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Background and aims: People who inject drugs (PWID) are at risk for adverse outcomes across multiple dimensions. While evidence‐based interventions are available, services are often fragmented and difficult to access. We measured the effectiveness of an integrated care van (ICV) that offered services for PWID. Design, setting and participants: This was a cluster‐randomized trial, which took place in Baltimore, MD, USA. Prior to randomization, we used a research van to recruit PWID cohorts from 12 Baltimore neighborhoods (sites), currently served by the city's mobile needle exchange program. Intervention and comparator: We randomized sites to receive weekly visits from the ICV (n = 6) or to usual services (n = 6) for 14 months. The ICV offered case management; buprenorphine/naloxone; screening for HIV, hepatitis C virus and sexually transmitted infections; HIV pre‐exposure prophylaxis; and wound care. Measurements: The primary outcome was a composite harm mitigation score that captured access to evidence‐based services, risk behaviors and adverse health events (range = 0−15, with higher numbers indicating worse status). We evaluated effectiveness by comparing changes in the composite score at 7 months versus baseline in the two study arms. Findings We enrolled 720 cohort participants across the study sites (60 per site) between June 2018 and August 2019: 38.3% women, 72.6% black and 85.1% urine drug test positive for fentanyl. Over a median of 10.4 months, the ICV provided services to 734 unique clients (who may or may not have been cohort participants) across the six intervention sites, including HIV/hepatitis C virus testing in 577 (78.6%) and buprenorphine/naloxone initiation in 540 (74%). However, only 52 (7.2%) of cohort participants received services on the ICV. The average composite score decreased at 7 months relative to baseline, with no significant difference in the change between ICV and usual services (difference in differences: −0.31; 95% confidence interval: −0.70, 0.08; P = 0.13). Conclusions: This cluster‐randomized trial in Baltimore, MD, USA, found no evidence that weekly neighborhood visits from a mobile health van providing injection‐drug‐focused services improved access to services and outcomes among people who injected drugs in the neighborhood, relative to usual services. The van successfully served large numbers of clients but unexpectedly low use of the van by cohort participants limited the ability to detect meaningful differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) represent a new consumer choice option with regard to vehicle purchases. Men, in general, report being interested in purchasing EVs, but traditional masculinity ideology, and in particular masculinity contingency, may be linked to negative attitudes toward EVs and reluctance to purchase EVs. Using data from 400 U.S. cisgender men, this study examined the links between masculinity contingency, EV-attitudes, EV-purchase intention, and viewing EVs as the least-favorable option for a new vehicle purchase. Consistent with hypotheses, masculinity contingency was linked with less favorable attitudes about EVs, lower intention to purchase EVs, and higher likelihood of rating EVs as the least-preferred new vehicle purchase option. The results are discussed in terms of applying masculinities theories to consumer and market research, and in terms of clinical work with men. Public Significance Statement: The study indicates that masculinity contingency, or the degree to which one's self-worth is threatened by threats to masculinity, is linked to decreased consumer preference for electric vehicles. This study highlights the importance of masculinity in understanding consumer choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation practitioners and scholars increasingly view car-free mobility as an essential component of a sustainable, healthy, and safe transportation future. In the United States, however, strikingly few households—only around 9%—do not own cars. Moreover, most zero-vehicle individuals—around 80%—are without vehicles due of constraint (e.g., because they cannot afford one), while a much smaller fraction—around 20%—are car-free because they can meet their mobility needs without one. This latter group is of interest to transportation researchers and practitioners, given the imperative to reduce driving and its associated negative externalities. In this paper, I examine factors that contribute to individuals' decisions to live car-free. This research is based on 430 comments posted on the social content-sharing website Reddit, in which commenters shared their first-hand experiences related to the prospect of going car-free. These comments were obtained from 46 threads situated in seven different US cities, focusing specifically on car ownership decisions. Commenters described accessible neighborhoods as foundational to decisions to forego a vehicle. While such conditions were typically necessary, however, they sometimes were not sufficient to foster car-free choices. Costs of car ownership, especially parking costs, were often the deciding factor for commenters who opted not to have a car. Finally, inconveniences related to car ownership and travel, like traffic-related stress, were discussed as benefits of living car-free. In sum, the observed individual decisions about car ownership tend to consist of people balancing supportive conditions for non-car travel against costs of and constraints on car-travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driveways are central to American conceptions of private property ownership. Americans, who rely heavily on cars to get around, often consider the direct automobile access that driveways provide to be essential to their property rights. Responding to the accessibility expectations of carreliant private property owners, local governments throughout the United States have not only allowed but in fact required off-street parking (and, by extension, driveways) in new developments. In doing so, local governments have failed to address the negative externalities that driveways impose on the public, especially in cities. Driveways threaten the safety of surrounding road users. They contribute to the climate crisis by encouraging private automobile usage even in dense cities where other travel options are available. They even further economic inequality by removing curb space from public use and reserving it for wealthier property owners. As some municipalities finally