Thesis (MTech (Education)) --Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1992 / The oil crises in the nineteen seventies led to deliberate attempts to save fuel. The technological development of more energy efficient vehicles by motor manufacturers in leading overseas countries resulted in substantial fuel savings. Experts in this field however, feel that further large scale technological improvements in the manufacturing of motor vehicles during the nineties will not be cost effective. For this reason improved driver training is now being considered. In order to devise an appropriate strategy for the development of a driver training programme to promote fuel efficiency various curriculum development models were evaluated, and on the basis of the chosen model, the need for such a programme was further investigated. At present South Africa has no compulsory training for light motor vehicle drivers. Therefore the degree to which existing voluntary training programmes presented in South Africa include the development of fuel efficient driving techniques, was examined. In addition, effective fuel efficient driver training programmes from abroad were obtained and evaluated. These programmes were used to identify deficiencies in local programmes. On the basis of these investigations a set of guidelines was proposed for the formulation of a training programme to promote fuel efficiency on the part of light motor vehicle drivers. The training programme was devised with due consideration to the current state of driver training in the RSA, possible future developments, as well as the needs of various institutions which might use this programme. The completed training programme, consisting of a students' manual and a supplementary video tape, is presented in separate modules to be used either in their own right or on an integrated basis with existing training material. The students' manual and the supplementary video tape were subjected to critical evaluation by a panel of experts in terms of technical quality and content. It is suggested that the proposed programme could be implemented by the School Driver Education Programme, formal driver training schools as well as by individuals in association with the K53 system.

Previous red light camera (RLC) studies have shown reductions in violations and overall and right angle collisions, however, they may also result in increases in rear-end crashes (Retting & Kyrychenko, 2002; Retting & Ferguson, 2003). Despite their apparent effectiveness, many RLC studies have produced imprecise findings due to inappropriate study designs and/or statistical techniques to control for biases (Retting & Kyrychenko, 2002), therefore, a more comprehensive approach is needed to accurately assess whether they reduce motor vehicle injury collisions. The objective of this proposal is to assess whether RLC’s improve safety at signalized intersections within Miami-Dade County, Florida. Twenty signalized intersections with RLC’s initiating enforcement on January 1st, 2011 were matched to two comparison sites located at least two miles from camera sites to minimize spillover effect. An Empirical Bayes analysis was used to account for regression to the mean. Incidences of all injury, red light running related injury, right-angle/turning, and rear-end collisions were examined. An index of effectiveness along with 95% CI’s were calculated. During the first year of camera enforcement, RLC sites experienced a marginal decrease in right-angle/turn collisions, a significant increase in rear-end collisions, and significant decreases in all-injury and red light running-related injury collisions. An increase in right-angle/turning and rear-end collisions at the RLC sites was observed after two years despite camera enforcement. A significant reduction in red light running-related injury crashes, however, was still observed after two years. A non-significant decline in all injury collisions was also noted. Findings of this research indicate RLC’s reduced red light running-related injury collisions at camera sites, yet its tradeoff was a large increase in rear-end collisions. Further, there was inconclusive evidence whether RLC’s affected right-angle/turning and all injury collisions. Statutory changes in crash reporting during the second year of camera enforcement affected the incidence of right-angle and rear-end collisions, nevertheless, a novelty effect could not be ruled out. A limitation of this study was the small number of injury crashes at each site. In conclusion, future research should consider events such as low frequencies of severe injury/fatal collisions and changes in crash reporting requirements when conducting RLC analyses.

This master thesis analyses the Volkswagen assembly lines of the Golf A5 manufacture in the mother plant in Wolfsburg, the Touran manufacture in the Auto 5000 GmbH in Wolfsburg as well as the Golf A5 manufacture in Uitenhage in South Africa - all with regard to the level of automation. The target of the analysis is the determination of the optimal level of automation in the three production sites and therefore, the investigation of the potential to automate, or rather to deautomate in particular sections of the assembly in the prevailing production locations. The three production sites are to be investigated with regard to costs, quality and quantity.

