scholarly journals Advanced Warning System to Improve Safety at Train Grade Crossings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11779
Author(s):  
Joaquin Haces-Garcia ◽  
Arturo Haces-Garcia ◽  
Francisco Haces-Garcia ◽  
Francisco Haces-Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Warning System ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Potential ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Grade Crossings ◽  
Safety Investment ◽  
Additional Safety

The severity of traffic accidents at train grade crossings has led to efforts in mitigating their potential damaging effects. Over the last 45 years, significant investment has been made at these crossings in the United States to reduce the number of accidents. Initially, these improvements reduced accidents, but in the last decade, the numbers have plateaued, even as additional safety investment has continued. Geospatial data from the Federal Railroad Administration was evaluated to ascertain the causes of the efficacy reduction of traditional safety measures. Temporal patterns were detected in diverse parameters that measure accident seriousness such as their frequency, financial damages, injuries, and deaths. An advanced warning system for motorist was proposed in this research to allow them enough time to change their schedules and driving routes, avoiding blockages caused by incoming trains. To avoid pitfalls from previous proposed systems the model will be initially implemented in locations with a high number of accidents and lower layout complexity for the railway, roads, and train grade crossings. Two railways in Texas were selected for the initial implementation of the system. The proposed pilot locations showed high potential for the development of the advanced warning system, in preparation for a broader effort to continue the improvement in safety at railway crossings.

Risk Perception and Probability

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara E. Gorman ◽  
Jack M. Gorman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
The United States ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Real Risk ◽  
Serious Injury ◽  
Elementary Statistics ◽  
Nonfatal Injuries

Each day, when you take your morning shower, you face a 1 in 1,000 chance of serious injury or even death from a fall. You might at first think that each time you get into the shower your chance of a fall and serious injury is 1 in 1,000 and therefore there is very little to worry about. That is probably because you remember that someone once taught you the famous coin-flip rule of elementary statistics: because each toss is an independent event, you have a 50% chance of heads each time you flip. But in this case you would be wrong. The actual chance of falling in the shower is additive. This is known in statistics as the “law of large numbers.” If you do something enough times, even a rare event will occur. Hence, if you take 1,000 showers you are almost assured of a serious injury—about once every 3 years for a person who takes a shower every day. Of course, serious falls are less common than that because of a variety of intervening factors. Nevertheless, according to the CDC, mishaps near the bathtub, shower, toilet, and sink caused an estimated 234,094 nonfatal injuries in the United States in 2008 among people at least 15 years old. In 2009, there were 10.8 million traffic accidents and 35,900 deaths due to road fatalities in the United States. The CDC estimates a 1-in-100 lifetime chance of dying in a traffic accident and a 1-in-5 lifetime chance of dying from heart disease. But none of these realities affect our behaviors very much. We don’t take very many (if any) precautions when we shower. We text, eat, talk on the phone, and zone out while driving, paying little attention to the very real risk we pose to ourselves (and others) each time we get in the car. And we keep eating at McDonald’s and smoking cigarettes, completely disregarding the fact that these behaviors could eventually affect our health in extreme and fatal ways. On the other hand, there is zero proven risk of death as a result of the diphtheria- tetanus- pertussis (DTP) vaccine.

scholarly journals Evolution of hospitalizations due to TBI according to the etiology of trauma in SUS Brazil 2010 – 2019

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Maria Capurro de Queiroz Oberg ◽  
Regina Marcia Cardoso de Sousa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Young People ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Main Mechanism ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Very Elderly ◽  
Mechanism Of Trauma

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main determinant of morbidity, mortality and disability for trauma victims, being considered a serious public health problem because it mainly affects individuals of productive age. The etiology of trauma differs according to the age group affected: falls in age extremes and external causes – especially traffic accidents – in young people and adults, constituting the main mechanism of trauma as a whole. Recent studies show that the epidemiology of TBI in the United States is changing: falls have been ahead of traffic accidents as the main mechanism of trauma, especially in the age group above 85 years of age, accompanied by the general reduction in TBI due to traffic accidents. Objective: To describe the evolution of the incidence of hospitalizations due to TBI and trauma mechanisms in the SUS between 2010 and 2019. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study that analyzed hospital morbidity due to TBI in Brazil and the mechanism of trauma, from 2010 to 2019. General hospitalization data were obtained from SIH/ SUS. The ICD10 codes used were those referring to TBI: “Fracture of the skull and bones of the face” and “Intracranial trauma”. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Data were collected in February 2021. Results: There was an increase in the incidence of TBI in all age groups in the period studied. Traffic accidents, despite all prevention actions, remain an important etiology in young people, adults and the elderly. There is a significant increase in the incidence of TBI and falls in the elderly and very elderly population. Conclusion: When compared to the evolution of the TBI profile in the United States, there was also an increase in incidence and etiology “falls” in the elderly and very elderly in Brazil. However, traffic accidents still represent an expressive mechanism of trauma related to TBI.

