Development of the Pedestrian Anger Scale. A pilot study

Anger has been closely related to risky behavior, and this last has been related to road accidents. The current research aimed to develop and validate a self-report questionnaire to measure anger in pedestrians (n = 550, 40.73% male) of a wide age rage (14-65 years, M = 27.91, SD = 13.21). The Parallel Analysis showed that the 15 items of the Pedestrian Anger Scale fitted satisfactorily in a four-factor solution: Anger because of obstructions or slowdowns caused by other pedestrians (α = .79), Anger because of hostility from drivers (α = .64), Anger because of bad conditions of the infrastructure (α = .62), and Anger because of dangerous situations caused by vehicles (α = .71). The global scale had also a good internal consistency (α = .83). Further analyses suggested convergent, divergent and incremental validity by correlating the global score of the questionnaire with both risk and anger measures. Middle-aged people (19-30 years) scored higher in anger as pedestrians than eldest (> 45 years), η2 = .02, but no significant effect were obtained by gender. Practical implications from both clinical and road safety viewpoints are discussed, and both future research proposals and limitations of the current study are also commented

No disponible

Biomecánica y mecanismo de producción del traumatismo cráneo-encefálico en el peatón atropellado. Evaluación de la normativa actual en la automoción / Pedestrian head injury biomechanics and damage mechanism. Pedestrian protection automotive regulation assessment

Introducción: Los atropellos son una de las principales causas de muerte entre los accidentes de tráfico. Recientemente, ha aumentado el estudio de los atropellos, principalmente debido a la aplicación de la normativa europea y japonesa en protección de peatones. Esta investigación presenta un análisis del traumatismo cráneo-encefálico del peatón atropellado, asociándolo con la estructura del vehículo responsable de la lesión, su mecanismo de daño y comparando el resultado con la normativa existente. Métodos: La metodología empleada ha consistido en un estudio epidemiológico descriptivo y transversal, mediante el estudio de datos de peatones atropellados recogidos en la base de datos americana (PCDS) que analiza a un total de 552 peatones atropellados y un total de 4.500 lesiones documentadas. Resultados: De acuerdo con este estudio, el capó es el causante del 15,1% de las lesiones de la cabeza del peatón, mientras que el parabrisas es responsable de 41,8% de todas las lesiones. En el caso de los vehículos tipo utilitario la ubicación del impacto de la cabeza se produce por encima de lo que se espera en la regulación actual y, por lo tanto, no se aplican las contramedidas necesarias. De todas las lesiones en la cabeza sufridas por los peatones solo el 20% tiene la aceleración lineal como mecanismo de lesión, el 40% de las lesiones se deben a la aceleración rotacional. Conclusiones: En esta investigación se pone de manifiesto la importancia de la aceleración rotacional como mecanismo de daño en la cabeza del peatón atropellado. En la normativa actual solo la aceleración lineal está contemplada en la formulación del principal criterio biomecánico utilizado para predecir el traumatismo cráneo-encefálico

Introduction: Pedestrian-vehicle collisions are a leading cause of death among motor vehicle accidents. Recently, pedestrian injury research has been increased, mostly due to the implementation of European and Japanese regulations. This research presents an analysis of the main head injury vehicle sources and injury mechanisms observed in the field, posteriorly the data are compared with the current pedestrian regulations. Methods: The analysis has been performed through an epidemiologic transversal and descriptive study, using the Pedestrian Crash Data Study (PCDS) involving 552 pedestrians, sustaining a total of 4.500 documented injuries. Results: According to this research, the hood surface is responsible for only 15,1% of all the head injuries. On the other hand, the windshield glazing is responsible for 41,8%. In case of sedan vehicles the head impact location exceeds what is expected in the current regulation, and therefore no countermeasures are applied. From all the head injuries sustained by the pedestrians just 20% have the linear acceleration as isolated injury mechanism, 40% of the injuries are due to rotational acceleration. Conclusions: In this research, the importance of the rotational acceleration as injury mechanism, in case of pedestrian-vehicle collision is highlighted. In the current pedestrian regulation just the linear acceleration is addressed in the main injury criteria used for head injury prediction