police forces, involving drivers/workers of all ages and covering the years 1996-2004 inclusive. Each case was summarized on a database including the main objective features (such as time and place) and a summary narrative, a sketch plan and a list of explanatory factors. The summary narrative, in particular, included judgements by the researchers that emphasized the sequence of events leading up to the accident. The main findings were as follows: (1) There were six main classes of accident-involved vehicle, which covered 88% of the sample. These were company cars, vans/pickups, lorries - large goods vehicles (LGVs), buses - passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs), taxis/minicabs and emergency vehicles. Sub-groups in the remaining 12% of the sample included people driving miscellaneous vehicle types and those working in, on, or near the road. (2) The drivers of company cars, vans/pickups and lorries (LGVs) all appeared to have a high 'blameworthiness' ratio in their accident involvement. Company car drivers showed excess speed as a causal factor, whereas van drivers showed more observational failures, and LGV drivers showed more fatigue and vehicle defects as factors. (3) The drivers of buses (PCVs), taxis/minicabs and emergency vehicles showed a low 'blameworthiness' ratio in their accident involvement. Their problems seemed to be primarily with the other drivers/parties with whom they share the road. While they made a variety of mistakes or errors, they were more likely to become the victim of another party's mistake or error. (4) Workers on, in, or near the road seemed to come to grief through the behavior of drivers who sometimes seemed to be aggressively asserting their right of way over pedestrians with little regard to their safety.

Past efforts to promote family planning in Pakistan have been disappointing, but between 1990-91 and 2000-01 contraceptive use has more than doubled. This rise has coincided with a concerted effort on the part of the Pakistani government to increase access to contraceptive services, particularly in rural areas. The Lady Health Worker Programme (LHWP), initiated under the Ministry of Health in the early 1990s, aimed at integrating family planning into the doorstep provision of primary health care. This paper presents findings from the first national evaluation of this Programme. Data are analyzed from a random sample survey of 4277 women living in households served by the LHWP and those living in control areas. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of the Programme on the uptake of modern reversible contraceptive methods, controlling for other independent variables. The data provide strong evidence that the LHWP has succeeded in increasing modern contraceptive use among rural women. Women served by Lady Health Workers are significantly more likely to use a modern reversible method than women in communities not served by the Programme (OR=1.50, 95% CI=1.04-2.16, p=0.031), even after controlling for various household and individual characteristics. The model of providing doorstep services through community-based female workers should remain central to achieving universal access to safe family planning methods by the end of the decade--the long-term objective of Pakistan's most recent population policy adopted in 2002.

The nature of motorcycle accidents in the UK is discussed. A sample of 1790 accident cases was considered, including 1003 in detail, form Midlands police forces, involving motorcyclists of all ages, and covering the years 1997-2002 inclusive. Each case was summarised on a database including the main objective features (such as time and place) and a summary narrative, a sketch plan and a list of explanatory factors. In addition, a questionnaire was completed by a sample of relatively experienced motorcyclists recruited through the Motorcycle Action Group. Significant differences were discovered in the sample with respect to the types of accidents involving motorcyclists. There seems to be a particular problem surrounding other road users' perception of motorcycles, particularly at junctions. Such accidents often seem to involve older drivers with relatively high levels of driving experience who nonetheless seem to have problems detecting approaching motorcycles. Motorcyclists themselves seem to have far more problems with other types of accident, such as those on bends, and overtaking or 'filtering' accidents. It is considered that interventions should be focussed on the skills and attitudes of young and inexperienced riders of smaller capacity machines such as scooters, and of older, more experienced riders of higher capacity machines. The full text of this publication may be found at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/indepthstudyofmotorcycleacc.pdf

Following two successful projects on right-turning accidents and overtaking accidents, based on police accident case files, we are nearly at the conclusion of a three-year project on the accident mechanisms of young drivers. A sample of 3,439 accident cases are to be considered, including 1,284 in detail, from Midlands police forces, involving drivers aged 17-25. Four types of accident are being analysed: right-turns; rear-end shunts; loss of control on bends; and accidents in darkness. Preliminary analyses will be presented of over 3,000 cases that have been gathered, together with a discussion of simple behavioural countermeasures that might apply within each category examined. Issues to emerge from the study already include age and gender differences in contributory factors; techniques for inducing exposure measures by examining 'crashee' age data; and an examination of driver attitudes as revealed in police interviews. For the covering abstract see ITRD E116025.