In recent decades, automotive telematics and driver monitoring systems have been introduced in the industry in order to provide real-time and post-trip interventions and feedback to the driver. A few driver monitoring technologies and platforms have been used to record driving performance, focus on key risk indicators and provide safety interventions. Within that group of tools, interventions have been indicated to significantly enhance driving behavior and road safety. The purpose of the current study is to provide a methodology for safety intervention evaluation in order to keep driver behavior within acceptable boundaries of safe operation (i.e. Safety Tolerance Zone). To that aim, the most appropriate assessment variables from the i-DREAMS platform, related to the logic model of change were identified and some recommendations for the i-DREAMS project were provided. In order for the methodology to be designed, past experience on similar projects was exploited in order to derive a list of methods, indicators, utilized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and evaluation criteria mostly suitable for evaluating the project’s safety interventions. Three different methods (i.e. before-after analysis, case-control trials and questionnaires) were identified and therefore, the evaluation was conducted in terms of the outcomes proposed in the logic model of change. Results from literature review indicated that safety promoting goals and performance objectives had the greatest effect on the assessment of interventions. Driver behavior indicators, such as speeding, harsh acceleration or braking had the strongest impact on the interventions evaluation, while driver related characteristics, such as distraction, stress, fatigue, drowsiness and attention appeared to have lower impact. Taking into account the experimental studies, the design of a customized feedback strategy will assist in performing the appropriate evaluation of interventions needed for the improvement of driver behavior.

Operator’s behaviour accounts for the majority of accidents in various transport sectors (road, rail, aviation and maritime) and thus identifying human factors associated with increased risk, monitoring operators, and applying remedial interventions, are paramount in reducing risk across transport entities. Operator’s mental state (fatigue, sleepiness, stress, emotions, illness, distraction), speeding, tailgating and illegal maneuvering are among human factors associated with increased risk. Although similar risk factors exist in all transport sectors, monitoring operators and applying interventions is more widespread in the road sector and there is a lack of knowledge sharing that could potentially provide insight for reducing human factors among all transport sectors. As the first step in establishing such a guideline, this paper aims to investigate the possibility of transferring knowledge about operator monitoring and intervention strategies between different transport sectors, i.e. road, rail, aviation and maritime. This transfer of knowledge is investigated from three perspectives: (i) most important risk factors that are common among sectors, (ii) monitoring technologies that are used in each sector, and (iii) intervention strategies that could be implemented in reducing risk in each sector. To achieve this objective, the most important risk factors in rail, aviation, and maritime sectors are first reviewed from the literature. The iDREAMS naturalistic driving study is then selected as a case study from the road sector and the risk factors, monitoring technologies and intervention strategies are reviewed and compared with the ones identified in the other sectors from the literature review. Results indicate that heart-rate measurements, eye tracking techniques, and speech recognition are used for monitoring workload, drowsiness/fatigue, stress, and situational awareness in the aviation sector. However, a complementary use of unobtrusive sensors seems necessary to enhance the reliability of monitoring. Proactive treatments such as taking a nap, caffeine intake, proper sleep environment, sufficient hours of uninterrupted sleep per night, consecutive nights recovery sleep are used for monitoring the operator’s fatigue, sleepiness, and situational awareness in the maritime sector. Furthermore, in-cabin collision alert systems and blue light exposure are used as real-time interventions in this sector. None of the rail, aviation, or maritime sectors make use of systematic post-trip interventions to achieve a sustainable behavioural change over time.

Background:

The negative effects of heat and cold on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have been known for ∼100 years. Yet, we lack patient-centred investigations on temperature sensitivity in persons with MS (pwMS).

Objectives:

To evaluate triggers, symptoms, and thermal resilience practices of temperature sensitivity pwMS via a dedicated survey.

Methods:

757 pwMS completed an online survey assessing the subjective experience of temperature sensitivity. We performed descriptive statistics and regression analyses to evaluate association between individual factors and susceptibility/resilience to thermal stress.

Results:

Temperature sensitivity varied significantly in pwMS, with 58% of participants being heat sensitive only; 29% heat and cold sensitive; and 13% cold sensitive only (p<0.001). Yet, all pwMS: i) experienced hot and cold days as primary triggers; ii) reported fatigue as the most common worsening symptom, impacting walking and concentration; iii) used air conditioning and changes in clothing insulation as primary thermal resilience practices. Furthermore, certain individual factors (i.e. age, level of motor disability, experience of fatigue) were predictive of greater susceptibility to certain triggers (e.g. hot days) and symptoms (e.g. fatigue).

Conclusion:

Patient-centred evidence on the impact of and response to temperature sensitivity could play an important role in the development of individualised healthcare plans for temperature-sensitive pwMS.

Despite improvements to road safety, accidents involving pedestrians are still numerous, for example in the UK there were over 20,000 pedestrian casualties on public roads in 2019. One of the potential causal factors is pedestrian distraction. Therefore, this study aimed to predict pedestrian intention to cross the road under conditions of distraction (using phone maps, talking to another pedestrian, listening to music through headphones), by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) using an online survey. This also involved investigation of the impact of selected traffic characteristics (traffic density, vehicle speed) and crossing type (pelican, zebra, unmarked). The survey consisted of 72 questions and took approximately 15 min to complete. The results (N = 81) revealed that the TPB construct of perceived behavioural control (PBC) was a significant predictor of intention to cross the road while distracted across all scenarios. Furthermore, crossing type was a significant predictor of PBC across all scenarios, with marked crossings facilitating feelings of PBC. Findings suggest that high feelings of PBC, as measured through ease and confidence, are linked with stronger intention to cross the road while distracted. This understanding of pedestrian motivation can be used to help design interventions (such as auditory and visual pedestrian warnings) that prevent conflict between distracted pedestrians and vehicles. These interventions should target marked crossing types, whereby pedestrians are more likely to cross while distracted.

Skin wetness sensing is important for thermal stress resilience. Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) present greater vulnerability to thermal stress; yet it is unclear whether they present wetness sensing abnormalities. We investigated the effects of MS on wetness sensing and their modulation with changes in mean skin temperature (Tsk). Twelve MS participants (5M/7F; 48.3±10.8y; EDSS range: 1-7), and 11 healthy controls (4M/7F; 47.5±11.3y) undertook three trials, during which they performed a quantitative sensory test with either a thermo-neutral (30.9°C), warm (34.8°C), or cold (26.5°C) mean Tsk. Participants reported on visual analogue scales local wetness perceptions arising from the static and dynamic application of a cold-, neutral-, and warm-wet probe (1.32cm2; water content: 0.8ml), to the index-finger pad, forearm, and forehead. Data were analysed for the group-level effect of MS, as well as for its individual variability. Our results indicated that MS did not alter skin wetness sensitivity at a group level, across the skin sites and temperature tested, neither under normothermia nor under conditions of shifted thermal state. However, when taking an individualised approach to profiling wetness sensing abnormalities in MS, we found that 3 out of the 12 MS participants (i.e. 25% of the sample) presented a reduced wetness sensitivity on multiple skin sites, and to different wet stimuli (i.e. cold-, neutral-, and warm-wet). We conclude that some individuals with MS may possess reduced wetness sensitivity; however, this sensory symptom may vary greatly at an individual level. Larger-scale studies are warranted to characterise the mechanisms underlying such individual variability.