remove off-street parking requirements from their zoning codes, they should also consider limiting new driveways and revoking existing ones in certain situations. Given the ubiquity of off-street parking requirements, courts have had few opportunities to directly address the legality of driveway prohibitions or revocations. State courts have long held that property owners have a common-law right of access to adjacent public roads, but they carefully balance this right against the public interest. Case law suggests that local governments can legally reject or revoke driveways when the public interest requires it, as long as they adopt clear standards and procedures to govern such decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing evidence that multinational enterprises (MNEs) from less dominant economies tend to mimic and disseminate human resource management (HRM) practices sourced from a dominant economy, usually the United States, to overcome their "liabilities of origin." However, our understanding of the specific challenges involved in the implementation of such practices by firms across different national and subsidiary contexts remains limited. Drawing on evidence from a case study of a South Korean MNE, we examine the extent to which, and ways in which, global HRM policies mimicking U.S. practices are implemented across its sales, manufacturing, and research and development subsidiaries in the United States and India. We find discernible differences in the implementation of the global policies both between the two host country sites and across the three function‐specific subsidiaries in each country, identifying a range of national and subsidiary‐specific factors that inform these variable implementation outcomes. In addition to legitimacy challenges related to the source, appropriateness, and process of transfer, we note a unique form of legitimacy challenge—"the liability of mimicry"—whereby local actors can challenge head office policies on the basis of a claim to superior expertise in the dominant practices, as a particular concern of MNEs from emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous studies, investigators have reported increased risks of specific cancers associated with exposure to metalworking fluids (MWFs). In this report we broadly examine the incidence of 14 types of cancer, with a focus on digestive, respiratory, and hormonal cancers, in the United Auto Workers–General Motors (UAW-GM) cohort, a cohort of workers exposed to MWFs (1973–2015). The cohort included 39,132 workers followed for cancer incidence. Cox models yielded estimates of adjusted hazard ratios, with categorical variables for lagged cumulative exposure to 3 types of MWF (straight, soluble, and synthetic). We fitted penalized splines to examine the shape of the exposure-response relationships. There were 7,809 incident cancer cases of interest. Oil-based straight and soluble MWFs were each modestly associated with all cancers combined. Exposure-response patterns were consistent with prior reports from this cohort, and results for splined exposures generally reflected their categorically modeled counterparts. We found significantly increased incidence of stomach and kidney cancer with higher levels of straight MWF exposure and increased rectal and prostate cancer with increasing water-based synthetic MWF exposure. Only non-Hodgkin lymphoma and prostate cancer were associated with soluble MWF. All results for colon and lung cancers were null. Our results provide updated evidence for associations between MWF exposure and incidence of several types of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United States households' consumption expenditures and car purchases collapsed during the Great Recession and more so than income changes would have predicted. Using CEX data, we show that both the extensive and the intensive car spending margins contracted sharply in the Great Recession. We also document significant cross‐cohort differences in the impact of the Great Recession including a stronger reduction in car spending by younger cohorts. We draw inference on the sources of the Great Recession by investigating which shocks can explain household choices in a 60 period life‐cycle model with idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks fitted to aggregate and life‐cycle moments. We find that the Great Recession was caused by a combination of large aggregate income and wealth shocks, while cross‐cohort adjustment patterns imply a role for life‐cycle income profile shocks. We also find a role for car loan premia shocks in accounting for car spending and car loans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: This research develops a multilevel framework to study optimal distinctiveness (OD) at two levels. We distinguish between within‐organization distinctiveness and between‐organization distinctiveness of product design and examine how they independently and interactively influence performance. Analyzing a unique data set of 2,203 model‐year observations for automobiles sold in the U.S. market from 2001 to 2016, we found that while within‐organization distinctiveness of product design hurts market performance, between‐organization distinctiveness of product design increases market performance. Moreover, when between‐organization distinctiveness of product design is high, the negative impact of within‐organization distinctiveness of product design on performance is weakened. These findings contribute to OD research by improving the understanding of OD as a multilevel construct and elaborating on its contextual contingency. Managerial Summary: How should multiproduct organizations design their products to achieve better performance? This article provides a multilevel perspective that encourages managers of multiproduct organizations to consider different frames of references when designing products. We suggest that a product's design should be consistent with the prototypical design of its organization, whereas the prototypical design of this organization should be different from the average design in the industry. We also found that an atypical design is more desirable if it is from an organization known for distinctive designs in its industry. Our findings help managers of multiproduct organizations achieve the optimal levels of design distinctiveness at both the product and organizational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although air pollution is an important risk factor for stroke, few studies have considered the impact of workplace