Changes in shared and private e-scooter use in Brisbane, Australia and their safety implications.

Shared electric scooter (e-scooter) schemes debuted in US cities in 2017 and have spread to many cities worldwide. Rider inexperience and the inexperience of other road users in interacting with e-scooters may be contributing to injuries. Shared e-scooters came to Brisbane, Australia, in November 2018 and our observational study in February 2019 found a high level of non-compliance with regulations by riders of shared, but not private, e-scooters. This paper examines whether e-scooter safety improved over time by comparing the numbers and behaviors of shared and private e-scooter riders with a follow-up observational study conducted in October 2019. Riders of e-scooters (and bicycles) were counted at six sites in inner-city Brisbane by trained observers over four weekdays. Type of e-scooter (private, Lime, Neuron), helmet use, gender, age group, riding location, time of day and presence of passengers were recorded. The number of shared e-scooters observed dropped from 711 in February to 495 in October but the number of private e-scooters increased from 90 to 269, resulting in a slight reduction in the total number of e-scooters. The correct helmet wearing rate increased non-significantly from 61.4% to 66.8% for shared e-scooters and remained high for riders of private e-scooters (95.5% in February and 94.3% in October). The percentage of e-scooters ridden on the road (which is illegal in central Brisbane) remained roughly the same (shared: 6.6% in February, 4.2% in October; private: 4.5% in February, 4.9% in October). The percentage of children and adolescents (illegally) riding shared e-scooters fell from 10.3% to 6.7%. The prevalence of any of these illegal behaviors among shared e-scooter riders fell significantly for shared e-scooter riders from 49.6% to 39.1% while the prevalence of illegal behaviors by other riders remained lower and did not change. The reduction in illegal behavior among shared e-scooter riders accompanied by the tripling of usage of private e-scooters suggests that e-scooter safety is likely to have improved.

Introducing accompanied driving in Denmark. Safety-related differences between youth licensing with immediate or delayed access to solo driving.

In Denmark, the legal license age was lowered from 18 to 17, to allow practice with an experienced driver before solo driving from age 18. The change gives the candidate driver a choice between: a) licensing at age 17 followed by a phase of accompanied driving until solo driving at age 18 (L17), and b) licensing at age 18 (or older) giving immediate access to solo driving (L18). The purpose of this study is: First, to explore safety-related differences between youth choosing the L17 or the L18 option, with a particular focus on safety attitude and self-assessed driving skills. Second, to map patterns in the use of accompanied driving and its predictors as well as the interaction between the L17 driver and the accompanying person (ACP). A sample of 632 drivers (53% male) between 17 and 19 years of age completed a survey. Among the participants 61% licensed through L17 and 39% through L18. Our results identify different risk profiles between L17 and L18. A higher score on perceptual-motor skills, lower score on safety skills and lower support to speed limits predicted L17. Female L17 were more safety-oriented compared to male L17. L17 who had experienced a supportive atmosphere and engagement in complex traffic situations during the drive were more likely to indicate that accompanied driving had improved their driving skills. However, results also indicate that the amount of experience obtained by L17 may be insufficient to obtain a safety benefit. Measures to address speeding and other risk-taking behaviours among male candidate drivers are needed to ensure a safety benefit of the Danish accompanied driving scheme. In addition, requirements may be needed to increase the amount of accompanied driving. Finally, parent guidelines could support the creation of a positive atmosphere during the drive.

Influencing factors of observed speed and rule compliance of speed-pedelec riders in high volume cycling areas: Implications for safety and legislation.

