Young drivers at railway crossings: an exploration of risk perception and target behaviours for intervention

Research into motorist understanding and behaviour at railway crossings is currently limited in Australia, despite 74 fatalities being recorded due to collisions between trains and motor vehicles from 1997 to 2002. The present study explored the knowledge, attitudes and self-reported behaviour of younger drivers aged 17-24 years, as an 'at risk' group. The objective of this study was to develop a formative understanding of the nature and underlying beliefs of younger drivers' behaviours at railway crossings, in order to inform specific crossing safety interventions for this group. Fifty-three young drivers from metropolitan and regional settings participated in semi-structured focused group interviews. Differences were detected between the groups, with regional participants displaying a higher level of risk-taking behaviours and lower risk perceptions. The results are discussed with reference to actual risk as indicated by a panel of experts in the field. Implications for intervention design targeting attitudes and behaviours are discussed.     

Illegal mid-block pedestrian crossings in China: gap acceptance,conflict and crossing path analysis

China has experienced unprecedented economic growth and changes in urban form in the past decades. Increased urbanisation and motorisation puts pedestrians and automobiles at greater conflict. Because of China's long urban blocks (superblocks), many conflicts occur mid-block at informal or illegal crossings. This study focuses on factors influencing mid-block crossing and gap acceptance. We remotely observed illegal mid-block crossing of a six-lane urban arterial in Kunming, China, tracking 522 accepted gaps and 152 rejected gaps in a two-stage crossing (roadside to median and median to roadside). We fit a probit discrete outcome model to the data to estimate environmental determinants of gap acceptance (and rejection) behaviour, including gap size, vehicle speed, time waiting and gap lane position. We also estimate a conflict model, focusing on parameters that influence the probability of vehicle speed changes or lane deviations.     

Earlier financial literacy and later financial behaviour of college students

This study examined the association of earlier financial literacy and later financial behaviour of college students. Financial literacy was measured by both subjective and objective knowledge and financial behaviours were categorized into risky paying and borrowing behaviours. Based on data collected at two time points from a panel of college students at a major state university in the USA, the results showed that the association between earlier knowledge and later financial behaviours differed by the specific type of knowledge (subjective vs. objective), with stronger effect of subjective knowledge, compared with objective knowledge on both composite and individual measures of risky borrowing and paying behaviours. We found that only subjective knowledge was correlated with a reduction in both composite behaviours. Both subjective and objective knowledge, however, reduced some specific risky paying and borrowing behaviours. Finally, we found consistent differences for two of the control variables: higher GPA (Grade Point Average) was associated with fewer risky paying behaviours; and gender (male vs. female) was associated with more of both types of risky behaviours.     

Consumers’ attitudes,knowledge, self‐reported and actual hand washing behaviour: a challenge for designers of intervention materials

Cross contamination by microbial pathogens in the kitchen environment may play an important role in many cases of food borne illnesses. Hand washing has been shown to be one of the most important factors in controlling the spread of microorganisms and in preventing the spread of disease. However, educational campaigns such as distribution of information leaflets, workshops, performance feedback and lectures have been, at best, associated with a transient improvement in compliance rates. In addition, the majority of research investigating UK consumers’ food safety behaviour has examined self‐reported as opposed to actual hand washing behaviour. This research utilises psychological theory in an attempt to understand how one might design a more effective hand washing campaign. Social cognition models were utilised to explore the relationship between consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, self‐reported and actual hand washing behaviour. The research was conducted in two stages. Firstly, salient beliefs of 100 consumers towards food safety were obtained using open‐ended questions. Secondly, the food handling practices of 40 consumers were observed and their food safety attitudes and knowledge determined using structured questionnaires. All the participants were knowledgeable about hand washing techniques, intended to wash their hands and generally had positive attitudes towards the importance of washing their hands. However, none of the participants adequately washed their hands on all appropriate occasions. The attitude statement results suggest measures of perceived behavioural control, perceived barriers and perceived risk may provide developers of food safety intervention materials with more useful information compared with measures of consumers’ knowledge or intention. Issues of habit and optimistic bias also need to be given consideration when designing intervention materials to change hand washing behaviour of consumers.     

