Drunken driving and riding with a drunken driver: adolescent types at higher risk

Abstract

The leading cause of death of adolescents in developed countries is injury. Alcohol is a major contributor to adolescent injury. Most of the injury deaths in youth are caused by traffic crashes. Driving under the influence (DUI) and riding with a driver who is under the influence (RUI) of alcohol increase the risk of road crash. The focus of this study is how adolescents’ risk of DUI and RUI differ in relation to their experience of parental control and peer pressure to substance use, other risky behaviours and leisure time activities. The analyses are based on data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs collected from 15- to 16-year-old Finnish adolescents in 2015 (n?=?4049, response rate 88.7%). The study shows that problems tend to entangle in some adolescent groups in which DUI and RUI are also more common. Adolescents with higher probability of using various substances, of starting alcohol use at young age, of experiencing weak parental control, and high peer pressure are at higher risk of DUI and RUI. The results indicate that professionals and authorities handling underage DUI and RUI ought to consider adolescents’ situation as a whole.     

Characterizing luminous efficiency functions for a simulated mesopic night driving task based on reaction time

The objective of this study is to test the luminous efficiency functions V(lambda), V'(lambda), V(10)(lambda) and their linear combinations on the basis of a data set gained from a simulated mesopic night-time driving experiment. Another aim is to provide 'real-world' data for the 'X framework' or 'linear combination model', and to find out its limits in a practical situation. Human performance was measured by the reaction time method. Results show that the single parameter of the linear combination of photopic and scotopic luminous efficiency functions can be determined analytically with little variation for a given mesopic background luminance level and a given visual target colour, but the computation leads to considerable deviations comparing all three target colours (red, green and blue) used in the experiment. The conclusion for the given experimental conditions is that the single parameter of the linear combination model has an increasing deviation for lower background luminance levels.     

Cannabis and driving: A new perspective

Cannabis and driving is an emerging injury‐prevention concern. The incidence of driving while affected by cannabis is rising in parallel with increased cannabis use in the community. Younger drivers are at particular risk. Improvements in research methodology, technology and laboratory testing methods have occurred in the last 10 years. These cast doubt on earlier results and conclusions. Studies now show that cannabis has a significant impairing effect on driving when used alone and that this effect is exaggerated when combined with alcohol. Of particular concern is the presence of cannabis as the sole psychoactive drug in an increasing number of road fatalities and the lack of any structural response to this problem. A review of testing methods, laboratory and real driving studies, and recent epidemiological studies is presented. Suggestions for methods of further data collection and future public policy are made.     

Giving up driving in Alzheimer's disease—an integrative therapeutic approach

For patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), a recommendation to stop operating a motor vehicle can be a serious event complicated by a loss of self-esteem and personal dignity. Patients are often reluctant to give up an activity so essential, both practically and symbolically, to independent living. We describe here a patient with moderately progressed AD who lacked insight of his need to cease driving. Through an integrative treatment approach, combining behavioral and psychodynamic modalities, we helped him to formulate effective ways of coping with his loss of access to independent transportation. We favor a psychotherapeutic strategy that combines behavioral and managerial measures with dynamic patient interaction, thereby developing the patient's insight of the need to give up driving while fostering his sense of autonomy.     

Causality Between the Amplitude and Frequency of Cardiac Oscillations

Using an information-theoretic approach, causality between the systolic amplitude in blood pressure and the frequency of the heart beat was analyzed. Blood pressure and ECG were noninvasively recorded in young, healthy subjects. Three successive measurements were performed: during spontaneous breathing and during paced respiration—at frequencies both higher and lower than that of spontaneous respiration. We demonstrate that the amplitude and frequency of the cardiac rhythm are synchronized for most of the time. The synchronization is stronger during paced respiration at a frequency lower than that of spontaneous breathing. Episodes where the cardiac frequency was driven by the systolic pressure were also detected during slow, paced respiration.     

The biomechanics of vibration and low back pain

This work is a review of the mechanical factors related to low back pain production in a vibration environment. The sitting posture is an extreme orientation for the lumbar intervertebral disc that 1) increases its internal pressure, 2) increases its anteroposterior shear flexibility, while: 3) decreasing its resistance to buckling instability and 4) stressing the posterior region of the disc. Vibration is an additional mechanical stressor. Several studies suggest that the following preventive measures be taken to reduce the risk of low back pain due to driving: 1) minimize the vibration reaching the driver, 2) avoid lifting or bending immediately following driving, and 3) walk around for a few minutes following driving. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Antihistamine effects on actual driving performance in a standard test: a summary of Dutch experience, 1989-94

The review summarizes the major results of eight double-blind, placebo-controlled, volunteer studies undertaken by three independent institutions for showing the effects on actual driving performance of "sedating" and "nonsedating" antihistamines (respectively, triprolidine, diphenhydramine, clemastine and terfenadine, loratadine, cetirizine, acrivastine, mizolastine, and ebastine). A common, standardized test was used that measures driving impairment from vehicular "weaving" (i.e., standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP)). Logical relationships were found between impairment and dose, time after dosing, and repeated doses over 4–5 days. The newer drugs were generally less impairing, but differences existed among their effects, and none was unimpairing at doses 1–2 × the currently recommended levels. One or possibly two of the newer drugs possessed both performance-enhancing and -impairing properties, depending on dose, suggesting two mechanisms of action.     

汽车驾驶员注意力分配测试的研究

以ＢＤＸＬ－Ⅱ型注意力分配测试仪对某汽车队１７７名驾驶员和１３９名非驾驶员进行了注意力分配检查，并计算每人注意力分配量Ｑ值。结果表明，驾驶员组注意力分配及视、听觉反应速度有随年龄和驾车年数增长而下降的趋势，Ｑ值及视、听觉反应测试得分与对照组相比差异有显著性。     

影响部队汽车驾驶员心身健康水平和行车安全的相关因素研究

对部队汽车驾驶员203名的心身健康和行车安全的相关因素研究表明:驾驶员可发生心身障碍,尤其眼和耳、呼吸系统,骨胳肌肉系统及抑郁等为著。其影响因素,主要有负性精神紧张总值(-Lcu)、个性的精神质、神经质、掩饰性、内向倾向、开车公里数、开车年限及精神疾病家族史。某些心身问题、神经质、掩饰性较高、年龄偏大、开车公里数多及开车年限长等与事故差错的发生有关。