Speed pedelecs (s-pedelecs) are electric bicycles offering pedal assistance up to 45 km/h. S-pedelecs may contribute to a more efficient and green traffic system. However, their potential to reach high speeds has raised road safety concerns. In the Netherlands a new legislation bans s-pedelecs from bicycle paths in urban areas. On the roads with a maximum speed limit of 50 km/h with adjacent bicycle paths, s-pedelec riders must use the roadways instead of the bicycle path. The impact of this legislation on the behaviour of s-pedelec riders and other road users as well as the possible consequences for road safety are yet unknown. Therefore, this naturalistic riding study investigated the safety-relevant behaviours of s-pedelec riders, i.e. speed characteristics while riding on the roadway, the extent of non-compliance with the ban on using bicycle paths, and speed and speed adaptation while using bicycle paths. Furthermore the study explored factors possibly influencing rider behaviour (the s-pedelec's motor-power, riders' beliefs and perceptions) as well as negative reactions of other road users encountering s-pedelec riders. 28 participants used a s-pedelec (a 350 W type or a 500 W type) for everyday trips for at least a fortnight. The s-pedelecs were equipped with two action cameras with integrated sensors and GPS. The results showed that mean speed on 50 km/h roadways was 31.8 km/h, which is far below the road's speed limit. The mean speed did not differ between s-pedelec types, but the speed distribution did. The '500 W riders' travelled 31.7% of the total distance in the 41-50 km/h speed band, as compared to 6.9% of the '350 W riders'. Furthermore the 500 W riders evaluated riding on the roadway more positively than the 350 W riders. On the roadway s-pedelec riders experienced signals of hinderance of the traffic flow (on average every 2 km) and negative reactions from drivers (on average every 27.5 km). As for non-compliance riders covered on average 22.5% of the distance on bicycle paths. The more the riders disagreed with the new legislation, the more distance they covered on the bicycle path. Mean speed on bicycle paths was 28.5 km/h, and it was significantly higher for 500 W riders than for 350 W riders. Speeds between 41 and 50 km/h were also far more common for 500 W riders (14.9% of the distance) than for 350 W riders (0.5%). Compared to the roadway 350 W riders reduced their speed on the bicycle paths to a higher extent (from 31.4 to 25.7 km/h) than 500 W riders did (from 31.9 to 30.5 km/h). The frequency of harsh braking of s-pedelec riders was low and did not differ between the roadway and the bicycle paths. In conclusion, s-pedelec riders in the Netherlands frequently ride on the bicycle paths although it is illegal. On the bicycle paths their speeds are much higher than those of conventional cyclists. On the 50 km/h-roadways, however, s-pedelec riders are apparently too slow for the traffic conditions. Overall, the speed profiles of 350 W types were better suited to the bicycle paths, whereas those of 500 W types to the roadways.

Traffic conflicts involving speed-pedelecs (fast electric bicycles): A naturalistic riding study.

Speed-pedelecs -fast electric bicycles offering pedal support up to a speed of 45 km/h- are a recent, environmentally friendly, and mobility efficient innovation. However, their high travel speed may increase crash and injury risk. Due to their recent introduction accurate crash data are not available yet. Since near-crashes may serve as a proxy for crashes this study analyzed traffic conflicts (i.e., near-crashes and minor crashes) in the Netherlands with the aim to proactively identify potential crash partners, crash patterns, and crash risk increasing factors. To this end, twenty-eight participants used a speed-pedelec in daily traffic, equipped with a forward and a backward facing camera, for two to three consecutive weeks. In a total of 227 h of video footage in which a distance of 6584 km was travelled, 115 conflicts were identified of which 114 were near-crashes in which evasive actions were performed to avert a crash, and one was a minor crash. The most frequent conflict partner were bicycles (51 %), followed successively by cars and vans (28 %), pedestrians (12 %), powered two-wheelers (5 %) and animals (3 %). One conflict was with a truck. With conventional bicycles, most conflicts occurred in crossing maneuvers (36 %) and when the speed-pedelec and bicycle were travelling in the same direction (36 %). Also, with cars and vans, most conflicts occurred in crossing maneuvers (63 %). The case-cohort analyses in which characteristics in conflicts and characteristics in randomly selected moments of the same participant were identified, showed conflict risks to be high if: (1) bicycles or cars were in the proximity of the speed-pedelec but was substantially higher for bicycles than for cars (OR = 43.28, 95 % CI = [16.85-111.17] and OR = 22.43, 95 % CI = [7.59-66.28] respectively), (2) speed-pedelecs overtook other road users which were mostly bicycles (OR = 17.25, 95 % CI = [7.58-39.24]), (3) the speed-pedelecs travelled on bicycle facilities (both legally or illegally) (OR = 1.81, 95 % CI = [1.08-3.03]), and (4) speed-pedelecs rode near or at an intersection, OR = 3.94, 95 % CI = [2.42-6.43]. These findings suggest that conflict risks are higher when speed-pedelec riders make use of bicycle facilities than when they ride on the roadway for cars. However, the consequences of crashes with motorized vehicles on the roadway will probably be more severe for speed-pedelec riders than with bicycles on the cycle path. This study further illustrates the value of naturalistic conflict observations for assessing the safety implications of innovations proactively.

