Victim blaming in police road injury prevention messages? A case of bicycle helmets

Introduction: In recent years, the way in which police and the media report on road crashes, especially those involving cyclists, has received increased attention from both researchers and the general public. They are often accused of engaging in victim blaming. The aim of this study was to analyze the perceived level of victim blaming in six hypothetical scenarios that include a preventive measure communicated by police. Our main focus was on the bicycle helmet scenario, since discussions about bicycle helmets produce a lot of emotional responses. Methods: We collected survey data from two samples: a representative sample of Finnish residents older than 17 years (N=1207) and a convenience sample of Finnish traffic safety experts (N=61). Results: Overall victim blaming ratings were low in both samples. Education seems to be an important predictor, in that more educated respondents gave lower ratings. In the bicycle helmet scenario, cycling exposure was positively related to the perceived victim blaming ratings. Conclusions: We conclude that a preventive measure aimed at potential future road crash victims will not be perceived as victim blaming if it also addresses those responsible for a crash. However, it seems there will always be groups, sub-groups, and individuals who may perceive such messages as victim blaming. Thus, constructing a preventive message which will not be perceived as victim blaming represents a challenge.publishedVersio

Editors publishing in their own journals : A systematic review of prevalence and a discussion of normative aspects

Journal editors are the main gatekeepers in scientific publishing. Yet there is a concern that they may receive preferential treatment when submitting manuscripts to their own journals. The prevalence of such self-publishing is not known, nor the consequences for reliability and trustworthiness of published research. This study aimed to systematically review the literature on the prevalence of editors publishing in their own journals and to conduct a normative ethical analysis of this practice. A systematic review was performed using the following databases: Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus and Web of Science. Articles that provided primary data about editors publishing in own journals were included. We identified 15 studies meeting inclusion criteria. There was large variability of self-publishing across fields, journals and editors, ranging from those who never published in their own journal to those publishing extensively in their own journal. Many studies suffered from serious methodological limitations. Nevertheless, our results show that there are settings where levels of self-publication are very high. We recommend that editors-in-chief and associate editors who have considerable power in journals refrain from publishing research articles in their own journals. Journals should have clear processes in place about the treatment of articles submitted by editorial board members.Peer reviewe

Risk compensation and bicycle helmets : A false conclusion and uncritical citations

Some researchers and many anti-helmet advocates often state that when cyclists wear a helmet they feel safer and take more risks. This hypothesis-risk compensation - if true, would reduce, annul or even reverse the assumed benefits of helmets in reducing head injuries. Consequently, this hypothesis is often used to oppose mandatory helmet laws. In this article, we illustrate how one of the few studies that attempted to experimentally test the hypothesis in relation to bicycle helmets arrives at a false conclusion. As a result it is often cited as evidence of risk compensation. Given the lack of experimental studies in this research area, the impact of a single study in shaping the opinions of the general public and of policy makers can be significant. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Suicide by crashing into a heavy vehicle : a focus group study of professional drivers

Professional heavy vehicle drivers can experience a traumatic event at work when suicidal drivers deliberately crash into their vehicles or a pedestrian jumps in front of them. This study adopts a qualitative approach, aiming to gain an understanding about the psychological and other consequences that these crashes have liar this occupational group. We organized a semi-structured focus group meeting with six drivers who reported experiencing a deliberate crash into their vehicle. The meeting was moderated by two psychologists. The participants reported that avoiding the crash was difficult. These events can have long-lasting effects on drivers' well-being although individual differences in the response to the event and coping strategies do exist. Participation in our meeting was regarded as a positive experience. This encourages us to believe that organizing similar meetings that allow drivers under the supervision of professionals to share their own experiences with those who experienced similar events, could perhaps be one way of providing support to such drivers who experienced a traumatic event at work.Peer reviewe

Women judging: is a young male drunk driver perceived as more negligent than a young female drunk driver?