exposure to particulate matter (PM). We examined implications of exposure to PM composed of metalworking fluids (MWFs) for stroke mortality in the United Autoworkers–General Motors cohort. Cox proportional hazards models with age as the timescale were used to estimate the association of cumulative straight, soluble, and synthetic MWF exposure with stroke mortality, controlling for sex, race, plant, calendar year, and hire year. Among 38,553 autoworkers followed during 1941–1995, we identified 114 ischemic stroke deaths and 113 hemorrhagic stroke deaths. Overall stroke mortality risk was increased among workers in the middle exposure category for straight MWF (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.87, 1.98) and workers in the highest exposure category for synthetic MWF (HR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.16) compared with workers who had no direct exposure. Ischemic stroke mortality risk was increased among workers in the highest exposure categories for straight MWF (HR = 1.45, 95% CI: 0.83, 2.52) and synthetic MWF (HR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.39, 4.50). We observed no clear relationship between MWF exposure and hemorrhagic stroke mortality. Our results support a potentially important role for occupational PM exposures in stroke mortality and indicate the need for further studies of PM exposure and stroke in varied occupational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This article discusses the use of manufacturing simulation games to study collaborative problem-solving skills in engineering students. The simulation represents the mass production paradigm in which large quantities of identical products are produced. Empirical data is collected from the simulation to evaluate the skills engineering students used in solving the problem and their group effectiveness. Background: The use of simulation games to teach problem solving in design and manufacturing is an effective approach to convey concepts to students. Simulation games engage students in experiential and collaborative learning with fun elements. Research Questions: How does hands-on simulation engage students in collaborative problem solving? How does participation in collaborative problem solving affect group effectiveness? Methodology: This work presents a study of 37 university-level engineering students in the United States. Participants worked in groups completing the simulation game and responded to surveys on their various skills used. Findings: Participants utilized analytical, metacognitive, and thinking skills in their engagement, reported that the simulation games enhanced their understanding of manufacturing concepts and active collaboration improved problem-solving effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human factors are major causes of train accidents in the United States. Understanding the safety risk of these accidents can provide insights into safety evaluation and improvement. This paper focuses on analyzing the train derailments and collisions due to human factors using 2000–2016 accident data on mainlines from the US Federal Railroad Administration. This research methodology involves three main sections. First, we analyze the statistical trend of annual accident rates by accident type and year. Based on the cause-specific distribution of accident frequency, the major causes are determined for each common accident type such as derailments and collisions. Next, we calculate accident severity (e.g., derailed cars, casualties) due to each specific human-factor accident cause. Finally, we compute annual accident risk and cause-specific accident risk using mean and alternative risk measures. The detailed accident data analysis approach herein can also be adapted to other types of train accidents, in support of decisions for rail safety improvement. The analysis of human-factor-caused train accidents can provide key information for the development and evaluation of potential safety improvement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are a significant safety issue in the United States. Young children are disproportionally impacted by car accidents and suffer high rates of injuries and mortality. When used properly, car seats have been found to reduce the severity of injuries. However, individuals from low-income areas often do not have access to education or car seats compared to those in suburban or higher income areas. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to measure the effectiveness of a car seat program in an urban, Level I Pediatric Trauma Center on caregiver car seat knowledge. Methods: Caregivers (N = 200) attended a single, one-hour car seat educational program with a Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST). The sessions included educational and hands-on components, where caregivers were asked to complete a seven-item pre-post knowledge assessment. For completion of the course, caregivers received a car seat for their child. Results: A paired t-test revealed that the workshop significantly increased caregiver knowledge from pre-post: t (199) = − 12.56, p <.001; d = 1.27. McNemar's Chi-Square analyses displayed that caregivers increased in all knowledge categories (p <.001). Conclusions: While caregivers in urban areas or in low-income areas may have less access to resources, hospital-led car seat courses can increase knowledge of proper car seat usage in these communities. These findings should be used to establish programs in hospitals in areas where these resources are not readily available to caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The cumulative burden of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the United States’ healthcare system is substantial. To help mitigate this burden, novel solutions including telehealth and dedicated screening facilities have been used. However, there is limited data on the efficacy of such models and none assessing patient comfort levels with these changes in healthcare delivery. The aim of our study was to evaluate patients’ perceptions of a drive-through medical treatment system in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Patients presenting to a drive-through COVID-19 medical treatment facility were surveyed about their experience following their visit. An anonymous questionnaire consisting of five questions, using a five-point Likert scale was distributed via electronic tablet. Results: We obtained 827 responses over two months. Three quarters of respondents believed care received was