Can't simply roll it out: Evaluating a real-world virtual reality intervention to reduce driving under the influence.

Driving under the influence (DUI) increases the risk of crashes. Emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), represent potentially powerful and attractive tools for the prevention of risky behaviours, such as DUI. Therefore, they are embraced in prevention efforts with VR interventions primed to grow in popularity in near future. However, little is known about the actual effectiveness of such DUI-targeting VR interventions. To help fill the knowledge gap, this study explored the effects of one VR intervention as delivered in the real world. Using pre and post test design, including an intervention group (n = 98) and a control group (n = 39), the intervention evaluation examined young drivers' (aged 18 to 25, no known history of DUI) intention and self-reported behaviour three months after the intervention as compared to the baseline. The results did not provide evidence for statistically significant effects of the VR intervention on self-reported DUI behaviour during the three months post intervention and DUI intention at three months post intervention. Such results might be due to the fact that the recruited participants generally self-reported little DUI behaviour, i.e. positively changing behaviour that is already positive is inherently challenging. Nevertheless, the results question the utility of funding the roll-out of arguably attractive technologies without a thorough understanding of their effectiveness in particular settings. To improve the potential for future positive outcomes of such interventions, we provide suggestions on how VR software might be further developed and, subsequently, leveraged in future research to improve the likelihood for behavioural change, e.g. by collecting, analysing and presenting objective driving performance data. Alternatively, future endeavours might focus on participants with known DUI history and examine the effects of the VR intervention for this particular higher-risk group.

Comparing the risky behaviours of shared and private e-scooter and bicycle riders in downtown Brisbane, Australia.

Electric scooter (e-scooter) use has increased internationally, with concerns about injuries to riders and pedestrians, and reports of non-use of helmets, excessive speed, drink-riding and underage riding. E-scooter regulations vary widely among jurisdictions, with likely effects on the extent and nature of safety issues. This study was conducted in downtown Brisbane, Australia, where e-scooters must be ridden on the footpath, bicycles are allowed on the road and the footpath, and helmet use is mandatory for bicycle and e-scooter riders of all ages. It examined involvement in illegal and risky behaviours, and interactions with pedestrians. Shared and private e-scooters, and shared and private bicycles were compared to assess the relative influences of type of vehicle and shared use. Observations at six sites in downtown Brisbane in February 2019 recorded 711 shared e-scooters, 90 private e-scooters, 274 shared bicycles and 2788 private bicycles. Illegal riding (not wearing a helmet, riding on the road, or carrying a passenger) was more prevalent among shared than private e-scooters (49.6 % vs. 12.2 %). Non-use of helmets was more common among riders of shared e-scooters (38.6 %, OR = 20.995, p < .001) and shared bicycles (18.8 %, OR = 10.994, p < .001) than private bicycles (1.5 %); occurred more often on the footpath than the road (20.1 % vs. 1.8 %, OR = 3.004, p < .001); and occurred more between 2 and 4 pm than between 7 and 9a.m. (21.3 % vs. 5.5 %, OR = 1.711, p < .01). More than 90 % of e-scooters, about half of shared bicycles and about a quarter of private bicycles were ridden on the footpath, with about 40 % within 1 m of at least one pedestrian. When there were pedestrians within 1 m, conflict rates ranged from zero to 1.5 % and no collisions were observed. At least for helmet non-use, the results suggest that risky behaviours are more prevalent among users of shared schemes, and that this difference is accentuated for e-scooters. Interactions with pedestrians are common but conflicts rarely occur in footpath riding. Further observational and survey studies are recommended to better understand the factors influencing the perceptions and behaviours of shared and private e-scooters and pedestrians. The knowledge gained from these studies needs to be integrated with injury outcome data to determine the appropriateness of rules for maximum speeds and locations of riding in terms of both rider and pedestrian safety.

Understanding the predictors of young drivers' speeding intention and behaviour in a three-month longitudinal study.

This study aimed to examine to what extent an Adolescent Speeding Specific Model (ASSM), extending the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), predicts young drivers' (aged 18-25) future and past speeding (n = 126). The ASSM tested the contribution of demographics, split TPB, additional predictors and past behaviour to young drivers' speeding at two moments of time, over three months. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that participants most likely to speed in the future were those who have done so in the past (independent predictor (ip): past compliance with the speed limit), and who were not certain in their ability to control their speeding (ip: self-efficacy). ASSM also indicated that people who reported speeding at T1 did so at T2 as well (ip: past compliance with the speed limit). The results also show that sensitive to rewards people would speed more (ip: sensitivity to reward), similar to ones with less control over their behaviour (ip: perceived controllability) or with more driving experience (ip: GDL phase). Overall, the ASSM explained 73% of the intention to comply with speed limits variation and 62% of the present compliance with the speed limit variation. Compared to models, similar in structure to ASSM, our model explained variance in intention, equal to the previously maximum observed, and 22% more variance in behaviour. As a result, our findings may help design better targeted educational campaigns to prevent young drivers' speeding.

Speed characteristics of speed pedelecs, pedelecs and conventional bicycles in naturalistic urban and rural traffic conditions.

To assess the potential impact of the higher speeds of pedal-assisted bicycles on safety, this study compared conventional bicycles, pedelecs and speed pedelecs (hereafter called s-pedelecs) on mean speeds, speed variability, harsh braking events (decelerations > 2 m/s2), and mean speeds above the speed limit (MSAL) in rural and urban areas in the Netherlands Data were collected in daily traffic, while the legal maximum speed for speed-pedelecs was 25 km/h, and pedelecs and s-pedelecs shared the infrastructure with conventional bicycles. Data were collected, using two-wheelers equipped with accelerometers and GPS. Personality factors - sensation seeking and risk taking - were measured with surveys. Regular commuters used one of the three bicycle types for two weeks. Participant bias was intentionally included by allowing participants to select a bicycle type of their preference, resulting in 12 conventional bicycle riders (71 % women), 14 pedelec riders (67 % women) and 20 s-pedelec riders (25 % women). S-pedelecs were much faster than conventional bicycles, amounting to a speed difference with conventional bicycles of 10.4 km/h in urban areas (M =28.2 km/h vs. 17.8 km/h) and of 13.2 km/h in rural areas (M = 31.4 km/h vs. 18.2 km/h). The speed differences between pedelecs and conventional bicycles were much smaller: 2.3 km/h in urban areas (20.1 km/h vs 17.8 km/h) and 4 km/h in rural areas (22.2 km/h vs. 18.2 km/h). Compared to conventional bicycles, s-pedelecs varied their speed to a greater extent and also braked harshly more frequently, showing a greater need for speed adjustment. These adjustments were larger at higher speeds. In contrast, pedelecs did not differ from conventional bicycles on speed variation. MSAL for s-pedelec riders differed by gender. For men the MSAL was 87 % on urban sections and 91 % on rural sections. For women, the MSAL was lower, respectively 23 and 69 %. None of the personality factors were associated with speed variability, harsh braking or MSAL. However, sensation seeking was associated with higher mean speeds on all three bicycle types. To conclude, pedelecs and conventional bicycles are similar in speed patterns, whereas the speed patterns of s-pedelecs differ significantly from the former two. The safety implications are discussed.

Driver knowledge of cycling-related road rules in Queensland, Australia.

