With the exception of modern warfare, no other human activity has destroyed as many lives as driving a motor vehicle. Traffic crashes kill and injure thousands of Canadians every year at an incalculable financial and emotional cost to society—but rather than rush to stem this tide of human carnage, policy-makers seem to accept the ghastly toll as the price we pay for mobility. Driving Lessons takes a fresh look at the complexities of the road transportation system in depth, going far beyond the symptomatic, linear, reductionist approach. It challenges current traffic safety paradigms that simply blame the driver or target "villains and scapegoats" like impaired or high-risk drivers. It takes issue with road transportation system management that sometimes puts mobility ahead of the safety of road users. As one researcher notes, human beings will make mistakes, and accordingly, "the road transportation system must be designed so that people’s mistakes do not have disastrous consequences."

By the turn of the century, the elderly will comprise about 20 percent of the population in North America, and 28 percent of those who drive. Place this percentage in high-powered automobiles, and the need for planning and policy development becomes evident. Most standard research on elderly drivers has not gone beyond gathering data on specific situations or characteristics. This book rises beyond simple statistical presentation. It blends sociological insight with statistical detail to produce an absorbing description of the elderly drivers' daily lives, driving styles, experiences with accident and injury, social relationships, and life aspirations. It also describes areas of neglect: imagined and real health problems, driving exposure and traffic violations, accidents, and loss of self-esteem. It presents In-depth accounts of the trauma of loss of license and the Importance of the automobile for sustaining mental, physical, and social well being. The self-Imposed or self-defined rules elderly drivers use to navigate traffic or compensate for physical frailities are described in depth. The Safety of Elderly Drivers Includes penetrating comments from elderly drivers who have been involved in serious accidents, and from random elderly drivers speaking for their generation of drivers. Integrating statistical findings based on Motor Vehicle Department accident data and survey data with comprehensive interviews and discussions with elderly drivers. the book provides an emperically grounded. In-depth view of the elderly driver today. Rothe summarizes theories and models of aging. along with past research on elder[y drivers. projecting what the future may hold If present trends in medicine. housing. politics. migration. and mass transit continue. It closes with a series of recommendations for future traffic planning. This book will be of Interest to policymakers concerned with traffic safety, as well as social scientists and others Interested In gerontological issues.

Rethinking Young People's Lives Through Space and Place explores three main themes, how children navigate real and imaginary borders, how space constitutes belonging, meaning-making, and representation, and how space informs learning and identities.

In Alcohol, Cocaine, and Accidents leading experts provide concise yet focused scientific reviews of the role of alcohol and cocaine in automotive, aviation, and aquatic accidents. The authoritative contributors present both applied research and epidemiological studies, with emphasis on the prevention of injuries through an increased use of appropriate educational labels, law enforcement, and personal and community-based prevention programs. In addition to detailed topical coverage, the articles suggest prevention strategies and provide supporting data for the role of treatment in reducing accidents. Alcohol, Cocaine, and Accidents will be of interest to substance abuse researchers, law enforcement officials, treatment providers, policy makers, and legislators responsible for regulating alcohol and drug use, as well as safety issues in all areas of transportation.

Includes: intervention strategies based on data analysis, spatial analysis, victim precipitation, how to manage large hierarchical databases for easy & efficient access to incident, victim & offender information, & much more. 29 presentations. 70 charts, tables & graphs.

The development of new technologies of information and communication will, in the coming years, transform deeply their uses and practices in transport. The current developments in the field of road telematics and driver assistance systems offer a real opportunity to aid mobility and road safety. However, they also raise numerous questions about their effectiveness, possible positive and negative modifications of behaviour or attitudes and about their acceptability by drivers. Problems related to the design and evaluation of intelligent driver support systems (IDSSs) and social perspectives related to their introduction on a large scale may only be fully addressed from a multi-disciplinary point of view. People from different backgrounds, from both engineering and social sciences, should be involved in this development. This book provides such knowledge from both a human and social factors background. The Safety of Intelligent Driver Support Systems serves the training of professionals working within the transport area so that they can use this knowledge in their work. It will be of direct interest to transportation and traffic professionals, engineers, system designers, researchers and specialists working in automotive and related industries, departments of transport, and communication and public bodies related to transport in the automotive industry, public authorities, etc. Also students at Masters and PhD level, performing studies in the road transportation area, will find in this book a rich source of knowledge. Teachers and trainers, both in professional training and academic education, may use the book as a basis for giving a course on the topic addressed.

J. Peter Rothe (Author) J. Peter Rothe is affiliated with the Department of Sociology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Other books of his include The Trucker's World and The Safety of Elderly Drivers.