This study examined patient outcomes from accidents involving nontraditional motorized vehicles. A total of 558 patients aged >17 years were observed retrospectively. The study groups were divided by age. The Adult Trauma Group (ATG) (N=452) consisted of patients aged 18-64 years and the Elderly Trauma Group (ETG) (N=106) consisted of patients aged ≥65 years. All-terrain vehicle (ATV) accidents were the most common (N=437, 78%) among both study groups and also the primary cause of death, with 17 deaths (4%). The most common discharge disposition was home or self-care (routine discharge) with 427 patients (77%). The mortality rate of the total population was 4.1% (23 total deaths). There was a statistically significant difference in length of hospital stay (p=0.03) and length of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay (p=0.03) between the two groups and patients ≥65 years were statistically more likely to be discharged to a care facility vs. home. Nontraditional motorized vehicles continue to grow in popularity in all ages and the effect of age on patient outcomes after injury is an important area to evaluate.

No description available.

No description available.

Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a global public health concern. In 2020 alone, there were an estimated 6.76 million police reported crashes in the United States [1]. In the wake of an MVC, those involved may have been inflicted with serious or fatal injuries. Despite large research and development efforts to design vehicles and safety features to help reduce the frequency and severity of MVCs, crashes are, and will continue to be, a reality. In response to MVCs, first responders are tasked to provide crash victims with rapid immediate care and transport them to an appropriate facility. In spite of continued progress in emergency medicine, there are still many operational hurdles that emergency medical technicians need to overcome to perform their duties proficiently. Development and deployment of advanced automatic crash notification (AACN) systems have the potential to reduce the time between a crash and 911 system activation, especially for unseen roadway departures or crashes that render occupants incapacitated. Ultimately, AACN systems may aid first responders and improve MVC patient outcomes, however, these systems only target the earliest elements of an emergency response event. Therefore, the work contained in this dissertation aimed to identify additional areas for improvement within an emergency response event, specifically MVCs, and propose and/or develop solutions to address them. The first area pertained to emergency medical services (EMS) transportation, which can include responding to and transporting patients from an MVC. Through the analysis of the national EMS Information System database, an existing light vehicle naturalistic driving study, and a pilot ambulance-based naturalistic driving study, this dissertation provides a comprehensive investigation into EMS roadway interactions. The findings of these investigations confirmed that traffic interactions are a common issue and leading cause of EMS delay during response and transport phases. Even when ambulance operators drive with observed "due regard" and utilize emergency lights and sirens appropriate, many drivers were observed to yield the right of way inappropriately or in a delayed manner that resulted in safety critical events on open roadways and in intersections. The second area of improvement pertained to providing EMS with detailed patient information following an MVC. This took shape through the development of a post-crash injury triage system that provides first responders with occupant condition prior to on-scene arrival. The proposed system collects and shares crash occupant respiration rate, heart rate, and mental status through vehicle cabin integrated sensors and a post-crash response operator. This information, and additional vehicle specific crash details, are then populated into post-crash web application that responding agencies can view and interact with to strategically allocate response resources and predevelop transportation plans. Collectively, the work included in this dissertation identified challenges that EMS face when responding to MVCs, and produced findings that can be used to develop technology, update policies, and innovate in the transportation sector to improve emergency response and post-crash care. The identified safety and efficiency benefits not only apply to emergency respondents but encompass benefits to crash victims and all other road users. Although targeted at MVCs, the findings of this dissertation may also be applicable to many different types of emergencies and can benefit other public safety domains such as law enforcement, fire services, towing, and infrastructure maintenance. / Doctor of Philosophy / Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a global public health concern. In 2020 alone, there were an estimated 6.76 million police reported crashes in the United States [1]. In the wake of an MVC, those involved may have been seriously or fatally injuries. Despite large research and development efforts to design vehicles and safety features to help reduce the frequency and severity of MVCs, crashes are, and will continue to be, a reality. In response to MVCs, first responders are tasked to provide crash victims with rapid immediate care and transport them to an appropriate facility. In spite of continued progress in emergency medicine, there are still many operational hurdles that emergency medical technicians need to overcome