scholarly journals Earthquake Early Warning ShakeAlert 2.0: Public Rollout

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 1763-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica D. Kohler ◽  
Deborah E. Smith ◽  
Jennifer Andrews ◽  
Angela I. Chung ◽  
Renate Hartog ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Warning System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Earthquake Early Warning ◽  
Earthquake Risk ◽  
Waveform Data ◽  
Ground Shaking ◽  
Event Rates

Abstract The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system is designed to automatically identify and characterize the initiation and rupture evolution of large earthquakes, estimate the intensity of ground shaking that will result, and deliver alerts to people and systems that may experience shaking, prior to the occurrence of shaking at their location. It is configured to issue alerts to locations within the West Coast of the United States. In 2018, ShakeAlert 2.0 went live in a regional public test in the first phase of a general public rollout. The ShakeAlert system is now providing alerts to more than 60 institutional partners in the three states of the western United States where most of the nation’s earthquake risk is concentrated: California, Oregon, and Washington. The ShakeAlert 2.0 product for public alerting is a message containing a polygon enclosing a region predicted to experience modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) threshold levels that depend on the delivery method. Wireless Emergency Alerts are delivered for M 5+ earthquakes with expected shaking of MMI≥IV. For cell phone apps, the thresholds are M 4.5+ and MMI≥III. A polygon format alert is the easiest description for selective rebroadcasting mechanisms (e.g., cell towers) and is a requirement for some mass notification systems such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. ShakeAlert 2.0 was tested using historic waveform data consisting of 60 M 3.5+ and 25 M 5.0+ earthquakes, in addition to other anomalous waveforms such as calibration signals. For the historic event test, the average M 5+ false alert and missed event rates for ShakeAlert 2.0 are 8% and 16%. The M 3.5+ false alert and missed event rates are 10% and 36.7%. Real-time performance metrics are also presented to assess how the system behaves in regions that are well-instrumented, sparsely instrumented, and for offshore earthquakes.

scholarly journals Industrial Workers Perception of Reverse Motion Warning Devices on Forklifts

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1861-1865
Author(s):  
Yousif Abulhassan ◽  
David Wilbanks ◽  
Richard Kilpatrick ◽  
Tyler Howell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Warning System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
Forward Motion ◽  
Reverse Motion ◽  
Alarm Systems ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Workplace Fatalities

In the United States, forklift accidents account for one in every six workplace fatalities (Bostelman and Shackleford, 2010). Backup warning devices such as tonal alarms and blue safety lights are commonly used to alert pedestrians of approaching forklifts. The purpose of this research is to identify worker’s perception on the effectiveness of two configurations of backup alarm systems: the level of nuisance perceived of these systems; and the importance of having a forward motion warning system. Results of this study indicate no statistically significant differences in the level of satisfaction between facilities using tonal backup alarms and facilities that use both tonal backup alarms along with blue safety lights. Additionally, results of this study indicate that the majority of the pedestrians and forklift operators sampled are in favor of having forward motion warning devices installed on forklifts.

Heavy truck driving attitude and behavior contributing to road traffic accidents

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Tarek M. Esmael ◽  
Abdulamajeed Al Amri ◽  
Tariq Al Anazi ◽  
Saleh Al Attawi ◽  
Hany Hosny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
World Health ◽  
Road Traffic Accidents ◽  
World Health Survey ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The World

According to the World Health Organisation, road traffic accidents are the leading cause of most emergency  admissions in hospitals worldwide. Many people have indicated that road traffic collisions are a significant contributor to DALYs lost. For example, according to the World Health Survey in 2010, road traffic events have been reported as the ninth most common cause of injury-modified life years (DALYs) lost across all age and gender classes. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one out of every 10 deaths in the world are caused by road traffic accidents. More than 200,000 people are killed in the United States each year from different reasons. The number of disabled people related to this disease will grow even further by 2020. There are nearly 1.5 million out of about 47 million people who are wounded in the highways every year in the United States Drivers were found to be more likely to saddle up for the journey as they set out on main roads. Car seat-belts can make driving more safe by reducing the effect made on the drivers and the passengers in the car. The driver's mood about the problem of distracted driving can be a critical factor in avoiding road traffic accidents. To be safe, drivers should have at least one restful day a week, should not drive for more than eight hours a day, should not travel more than 800 kilometers a day, and will need to have routine checks so that everything is going well and is running properly. Traffic laws, traffic signs, other vehicles, and many other items when on the road; drivers should not eat any nourishment, they should not consume any quantity of alcoholic beverages, they should not use electronic cigarettes, they should not put their mobile phones on.

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