OBJECTIVES: Violations of road rules are common in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes, but little is known about how much this results from lack of knowledge of the rules. This article addresses the research questions of how well do drivers know the road rules related to interacting with cyclists, and what factors influence their level of knowledge. METHODS: An online survey compared drivers who reported riding bicycles on Queensland roads in the previous 12 months ("cyclists": n = 2,839) and those who did not ("drivers": n = 4,070). A list of 10 plausible road rules (four were not actual rules) relating to interactions between motor vehicles and bicycles was presented, and participants were asked "Which of the following road rules applies in Queensland?" The response options for each item were "Yes," "No," and "I don't know". RESULTS: The percentages correct varied markedly across the rules, from 86.5% to 38.7% for cyclists and from 72.2% to 20.9% for drivers. Incorrect responses were generally more common than "Don't know" responses (cyclists: 22.3% incorrect, 9.8% "Don't know"; drivers: 29.9% incorrect, 19.6% "Don't know"). The hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that cyclists had better road rule knowledge than drivers. In the cyclist-only model, more frequent riding was significantly associated with better road rule knowledge but explained only 3% of the total variance. Older cyclists and those living in more urbanized areas had better knowledge but age and location of residence together added only 1% to the variance explained. In the driver-only model, knowledge was better for male, older, more educated participants and those living in more urbanized areas but these variables together accounted for only 5% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that improving knowledge of some current road rules could be beneficial for cycling safety but for some other rules, improved knowledge could be detrimental for cycling safety and changing the rules to reflect shared perceptions of safe behavior may be more beneficial. For each of the rules, further research is needed to examine the links between knowledge and compliance, and the influence of compliance on the risks of bicycle-motor vehicle crashes and near misses.

Higher-order cycling skills among 11- to 13-year-old cyclists and relationships with cycling experience, risky behavior, crashes and self-assessed skill.

INTRODUCTION: In the Netherlands, young cyclists are extremely vulnerable in traffic, which may partly be due to their still underdeveloped higher-order cycling skill. So far, knowledge on their actual level of skill is lacking. Using a computerized test battery mimicking real-life risky traffic conditions, this study assessed the level of higher-order cycling skill in children 11 and 12 years of age and tested the hypothesis that these skills show caveats. Furthermore, factors potentially influencing the development and impact of these skills were studied, such as cycling experience, risky road behavior, crash involvement, and self-assessed skill. METHOD: A total of 335 students (49% female) completed computerized tests on hazard perception, gap acceptance, blind spot strategies, and priority decisions in traffic, and completed questionnaires on cycling experience, risky cycling behavior, crashes, and self-assessment of cycling skill. RESULTS: On the hazard perception test, one-third of the participants missed at least half of the number of hazards. They made errors in about 50% of the priority decisions, accepted critical gaps when crossing the road, and conversely rejected safe gaps; only 1% of the participants identified all blind spots of a truck correctly, while 69% made unsafe decisions when interacting with trucks in traffic scenarios. Overall, in complex traffic situations performance was worse than in simple ones. The hypothesis of lack of skills was therefore accepted. However, the study failed to demonstrate consistent relationships between subtest performance and cycling experience, risky behavior, crashes, and self-assessed skill, which weakens the theoretical assumptions concerning the subtests. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that children at the end of primary school are still lacking elementary skills for safe cycling, calling for measures to accelerate skill development. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Test batteries are essential tools for systematically monitoring skill development in cyclists, evaluating education programs, and for guiding the development of effective road safety education. The next step is the validation of such batteries.

Road injuries, health burden, but not fatalities make 12- to 17-year olds a high risk group in the Netherlands.

Background: To explore the impact of road injuries for different age groups, this study compares the health burden of road injuries in young adolescents-12 to 17 years of age-to those for older age groups. Young adolescents are underrepresented in road fatalities. However, their inexperience, developmental stage and use of bicycles may expose them to high levels of road risk, but their physical resilience may help them survive injuries which in older age groups would be fatal. Methods: To assess the impact of injuries compared with death, this study assessed by age group the health burden expressed in disability adjusted life years; years of life lost plus years lived with disability. Its analyses make use of existing data bases on road fatalities, serious injuries (maximum abbreviated injury score 2 or more), travel, life expectancy and disability weights. Results: For young adolescents, seriously injuries per distance travelled (injury risk) were higher than for any other age group, except for the elderly (75+). This was further amplified when health burden was taken into account, showing these young adolescents to be responsible for 15% of the total health burden associated with road crashes. Conclusions: These results justify extra efforts to improve the understanding and prevention of injury-only crashes among young adolescents.