Objective: It is well established that young men are the riskiest group of all drivers, and men in general more often drive under the influence of alcohol. However, potentially oversimplified representations such as a young male problem and drunk driving as a male problem can influence action and reinforce existing attitudes by selectively directing attention to stereotypically consistent behavior. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis of possible bias toward young male drivers in the context of drunk driving.Methods: We have created a scenario study investigating whether the sex of an imaginary young drunk driver would be associated with a different perceived negligence (ranging from 0=not negligent at all to 10=extremely negligent) among our participants. These participants were a representative sample of Finnish female driver's license holders. The data for the study were gathered as part of a larger survey study on women's drinking and driving culture.Results: Perceptions of how negligent a person was depended on the age of the respondents such that the older the respondent, the higher the perceived negligence. Perceived negligence was similar for male and female drivers in the scenario; however, there was an interaction effect between driver sex and the age of respondents. The youngest (20-29 years) and 2 oldest (50-69 years) groups of our respondents found the young woman to be more negligent, whereas the opposite occurred for the other 2 groups.Conclusions: The results of our imaginary scenario study of a representative sample of Finnish female driver's license holders do not support a hypothesis that there would be a negative bias toward young male drivers in the context of drunk driving behavior.Peer reviewe

Using personal cars for emergency transport of patients with life-threatening medical conditions : A pilot study

Peer reviewe

Do people prefer cycling policy aiming at extending or saving lives? : An experimental survey study

We investigated the preference between transport policies aiming at extending vs. saving lives. In a 2 x 2 experimental survey study participants randomly received one of four possible policy combinations. The saving lives policy included saving five (250 life-years saved) or ten (500 life-years saved) lives of cyclists who are about 30 years of age. The extending lives policy through the promotion of cycling and associated health benefits was set to extend lives by two ratios (10:1 or 20:1) in relation to life-years saved of the life-saving strategy. Participants were representative of Finnish-speaking residents older than 15 years (N = 1025). In total, 45.5% of the participants preferred a policy aimed at saving lives, 36% preferred an extending lives policy, and 18.2% were undecided. These figures remained essentially the same independent of the benefit-to-cost ratio of cycling (in terms of saved life years) and whether the saving life policy meant saving five or ten lives. Women and the elderly preferred a policy aimed at saving lives, while cyclists preferred an extending lives policy. The results are discussed in the context of Vision Zero and a new transport paradigm called Vision Plus.Peer reviewe

Bicycle helmet effectiveness is not overstated

Peer reviewe

Suicide by crashing into a heavy vehicle: Professional drivers’ views

Objective: Every profession has its own safety and health risks. In addition to the risk of being involved in a "normal" road crash, professional heavy vehicle drivers are at risk of becoming victims of people attempting suicide by crashing into their vehicles. Road suicides are not that rare, at least not in Finland, where they represent about 12% of all fatal road crashes. The purpose of this study was to survey professional heavy vehicle drivers about their experiences, views and opinions regarding road suicides. Methods: The sample included heavy vehicle drivers (N = 863) randomly recruited from a transport workers' union. Results: About 18% of the respondents reported a suspected suicide attempt of a motor vehicle driver crashing into their vehicle, with 15% of these (i.e.2.8% of the whole sample) also reporting a resulting crash. More than half of the respondents reported personally knowing another professional driver who had experienced a crash caused by a suicidal driver. Almost 80% of the drivers reported being afraid that someone would attempt suicide by crashing into their vehicle; however, thinking about such a possibility produces a level of anxiety in less than half of all respondents. Most respondents agreed about the challenges of avoiding a crash if somebody deliberately drives their car towards their vehicle. Conclusion: Heavy vehicle drivers perceive road suicides as an occupational risk in their profession. We discuss possible preventive measures against suicide attempts by crashing into a heavy vehicle.Peer reviewe

Bicycle helmet law does not deter cyclists in Finland

Bicycle helmet legislation (BHL) in Finland went into effect in January 2003 and applies to cyclists of all ages. There are no mechanisms to fine cyclists riding without a helmet; however, helmet wearing rates are 64% in Helsinki and 42% across Finland. Our aim was to discuss possible effects of BHL on cycling in Finland. We used data from the 1998/1999, 2004/2005 and 2010/2011 Finnish National Travel Surveys. Data across three surveys suggest cycling has declined from before to after BHL. In a 2004/2005 survey, however, only 0.063% (95% CI: 0.02-0.10%) of responders identified helmet use as their most important obstacle to cycling. It is unlikely BHL is a causal factor in the downward trend in Finnish cycling. Lack of cycling infrastructure and concerns for safety are much more common reasons given. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe