Safety Evaluation of Median U-Turn Crossover-Based Intersections

Alternative innovative designs for intersections were defined to enhance traffic operation and safety. Median U-turn (MUT) and restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) intersections are among the types of alternative intersections that enable drivers to make left-turn movements at median U-turn crossovers downstream of the main intersection. Recently, municipalities and transport agencies have tended to implement these types of intersections. However, their effectiveness in crash reduction has not been adequately determined in previous studies. This is because of the limited number of alternative intersections that were considered in these studies. In addition, there was no consideration for the unusual new geometric design of these intersections. In this study, a safety evaluation was conducted while considering the new intersection-related areas at MUT and RCUT intersections to clarify and quantify their effectiveness in crash reduction. This study considered 73 MUT and 12 RCUT intersections. Two types of MUT intersections were considered in this study. Crash modification factors for MUT and RCUT intersections were estimated by using before–after and cross-sectional methods. The results indicated that MUT and RCUT intersections are safer than conventional intersections. MUT intersections are effective in reducing total, property damage only (PDO), rear-end, and opposite-direction sideswipe crashes, although they significantly increase single-vehicle and non-motorized crashes. RCUT intersections are effective in reducing fatal-and-injury, injury, head-on, and angle crashes. Findings of this research provide clear evaluation for decision makers about the effectiveness of MUT and RCUT intersections in crash reduction.

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Systematic Safety Evaluation of Diverging Diamond Interchanges Based on Nationwide Implementation Data

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/03611981211004961 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 036119812110049

Author(s):

Ahmed Abdelrahman ◽

Mohamed Abdel-Aty ◽

Jinghui Yuan ◽

Ma’en M. A. Al-Omari

Keyword(s):

Empirical Bayes ◽

Safety Evaluation ◽

Safety Performance ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Crash Frequency ◽

Left Turn ◽

Crash Modification Factors ◽

Diamond Interchanges ◽

Implementation Data ◽

Sectional Analysis

Diverging diamond interchanges (DDIs) are designed as an alternative to the conventional diamond interchanges to enhance operational and safety performance. As the popularity of the DDI is increasing and more DDIs are being constructed and proposed, the need has arisen to measure the actual safety benefits of DDIs as compared with the traditional diamond interchanges. This study evaluates the safety of DDIs using three methods: before–after study with comparison group, Empirical Bayes before–after method, and cross-sectional analysis. This study collected a nationwide sample of 80 DDIs in 24 states. The estimated crash modification factors indicated that converting conventional diamond interchange to DDIs could significantly decrease the total, fatal-and-injury, rear-end, and angle/left-turn crashes by 14%, 44%, 11%, and 55%, respectively. Moreover, the developed safety performance functions implied that a longer distance between crossovers/ramp terminals and a lower speed limit on freeway exit ramps are significantly associated with lower crash frequency at diamond interchanges. This study contributes to the existing literature using a relatively large representative sample size, which provides more reliable evaluation results. In addition, this study also explored the effects of different traffic and geometric characteristics on the safety performance of DDIs.

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Disaster Safety Assessment in Primary Healthcare Facilities: A Cross-Sectional Study, Kurdistan, Iran

10.21203/rs.3.rs-56648/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Arezoo Yari ◽

Yadolah Zarezadeh ◽

Farin Fatemi ◽

Ali Ardalan ◽

Siamak Vahedi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Healthcare ◽

Safety Evaluation ◽

Rapid Response Team ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Structural Safety ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Response Team

Abstract Primary Healthcare facilities in Iran deliver health services at all levels nationwide. Resiliency and flexibility of such facilities is important when a disaster occurs. Thus, evaluating functional, structural, and non-structural aspects of safety of these facilities is essential. In this cross-sectional study, using the safety evaluation checklist of primary healthcare centers provided by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 805 health centers in Kurdistan Province were evaluated in terms of functional, structural, and non-structural safety. The levels of total, functional, structural, and non-structural safety were equal to 28.7, 23.8, 20.2, and 42.3 out of 100 respectively. Regarding the functional preparedness, the highest score was related to rapid response team, while the lowest score was belonged to financial affairs. Nevertheless, in structural and non-structural areas, the scores of different items were almost similar to one another. Both Iran and Kurdistan Province are disaster-prone areas. This study concluded that the safety score of primary healthcare facilities in total was unsatisfactory. Thus, promoting preparedness, resilience and continuity of service delivery is essential during disasters and emergencies. The finding of this study could be beneficial for national and provincial decision-makers and policymakers in this regard

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Disaster Safety Assessment in Primary Healthcare Facilities: A Cross-Sectional Study, Kurdistan, Iran

10.21203/rs.3.rs-56648/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Arezoo Yari ◽