An examination of the relative roles played by consumer behaviour settings and levels of involvement in determining environmental behaviour

It is well documented that if environmental degradation is to be halted then pro-environmental activities need to be put in place now. This requires the participation of consumers (C), marketers (M) and policy-makers (in this case, the local council (LC)). An examination of the environmental portfolios of LCs and Ms indicates a noticeable increase in behavioural activity which has led to an improvement in their environmental provision. This includes services ranging from recycling to providing information on environmental issues. However, empirical evidence indicates that consumers may have either inadequate or inappropriate knowledge about environmental issues which may have led to low involvement levels and consequently limited behaviour. It may therefore be necessary to distinguish between cognitions that are affected under high or low involvement situations. The involvement levels, however, may be mediated by the consumer behaviour settings (CBS). Using the Behavioural Perspective Model the study observes the impact of CBS and involvement on environmental behaviour. The results indicate that in the low involvement condition CBS has a crucial role to play whereas in the high involvement situation its role may not be significant.     

What Role Does Sense of Power Play in Consumers’ Decision Making of Risky Food Consumption While Dining Out?

One way to understand risky food consumption is to look at the influence of the sense of power, as well as optimism bias. The purpose of this study was to examine how the sense of power affects consumers’ intention to consume risky foods by assessing the direct relationship between their sense of power and subsequent consumption of risky foods, and investigating the indirect relationship between sense of power and risky food consumption with general optimism bias or food safety optimism bias as a mediating variable. A web-based questionnaire with 387 responses was used to test the hypotheses and the indirect relationships from the sense of power to intention to consume risky foods via food safety optimism. Findings indicate the theoretical implication of a new variable (food safety optimism) that is useful in understanding the relationship between the sense of power and risky food consumption. Results also offer practical implications on better ways to market raw or undercooked foods to potential consumers.     

Reconceptualizing risk perception: perceiving Majority World citizens at risk from ‘Northern’ consumption

The premise of this paper is that the consumption behaviour of ‘Northern’ citizens places Majority World citizens at great risk. A theoretical evolution suggested in this paper is the extension of the notion of risky consumption to include the impact of consumption on the human security of others. Until people can envision that their consumption behaviour places others at risk of exposure to harm, they will not see the need to perceive, assess and manage the risk. The paper tenders a preliminary reconceptualization of risk perception, using the conventional consumer behaviour model constructs of personal, distribution channel and situational factors. From this new perspective, instead of judging whether the good or service is risky for a ‘Northern’ citizen to consume, risk perception scholars would examine people's perceptions of whether their consumption places fellow citizens at risk, the people labouring and producing the goods and services.     

The use of smart biosensors during a food safety incident: Consumers' cognitive-behavioural responses and willingness to pay

Intelligent and active packaging could allow consumers to control cognitive reactions linked to the risk of consuming food products contaminated by microbiological pathogens and thus mitigating negative consequences of food safety incidents. However, despite advances in technology, consumers' reactions and willingness to pay for active and intelligent packaging in the absence and presence of food safety incidents remain somewhat unexplored. To fill such a gap this study incorporates protection motivation theory (PMT) within a contingent valuation survey conducted in the UK to explore consumers' behavioural responses to risk communication in the absence and presence of a food safety incident. These responses were moderated by the possibility of buying hypothetical meat products marketed with biosensors informing consumers of the presence of bacteria post-purchase. A singular approach was developed to identify the following four behavioural responses of the PMT's cognitive mediating process: no response, fear, low response and danger control. Results indicate that the theoretical components of PMT play a different role in the absence and presence of food safety incidents. Respondents who receive risk information are willing to pay more than other participants to adopt precautionary behaviour and that purchasing behaviour varied across these four cognitive-behavioural responses. Governmental institutions, the food industry and retailers should consider working together to reassure consumers by investing in technology that may help consumers to mitigate fear during a food safety incident, but also to develop appropriate risk communication strategies that should focus more on the cognitive-behavioural outcomes analysed in this study.     

Japanese consumers' use of extrinsic and intrinsic cues to mitigate risky food choices

The stated preference data were used to simulate and examine consumers' valuation of important extrinsic and intrinsic cues that are associated with risky foods. This analysis generates information on how consumers assess trade‐offs between price and selected intrinsic and extrinsic cues to determine their choice among alternative products. From this, optimum level of product quality attributes (i.e. intrinsic cues) and optimum price level for import products can be derived. Also, most effective sources of communicating food safety and risk management can be identified. The results show that the country origin cue is a key factor in understanding consumers' choice behaviour for food product that entails potential risk, which may suggest that consumers are using this information as a risk‐reduction strategy.     