Nothing good ever happens after midnight: observed exposure and alcohol use during weekend nights among young male drivers carrying passengers in a late licensing country.

Similar to other countries, also in the Netherlands young male drivers (ages between 18 and 24 years) are overrepresented in crashes during weekend nights, thereby fatally injuring one or more of their passengers. This overrepresentation may be due to two contributing factors: (a) a higher exposure-to-risk because of dangerous trip condition, and (b) a higher tendency to take risks. Studies on these factors, mostly carried out in jurisdictions where youngsters are licensed at an earlier age than in Europe, suggest a strong -often negative- influence from peer-aged passengers. Given that in adolescence susceptibility to peer pressure reduces with age, these findings may not be applicable to late licensing countries, such as in Europe. In the Netherlands -a late licensing country- youngsters are licensed after the age of 18 years, followed by a 5 year probation period with a legal alcohol limit of 0.2g/L. Further, designated driver schemes are in place since 2001, alcohol limits are enforced by random breath testing schemes, and no passenger and night time restrictions are in force. Against this background, we examined the incidence of dangerous trip conditions and risk taking among young male drivers and compared those with a reference group with a low passenger fatality rate. To that end, data on trip conditions and risk behavior were obtained from a data base on 18,608 randomly selected drivers during weekend nights in 2010, between 22:00 and 06:00. This data base held information for each randomly selected on breath alcohol concentration (BAC), license status, driver characteristics (age and gender), number of passengers, time of night, and level of urbanization. Binary logistic regression analysis confirmed the overrepresentation of young male drivers in traffic, carrying more frequently passengers than the reference group, especially after midnight. Urbanization level was not a modifying factor, but 'time of night' was, with riskier conditions after midnight in terms of: (a) a higher young male driver presence, (b) young male drivers carrying more frequently multiple passengers and (c) a higher prevalence of illegal BACs. After midnight, no evidence was found for a protective effect of the presence of one passenger on alcohol use. Of the young male drivers, 5% were over the legal limit and 3 in 5 young males who were over the limit carried passengers. However, the indicative result that young male drivers with multiple passengers were less likely to have been drinking than solo drivers or drivers with just one passenger, is suggestive of a protective effect of multiple passengers. These results may guide preventive strategies, including police enforcement and designated driver programmes.

Speed choice and mental workload of elderly cyclists on e-bikes in simple and complex traffic situations: a field experiment.

To study the speed choice and mental workload of elderly cyclists on electrical assisted bicycles (e-bikes) in simple and complex traffic situations compared to these on conventional bicycles, a field experiment was conducted using two instrumented bicycles. These bicycles were identical except for the electric pedal support system. Two groups were compared: elderly cyclists (65 years of age and older) and a reference group of cyclists in middle adulthood (between 30 and 45 years of age). Participants rode a fixed route with a length of approximately 3.5 km on both bicycles in counterbalanced order. The route consisted of secluded bicycle paths and roads in a residential area where cyclist have to share the road with motorized traffic. The straight sections on secluded bicycle paths were classified as simple traffic situations and the intersections in the residential area where participants had to turn left, as complex traffic situations. Speed and mental workload were measured. For the assessment of mental workload the peripheral detection task (PDT) was applied. In simple traffic situations the elderly cyclists rode an average 3.6 km/h faster on the e-bike than on the conventional bicycle. However, in complex traffic situations they rode an average only 1.7 km/h faster on the e-bike than on the conventional bicycle. Except for the fact that the cyclists in middle adulthood rode an average approximately 2.6 km/h faster on both bicycle types and in both traffic conditions, their speed patterns were very similar. The speed of the elderly cyclists on an e-bike was approximately the speed of the cyclists in middle adulthood on a conventional bicycle. For the elderly cyclist and the cyclists in middle adulthood, mental workload did not differ between bicycle type. For both groups, the mental workload was higher in complex traffic situations than in simple traffic situations. Mental workload of the elderly cyclists was somewhat higher than the mental workload of the cyclists in middle adulthood. The relatively high speed of the elderly cyclists on e-bikes in complex traffic situations and their relatively high mental workload in these situations may increase the accident risk of elderly cyclist when they ride on an e-bike.