Yadolah Zarezadeh ◽

Farin Fatemi ◽

Ali Ardalan ◽

Siamak Vahedi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Healthcare ◽

Safety Evaluation ◽

Rapid Response Team ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Structural Safety ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Response Team

Abstract Background: Primary healthcare facilities in Iran deliver health services at all levels nationwide. Resiliency and flexibility of such facilities is important when a disaster occurs. Thus, evaluating functional, structural, and non-structural aspects of safety of these facilities is essential. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, using the safety evaluation checklist of primary healthcare centers provided by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 805 health centers in Kurdistan Province were evaluated in terms of functional, structural, and non-structural safety. Results: The levels of total, functional, structural, and non-structural safety were equal to 28.7, 23.8, 20.2, and 42.3 out of 100 respectively. Regarding the functional preparedness, the highest score was related to rapid response team, while the lowest score was belonged to financial affairs. Nevertheless, in structural and non-structural areas, the scores of different items were almost similar to one another. Both Iran and Kurdistan Province are disaster-prone areas. Conclusions: This study concluded that the safety score of primary healthcare facilities in total was unsatisfactory. Thus, promoting preparedness, resilience and continuity of service delivery is essential during disasters and emergencies. The finding of this study could be beneficial for national and provincial decision-makers and policymakers in this regard

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Safety Effects of Flashing Yellow Arrows Used in Protected Permitted Phasing: Comparison of Full Bayes and Empirical Bayes Results

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198118794289 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2672 (21) ◽

pp. 20-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Justice Appiah ◽

F. Adam King ◽

Michael D. Fontaine ◽

Benjamin H. Cottrell

Keyword(s):

Empirical Bayes ◽

Safety Evaluation ◽

Left Turn ◽

Flashing Yellow Arrow ◽

Before And After ◽

Credible Intervals ◽

Degree Of Confidence ◽

Crash Reduction ◽

Better Than ◽

Bayes Approach

Using the flashing yellow arrow (FYA) signal indication for the permissive portion of protected-permissive left-turn (PPLT) phasing has become an increasingly popular treatment for left-turn signals as drivers are believed to understand the FYA better than the traditional circular green indication. A before-and-after safety evaluation of deploying FYA at PPLT signals at 28 intersections in Virginia was conducted. Each of the study intersections had FYA for the permitted portion of the phase on at least one left-turn approach. The focus was on left-turns that operated in the protected-permissive mode (with circular green indication for the permissive portion) before being converted to PPLT operations with the FYA indication for the permissive portion (PPLT-FYA). Crash records from before and after the activation of FYA were compared using both the full Bayes and empirical Bayes approaches. The results indicate that using the FYA signal indication instead of the circular green indication had a statistically significant effect in reducing overall frequency and severity of crashes. For the intersections studied in this research, total crashes reduced by 12% following conversion from PPLT to PPLT–FYA. The results also indicated that the full Bayes approach to safety effectiveness evaluation can, at a minimum, provide similar results to the well-established empirical Bayes approach. The 95% credible intervals for the expected crash reduction rates estimated with the full Bayes method were generally narrow, suggesting a good degree of confidence in the estimates.

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Standard against nonstandard urban intersection nighttime traffic safety evaluation using cross-sectional method

Innovative Infrastructure Solutions ◽

10.1007/s41062-021-00569-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Hamid Mirzahossein ◽

Hamid Reza Behnood ◽

Mohammad Reza Eskandari ◽

Abolfazl Khishdari

Keyword(s):

Traffic Safety ◽

Safety Evaluation ◽

Cross Sectional

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Should Weights and Risk Categories Be Used for Inspection Scores To Evaluate Food Safety in Restaurants?

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-15-292 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 79 (3) ◽

pp. 501-506 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

DIOGO THIMOTEO da CUNHA ◽

VERIDIANA VERA de ROSSO ◽

ELKE STEDEFELDT

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Food Service ◽

Safety Evaluation ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Raw Material ◽

Risk Category ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Evaluation Bias ◽

Risk Categories ◽

Food Safety Evaluation

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to verify the characteristics of food safety inspections, considering risk categories and binary scores. A cross-sectional study was performed with 439 restaurants in 43 Brazilian cities. A food safety checklist with 177 items was applied to the food service establishments. These items were classified into four groups (R1 to R4) according to the main factors that can cause outbreaks involving food: R1, time and temperature aspects; R2, direct contamination; R3, water conditions and raw material; and R4, indirect contamination (i.e., structures and buildings). A score adjusted for 100 was calculated for the overall violation score and the violation score for each risk category. The average violation score (standard deviation) was 18.9% (16.0), with an amplitude of 0.0 to 76.7%. Restaurants with a low overall violation score (approximately 20%) presented a high number of violations from the R1 and R2 groups, representing the most risky violations. Practical solutions to minimize this evaluation bias were discussed. Food safety evaluation should use weighted scores and be risk-based. However, some precautions must be taken by researchers, health inspectors, and health surveillance departments to develop an adequate and reliable instrument.