Disruptions in Supply Networks: A Probabilistic Risk Assessment Approach

Supply disruptions are attracting growing attention. Even in geographically, politically and economically stable locations, companies are exposed to disruptions, because they depend on their suppliers and suppliers’ suppliers. The analysis of these disruptions helps mitigate risks: for example, instead of relying on local measures such as safety stock or insurance, a company can introduce new supply contracts or backup risky suppliers. In this article, we analyze risks caused by supplier disruptions by introducing concepts from probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), which is a widely employed methodology for the risk analysis of complex engineering systems. We apply PRA to examine simple networks such as triads analytically, and use simulation to analyze disruption risks in random networks of realistic size. We also illustrate how PRA can support strategic decisions such as whether or not to use single or multiple suppliers; which suppliers are more risky than others; and what impacts the complexity of the supply base has on the reliability of the supplier network.     

Speed in a high-speed society

Abstract

Speed control is the most important aspect of promoting road safety world-wide. The question is how are speeds developing? The European Transport Safety Council concludes: There is little progress on reducing speeds in Europe. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the US and Australia. Attitude surveys show that people’s answers are not very consistent and represent statements without any strong bearing on norms or behaviour. Many factors are ‘pro-speed’: higher performance vehicles, more comfort, media coverage, etc. Enforcement, particularly with cameras and with section control is efficient, but the scale of adoption is too small. Traffic calming is efficient in cities, but the most obvious measure is one that makes it impossible to drive faster than the speed limit. During the last 30 years, a few trials have taken place which are promising; speeds at or below the speed limit, improved behaviour, and attitudes. The predicted effect is a reduction of up to 50% of fatalities in a regulation-driven scenario and a benefit to cost ratio of 3.5 to 4.8. It is time for authorities to see to it that lower speeds with the help of efficient vehicle-based solutions becomes part of the agenda.     

Measuring risky adolescent cycling behaviour

Adolescents are at a greater risk of being involved in traffic accidents than most other age groups, even before they start driving cars. This article aims to determine the factor structure of a self-report questionnaire measuring adolescent risky cycling behaviour, the ACBQ (Adolescent Cycling Behaviour Questionnaire). The questionnaire's structure was based on the widely used Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). A sample of secondary school students (N?=?1749; age range: 13-18 years) filled out the questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure underlying the questionnaire, which was confirmed on two equally large portions of the entire sample. These three underlying factors were identified as errors, common violations and exceptional violations. The ACBQ is a useful instrument for measuring adolescents' risky cycling behaviour.     

Hazardous Employment and Regulatory Regimes in the South African Mining Industry: Arguments for Corporate Ethics at Workplace

This study examines the ethical position and behaviour of multinational mining companies regarding hazardous employment and health and safety of employees in the South African mining industry. Mining companies have long had a reputation for being unethical on health and safety issues. Too often there are occurrences of fatal accidents, which bring the ethical behaviour of multinational mining companies into question. The litmus test for the mining companies is to devise benchmark standards that will reduce accidents tremendously at their place of operations. This study addresses this issue by examining measures and regulations set up to check the occurrences of mining accidents in South Africa. It follows that the remedy needs to be fundamental and thoroughgoing.     

Measuring risky adolescent cycling behaviour

Adolescents are at a greater risk of being involved in traffic accidents than most other age groups, even before they start driving cars. This article aims to determine the factor structure of a self-report questionnaire measuring adolescent risky cycling behaviour, the ACBQ (Adolescent Cycling Behaviour Questionnaire). The questionnaire's structure was based on the widely used Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). A sample of secondary school students (N = 1749; age range: 13–18 years) filled out the questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure underlying the questionnaire, which was confirmed on two equally large portions of the entire sample. These three underlying factors were identified as errors, common violations and exceptional violations. The ACBQ is a useful instrument for measuring adolescents' risky cycling behaviour.     