Quantifying the influence of safe road systems and legal licensing age on road mortality among young adolescents: steps towards system thinking.

Based on existing literature, a system thinking approach was used to set up a conceptual model on the interrelationships among the components influencing adolescent road mortality, distinguishing between components at the individual level and at the system level. At the individual level the role of risk behaviour (sometimes deliberate and sometimes from inexperience or other non-deliberate causes) in adolescent road mortality is well documented. However, little is known about the extent to which the 'road system' itself may also have an impact on younger adolescents' road mortality. This, by providing a safe or unsafe road environment for all road users (System-induced exposure) and by allowing access to high-risk vehicles at a young or older age through the legal licensing age. This study seeks to explore these relationships by analysing the extent to which the road mortality of 10 to 17 year olds in various jurisdictions can be predicted from the System-induced Exposure (SiE) in a jurisdiction and from its legal licensing age to drive motor vehicles. SiE was operationalized as the number of road fatalities per 10(5) inhabitants/all ages together, but excluding the 10 to 17 year olds. Data on road fatalities during the years 2001 through 2008 were obtained from the OECD International Road Traffic Accident Database (IRTAD) and from the USA NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database for 29 early and 10 late licensing jurisdictions. Linear mixed models were fitted with annual 'Adolescent road mortality per capita' for 2001 through 2008 as the dependent variable, and time-dependent 'SiE' and time-independent 'Licensing system' as predictor variables. To control for different levels of motorisation, the time-dependent variable 'Annual per capita vehicle distance travelled' was used as a covariate. Licensing system of a jurisdiction was entered as a categorical predictor variable with late licensing countries as a baseline group. The study found support for the protective effects of SiE on adolescent safety. If SiE increased by one unit, the mortality rate of 10 to 17 year olds increased by 0.487 units. No support was found for a protective effect of late licensing for this age group. Thus, compared to young adolescents who are allowed to drive motor vehicles in early licensing jurisdictions, late licensing does not provide extra protection for pre-license adolescents. This finding is probably the result of the high risks associated with alternative transport modes, such as moped riding and bicycling. Also, the fact that the study only included risks to young adolescents themselves and did not include the risks they might pose to other road users and passengers may have contributed to this finding, because such risks are greater when driving a motor vehicle than riding a moped or a bicycle. Therefore, to advance our understanding of the impact of licensing systems, more study is needed into the benefits of early or late licensing, thereby considering these wider effects as well.

Five road safety education programmes for young adolescent pedestrians and cyclists: a multi-programme evaluation in a field setting.

A practical approach was developed to assess and compare the effects of five short road safety education (RSE) programmes for young adolescents that does not rely on injury or crash data but uses self reported behaviour. Questionnaires were administered just before and about one month after participation in the RSE programmes, both to youngsters who had participated in a RSE programme, the intervention group, and to a comparable reference group of youngsters who had not, the reference group. For each RSE programme, the answers to the questionnaires in the pre- and post-test were checked for internal consistency and then condensed into a single safety score using categorical principal components analysis. Next, an analysis of covariance was performed on the obtained safety scores in order to compare the post-test scores of the intervention and reference groups, corrected for their corresponding pre-test scores. It was found that three out of five RSE programmes resulted in significantly improved self-reported safety behaviour. However, the proportions of participants that changed their behaviour relative to the reference group were small, ranging from 3% to 20%. Comparisons among programme types showed cognitive approaches not to differ in effect from programmes that used fear-appeal approaches. The method used provides a useful tool to assess and compare the effects of different education programmes on self-reported behaviour.

Inexperience and risky decisions of young adolescents, as pedestrians and cyclists, in interactions with lorries, and the effects of competency versus awareness education.

