Open AccessHuman factors in rural road crashes
Author(s) -
Ryan G. Anthony,
Barker Jennifer M.,
Wright John N.,
McLean A. Jack
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
australian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1035-7319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.1992.tb00065.x
Subject(s) - crash , poison control , injury prevention , seat belt , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , occupational safety and health , environmental health , rural area , truck , medicine , geography , forensic engineering , socioeconomics , transport engineering , engineering , sociology , pathology , computer science , automotive engineering , programming language , aerospace engineering
An in‐depth study of 79 vehicle crashes on rural roads in an area of about 100 km radius around Adelaide examined sociodemographic and psychophysiological characteristics of the drivers and riders involved. In many respects this sample of crashes was similar to a much larger number of police‐reported crashes in the same area but included: relatively more crashes with severe or fatal injuries; more crashes on divided roads, on sealed roads and on curves; and more crashes involving trucks. Alcohol and lack of seat belt use were shown to be major problems in these rural crashes. The drivers and riders most strongly associated with these particular problems were males, in blue collar occupations and with limited education; they tended to be aged 30 years or more in the case of alcohol abuse, and were likely to be under 30 years in the case of restraint misuse. The attitudes of these drivers and riders, and other characteristics likely to have contributed to their involvement in a crash, are discussed. There is a need to develop specific and effective countermeasures to reduce drink‐driving and increase seat belt wearing in rural areas.