to perform their duties proficiently. Development and deployment of advanced automatic crash notification (AACN) systems have the potential to reduce the time between a crash when a 911 response is started, especially for unseen roadway departures or crashes that render occupants incapacitated. Ultimately, AACN systems may aid first responders and improve MVC patient outcomes, however, these systems only target the earliest elements of an emergency response event. Therefore, the work contained in this dissertation aimed to identify additional areas for improvement within an emergency response event, specifically MVCs, and propose and/or develop solutions to address them. The first area pertained to emergency medical services (EMS) transportation, which can include responding to and transporting patients from an MVC. Through the analysis of a national database, an existing light vehicle driving study, and a pilot ambulance-based driving study, this dissertation provides a comprehensive investigation into EMS roadway interactions. The findings can be used to better understand EMS roadway interactions and applied to develop innovative ways to improve safety and efficiency for all road users. The second area of improvement pertained to providing EMS with detailed patient information following an MVC. This took shape through the development of a post-crash injury triage system that provides first responders with occupant condition prior to on-scene arrival. The proposed system collects and shares crash occupant respiration rate, heart rate, and mental status, allowing responding agencies to strategically allocate response resources and predevelop transportation plans. Collectively, the work included in this dissertation identified challenges that EMS face when responding to MVCs, and produced findings that can be used to develop technology, update policies, and innovate in the transportation sector to improve emergency response and post-crash care. The identified safety and efficiency benefits not only apply to emergency respondents but encompass benefits to crash victims and all other road users. Although targeted at MVCs, the findings of this dissertation may also be applicable to many different types of emergencies and can benefit other public safety domains such as law enforcement, fire services, towing, and infrastructure maintenance. Therefore, the work contained in this dissertation aimed to identify additional areas for improvement within an emergency response event, specifically MVCs, and propose and/or develop solutions to address them. The first area pertained to emergency medical services (EMS) transportation, which can include responding to and transporting patients from an MVC. Through the analysis of a national database, an existing light vehicle naturalistic driving study, and a pilot ambulance-based naturalistic driving study, this dissertation provides a comprehensive investigation into EMS roadway interactions. The findings can be used to better understand EMS roadway interactions and applied to develop innovative ways to improve safety and efficiency for all road users. The second area of improvement pertained to providing EMS with detailed patient information following an MVC. This took shape through the development of a post-crash injury triage system that provides first responders with occupant condition prior to on-scene arrival. The proposed system collects and shares crash occupant respiration rate, heart rate, and mental status, allowing responding agencies to strategically allocate response resources and predevelop transportation plans. Collectively, the work included in this dissertation identified challenges that EMS face when responding to MVCs, and produced findings that can be used to develop technology, update policies, and innovate in the transportation sector to improve emergency response and post-crash care. The identified safety and efficiency benefits not only apply to emergency respondents but encompass benefits to crash victims and all other road users. Although targeted at MVCs, the findings of this dissertation may also be applicable to many different types of emergencies and can benefit other public safety domains such as law enforcement, fire services, towing, and infrastructure maintenance.

Automobile crashes are the largest cause of death for pregnant females and the leading cause of traumatic fetal injury mortality in the United States. The first way to protect the fetus is to protect the mother considering that maternal death has a near 100% fetal loss rate. If the mother survives, protection of the fetus may best be accomplished by preventing placental abruption. Placental abruption, which is the premature separation of the placenta from the uterus, has been shown to account for 50% to 70% of fetal losses in motor vehicle crashes. Since real world crash data for pregnant occupants is limited to a retrospective analysis and pregnant cadaver studies are not feasible, crash test dummies and computational modeling have been utilized to evaluate the risk of adverse fetal outcome. Although pregnant occupant research has progressed with these tools, they are based on limited tissue data. In order to have more accurate research tools, better pregnant tissue material data are needed. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to provide material properties for the placenta and pregnant uterine tissue in dynamic tension. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 23, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-126).

Diss. Tampereen teknillinen korkeakoulu, 2006. / Myös verkkojulkaisuna.