进口原油非法添加化学品鉴别技术探讨

进口原油中非法添加化学品的鉴别在国内尚属研究空白。为了识别进口原油中可能存在的非法添加废有机化工品等欺诈风险,本文以人为添加碳酸二甲酯为例,从制样、定性识别及定量检测等方面探讨了进口原油非法添加化学品鉴别技术。鉴别原油中是否非法添加了化学品,最好多种实验方法结合使用。建议将添加前和添加后的两个样品进行比对,也可以根据经验或者原油检测数据库识别异常项目,通过红外光谱找出可以进行区分的特征峰,结合气相色谱或气相色谱-质谱进行佐证,最终对添加物进行定性甚至定量检测。     

Investigation of pedestrian crashes using multiple correspondence analysis in India

Abstract

Pedestrian safety is of growing concern with an increasing number of traffic accidents, especially in developing economies like India. In 2017, there were 20,457 pedestrian fatalities in India. Pedestrian crashes have also become a key concern in the state of Tamilnadu, India, due to the high percentage of deaths. If the available datasets are large and complex, identifying key factors is a challenging task. In this study, Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), an exploratory data analysis technique was used to explore the roadway, traffic, crash, and pedestrian-related variables influencing pedestrian crashes. This study used the data from Government of Tamilnadu Road Accident Traffic Management System (RADMS) database, to analyse accident data of nine years (2009–2017) related to pedestrian crashes. The results of the study show that crashes occurring on the express highways on a multilane road are often associated with hit-and-run behaviour among drivers. Factors such as lighting conditions, location, pedestrian behaviour, crossings, and physical separation are also significantly contributing to pedestrian crashes. The key advantage of MCA is that it identifies a possible association between various contributing factors. The findings from this study will be useful for state transport authorities to improve countermeasures for mitigating pedestrian crashes and fatalities.     

The Older Consumer as Innovator: Does Cognitive Age hold the Key?

In the light of changing demographics and the increasing importance of the older consumer to marketing, this paper seeks to identify whether some older consumers may be identified as more innovative in their consumption than others. As a first step towards a fuller understanding of these consumers, the authors suggest using and comparing two measures, one related to domain specific innovative behaviour and the other concerned with the cognitive age of consumers. It was proposed that those consumers with a younger cognitive age might be more likely to be innovative in their consumption behaviour than others of the same chronological age. In this study the authors looked at innovative behaviour towards holiday destinations. The authors found no evidence of a younger cognitive age being linked to domain-specific innovativeness and suggest that this could be due to older consumers becoming increasingly ageless in their consumption behaviour.     

加强监督管理,提高食品添加剂生产质量

食品的安全问题一直都是世界各国所一直关注的问题。为了提高食品的美味程度以及颜色问题,食品添加剂行业已经大规模形成。但食品添加剂存在着违法,违规,超量或超范围使用以及标识不合规定等各种问题,给食品带来了安全隐患。对此我们可以从颁布法律法规,完善标准制度,以及加大宣传等方面加强食品添加剂的生产质量问题。     

Progress in pedestrian safety research

Abstract

This paper looks at the pedestrian safety issue and the research that has followed to understand and solve the problem of pedestrian safety in the last 120?years - since the time of the first reported pedestrian fatality in 1899. Researches have studied the epidemiology of pedestrian crashes, pedestrian behaviour, pedestrian movements and pedestrian flows. The suggested strategies to reduce pedestrian crashes have ranged from controlling vehicular speeds to controlling pedestrian behaviour. This study presents a summary of the progress we have made in understanding pedestrian crash patterns. Pedestrian behaviour observed in different regions of the world tend to have similarity in pedestrian behaviour: gap acceptance, preferences of route choice and location for crossing roads. High income countries(HIC) have reported reduction in pedestrian fatalities as compared to low and middle income countries(LMICs), however pedestrian trips have also reduced in these countries leading to concerns about the effectiveness of ‘known’ strategies. Speed control through active measures have been found to have themaximal benefit and education and training programs for altering pedestrian behaviour on the road the least benefits. Low and middle income countries face pedestrian exposure on high speed roads. New research efforts are required to address pedestrian safety in both HIC and LMICs.     

食品安全之私法救济机制的完善

有鉴于食品安全事件近年来愈演愈烈的现状,本文深入探讨了食品安全的私法救济机制,即通过消费者提起民事诉讼获得赔偿的方法。目前,在诸多防止食品安全的机制中,私法救济机制被忽视了,然而其作用恰恰是最为重要的,私法救济机制可使受到损害的消费者获得充分的救济,剥夺不法厂商通过生产不安全食品而获得的不法收益。因此,应充分利用侵权责任法中的惩罚性损害赔偿制度,发挥公司法中的法人人格否认制度的功能,让控股股东承担连带责任,同时让食品生产企业的董事、监事、经理等高级管理人员承担连带责任。