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Development of Crash Modification Factors for Uncontrolled Pedestrian Crossing Treatments

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.3141/2636-01 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2636 (1) ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Charlie Zegeer ◽

Craig Lyon ◽

Raghavan Srinivasan ◽

Bhagwant Persaud ◽

Bo Lan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Crash Risk ◽

Limited Sample ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Empirical Bayesian ◽

Treatment Type ◽

Crash Modification Factors ◽

Pedestrian Crashes ◽

Pedestrian Crossing ◽

Crash Types

The objective of this study was to develop crash modification factors for four treatment types: rectangular rapid-flashing beacon (RRFB), pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB), pedestrian refuge island (RI), and advance yield or stop markings and signs (AS). From 14 cities throughout the United States, 975 treatment and comparison sites were selected. Most of the treatment sites were selected at intersections on urban, multilane streets, because these locations present a high risk for pedestrian crashes and are where countermeasures typically are needed most. For each treatment site, relevant data were collected on the treatment characteristics, traffic, geometric, and roadway variables, and the pedestrian crashes and other crash types that occurred at each site. Cross-sectional regression models and before–after empirical Bayesian analysis techniques were used to determine the crash effects of each treatment type. All four of the treatment types were found to be associated with reductions in pedestrian crash risk, compared with the reductions at untreated sites. PHBs were associated with the greatest reduction of pedestrian crash risk (55% reduction), followed by RRFBs (47% reduction), RIs (32% reduction), and AS (25% reduction). The results for RRFBs had their basis in a limited sample and must be used with caution.

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Correlates of Cognitive Load in Surrogate Decision Makers of the Critically III

Western Journal of Nursing Research ◽

10.1177/0193945918807898 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 650-666 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Grant A. Pignatiello ◽

Ronald L. Hickman

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Cognitive Load ◽

Critically Ill ◽

Decision Aids ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Expressive Suppression ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Surrogate Decision Makers ◽

Surrogate Decision

Surrogate decision makers (SDMs) of the critically ill experience intense emotions and transient states of decision fatigue. These factors may increase the cognitive load experienced by electronic decision aids. This cross-sectional study explored the associations of emotion regulation (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) and decision fatigue with cognitive load (intrinsic and extraneous) among a sample of 97 SDMs of the critically ill. After completing subjective measures of emotion regulation and decision fatigue, participants were exposed to an electronic decision aid and completed a subjective measurement of cognitive load. Multiple regression analyses indicated that decision fatigue predicted intrinsic cognitive load and expressive suppression predicted extraneous cognitive load. Emotion regulation and decision fatigue represent modifiable determinants of cognitive load among SDMs exposed to electronic decision aids.

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Protocol to assess the values and preferences towards SARS-CoV-2 self-testing among the general population and their representatives, healthcare personnel and decision-makers in health: a multi-country mixed methods study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.33088 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sonjelle Shilton ◽

Elena Ivanova Reipold ◽

Albert Roca ◽

Guillermo Z. Martínez-Pérez

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

General Population ◽

Research Question ◽

Qualitative Inquiry ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Healthcare Personnel ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Self Testing ◽

Views And Perceptions

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Accessible, safe and client-centred SARS-CoV-2 testing services are an effective way to halt its transmission. Testing enables individuals to isolate or quarantine to prevent further transmission. In countries with limited health systems and laboratory capacity, the provision of accessible and safe screening for COVID-19 is challenging. Self-testing provides a convenient, private and safe testing option. However, it also raises some important concerns relating to a lack of counselling and a clear pathway to ensure timely reporting of self-test results to national surveillance systems. Investigating community members’ views and perceptions is crucial to inform the most effective and safe strategies for implementing SARS-CoV-2 self-testing. Methods: This study will be conducted in nine countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines and South Africa. It is a multi-site, mixed methods, observational study that consists of two components: cross-sectional surveys and a qualitative inquiry among four respondent groupings: the general population, general population representatives, healthcare workers and decision-makers. Our main research question is how useful, and under which circumstances, would SARS-CoV-2 self-testing be for populations in low-resource settings, to diagnose and prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2? The general population and the healthcare worker surveys will be analysed separately, using bivariate and multivariate inferential analysis and descriptive statistics. The qualitative inquiries, which will comprise semi-structured interviews and group interviews, will be audio recorded, transcribed and coded. Thematic analysis will be conducted. Discussion: The views and perceptions of local populations are crucial for leading the discussion around the safest strategies for implementing SARS-CoV-2 self-testing. This study intends to generate evidence about the different sociocultural specificities that may hinder or accelerate the widespread utilisation of SARS-CoV-2 self-testing. Dissemination of results will be via publications, presentations at conferences, and dissemination events specifically targeted at local decision makers, civil society and patient groups.

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