BACKGROUND: Road injuries are a prime cause of death in early adolescence. Often road safety education (RSE) is used to target risky road behaviour in this age group. These RSE programmes are frequently based on the assumption that deliberate risk taking rather than lack of competency underlies risk behaviour. This study tested the competency of 10-13 year olds, by examining their decisions - as pedestrians and cyclists - in dealing with blind spot areas around lorries. Also, the effects of an awareness programme and a competency programme on these decisions were evaluated. METHOD: Table-top models were used, representing seven scenarios that differed in complexity: one basic scenario to test the identification of blind spot areas, and 6 traffic scenarios to test behaviour in traffic situations of low or high task complexity. Using a quasi-experimental design (pre-test and post-test reference group design without randomization), the programme effects were assessed by requiring participants (n=62) to show, for each table-top traffic scenario, how they would act if they were in that traffic situation. RESULTS: On the basic scenario, at pre-test 42% of the youngsters identified all blind spots correctly, but only 27% showed safe behaviour in simple scenarios and 5% in complex scenarios. The competency programme yielded improved performance on the basic scenario but not on the traffic scenarios, whereas the awareness programme did not result in any improvements. The correlation between improvements on the basic scenarios and the traffic scenarios was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Young adolescents have not yet mastered the necessary skills for safe performance in simple and complex traffic situations, thus underlining the need for effective prevention programmes. RSE may improve the understanding of blind spot areas but this does not 'automatically' transfer to performance in traffic situations. Implications for the design of RSE are discussed.

Changing mobility patterns and road mortality among pre-license teens in a late licensing country: an epidemiological study.

BACKGROUND: Whereas the safety of teens in early licensing countries has been extensively studied, little is known about the safety of pre-license teens in late licensing countries, where these teens also may be at risk. This risk exists because of the combination of a) increasing use of travel modes with a high injury risk, such as bicycles and mopeds, b) inexperience, and c) teens' developmental stage, known to be associated with risk taking and novelty seeking, especially among males. To explore the magnitude and nature of pre-license road risk, this study analysed epidemiological data from the Netherlands, and hypothesized that in this late licensing country, 'independent travel' and the use of riskier modes of transport increase among pre-license teens 10 to 17 years of age, resulting in higher fatality rates, with 'experience' and 'gender' as risk modifying factors. METHOD: National travel and fatality data of pre-license adolescents in the Netherlands were analysed by traffic role (cyclist, pedestrian, car passenger and moped rider), and compared to a younger age group (0-9 years) and an older age group (18+ years). RESULTS: The study of travel data showed that teens migrate from being car occupants to being users of riskier modes of transport, specifically bicycles and mopeds. This migration resulted in a strong rise in road fatalities, illustrating the importance of mobility patterns for understanding changes in road fatalities in this age group. The data further suggested a protective role of early cycle experience for young adolescent cyclists, particularly for young males. But further study into the underlying mechanism is needed to confirm this relationship. Moped risk was extremely high, especially among young males, and even higher than that of young male car drivers. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed the importance of changes in mobility patterns for understanding the rising road mortality when youngsters enter into their teens. The focus on fatalities has led to an underestimation of the magnitude of the problem because of the physical resilience of young adolescents that leads to high survival rates but probably also to long term disabilities. In addition, to explore the generalizability of these results, international comparisons among and between early and late licensing countries are necessary, especially in relation to moped riding as an alternative for car driving.

Improving homogeneity by dynamic speed limit systems.

Homogeneity of driving speeds is an important variable in determining road safety; more homogeneous driving speeds increase road safety. This study investigates the effect of introducing dynamic speed limit systems on homogeneity of driving speeds. A total of 46 subjects twice drove a route along 12 road sections in a driving simulator. The speed limit system (static-dynamic), the sophistication of the dynamic speed limit system (basic roadside, advanced roadside, and advanced in-car) and the situational condition (dangerous-non-dangerous) were varied. The homogeneity of driving speed, the rated credibility of the posted speed limit and the acceptance of the different dynamic speed limit systems were assessed. The results show that the homogeneity of individual speeds, defined as the variation in driving speed for an individual subject along a particular road section, was higher with the dynamic speed limit system than with the static speed limit system. The more sophisticated dynamic speed limit system tested within this study led to higher homogeneity than the less sophisticated systems. The acceptance of the dynamic speed limit systems used in this study was positive, they were perceived as quite useful and rather satisfactory.