New Findings Reported from Troy University Describe Advances in Risk Management (Heat waves and fatal traffic crashes in the continental United…

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New Findings Reported from Troy University Describe Advances in Risk Management (Heat waves and fatal traffic crashes in the continental United States)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators publish new report on Risk Management. According to news reporting originating from Troy, Alabama, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "A better understanding of how heat waves affect fatal traffic crashes will be useful to promote awareness of drivers' vulnerability during an extreme heat event. We applied a time-stratified case-crossover design to examine associations between heat waves and fatal traffic crashes during May-September of 2001-2011 in the continental United States (US)."

Financial supporters for this research include Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Troy University, "Heat waves, defined as the daily mean temperature > 95% threshold for >= 2 consecutive days, were derived using gridded 12.5 km(2) air temperatures from Phase 2 of the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2). Dates and locations of fatal traffic crash records were acquired from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Results show a significant positive association between fatal traffic crashes and heat waves with a 14% (95% CI: 0.9, 5.9%) increase in fatal traffic crashes on heat wave days versus non-heat wave days. The association was more positive for 56-65 years old drivers [8.2% (0.3, 16.7%)] and driving on rural roadways [6.1% (2.8, 9.6%)]. Moreover, a positive association was only present when the heat wave days were characterized by no precipitation [10.9% (7.3%, 14.6%)] and medium or high solar radiation [24.6% (19.9%, 29.5%) and 19.9% (15.6%, 24.4%), respectively]."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "These findings are relevant for developing targeted interventions for these driver groups and driving situations to efficiently reduce the negative effects of heat waves on fatal traffic crashes."

For more information on this research see: Heat waves and fatal traffic crashes in the continental United States. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2018;119():195-201. Accident Analysis and Prevention can be contacted at: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Accident Analysis and Prevention - www.journals.elsevier.com/accident-analysis-and-prevention/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting C.Y.H. Wu, Troy Univ, Coll Arts & Sci, Dept. of Social Sci, Troy, AL 36082, United States. Additional authors for this research include B.F. Zaitchik and J.M. Gohlke.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2018.07.025. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Troy, Alabama, United States, North and Central America, Risk Management, Troy University.