similar to that in a traditional emergency department (ED). Overall positive impression of the drive-through was 86.6%, and 95% believed that it was more convenient. Conclusion: Overall, the drive-through medical system was perceived as more convenient than the ED and was viewed as a positive experience. While representing a dramatic change in the delivery model of medical care, if such systems can provide comparable levels of care, they may be a viable option for sustained and surge healthcare delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents insights on the role of critical car-culture narrative as an art teaching tool to examine racism in communities of color in the U.S. Topics discussed include the five tenets of critical race theory (CRT) such as the intercentricity of race and racism and the commitment to social justice, discussion inspired by the exhibition "Cruising L.A.'s Political Landscape" that he presented to the students, and ways to discuss race, class and gender in art education.

The Complete Streets movement has been steadily gaining attention in the United States over the last 16 years. Adoption of policies that encourage street designers to consider the needs of all users—and not only automobile users—have become more widespread, with over 1,400 US jurisdictions formally embracing Complete Streets policies. The promised benefits of Complete Streets policies are far reaching, but rigorous studies proving these benefits are rare. This paper reviews the state of the practice of Complete Streets and some attempts to catalogue the outputs and outcomes of Complete Streets projects, and analyzes case studies to determine best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of the 19th-century three technologies had emerged as sources of motive power for the automobile: steam, internal combustion, and electric motors. In 1900, in the United States and around the world, each of these powered a roughly equal number of automobiles. Thus, the early period of automobile development offers fertile ground for the study of technological path choice. At that time, it appeared that the electric motor was poised to become the dominant automotive technology. However, the internal combustion engine achieved this status instead. Although a large number of studies have examined the history of the automobile with a view to determining the reasons for the emergence of the internal combustion engine as the dominant technology for the car engine (especially its choice over the electric motor), no consensus has emerged of what the critical factors were. A close reexamining of the history allows us to identify the years 1900-1904 as the period during which the automobile's technological path was determined. A review of the conditions prevailing during this period and the stages of development of the sociotechnical systems in which each of the alternative automotive technologies was embedded helps us identify the aspiration for touring as the key factor fixing the path for the technological development of the automobile from that point on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for young adults 18-29 years old worldwide, resulting in nearly 1 million years of life lost annually in the United States. Despite improvements in vehicle safety technologies, young women are at higher risk of dying in car crashes compared with men in matched scenarios. Vehicle crash testing primarily revolves around test dummies representative of the 50th percentile adult male, potentially resulting in these differences in fatality risk for female occupants compared to males. Vehicle occupants involved in fatal car crashes were matched using seating location, vehicle type, airbag deployment, seatbelt usage, and age. The relative risk for fatality (R) between males and females was calculated using a Double Pair Comparison. Young women (20s-40s) are at approximately 20% higher risk of dying in car crashes compared with men of the same age in matched scenarios. In passenger cars, 25-year-old female occupants in passenger car crashes from 1975-2020 exhibit R = 1.201 (95% CI 1.160-1.250) compared to 25-year-old males, and R-1.117 (95% CI 1.040-1.207) for passenger car crashes from 2010-2020. This trend persists across vehicle type, airbag deployment, seatbelt use, and number of vehicles involved in a crash. Known sex-based differences do not explain this large risk differential, suggesting a need for expanded test methodologies and research strategies to address as-yet unexplored sex differences in crash fatalities. These differences should be further investigated to ensure equitable crash protection., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Abrams, Bass. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Corporations gather massive amounts of personal data to predict how individuals will behave so that they can profitably price goods and allocate resources. This article investigates the moral foundations of such increasingly prevalent market practices. I leverage the case of credit scores in car insurance pricing—an early and controversial use of algorithmic prediction in the U.S. consumer economy—to unpack the premise that predictive data are fair to use and to understand the conditions under which people are likely to challenge that moral logic. Policymaker resistance to credit-based insurance scores reveals that contention arises when predictions depend on mathematical distinctions that do not align with broader understandings of good and bad behavior, and when theories about why predictions work point to the market holding people accountable for actions that are not really their fault. Via a de-commensuration process, policymakers realign the market with their own notions of moral deservingness. This article thus demonstrates the importance of causal understanding and moral categorization for people accepting markets as fair. As data and analytics permeate markets of all sorts, as well as other domains of social life, these findings have implications for how social scientists understand the novel forms of stratification that result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors develop a new method to assess how changes in the intensity of mature distribution networks—specifically, those in the U.S. automotive industry—might affect consumer choice. They capture distribution intensity by car make (e.g., Honda, Toyota) at the disaggregate level using the exact geographic locations of individual buyers and new car dealers. They develop three buyer-centric measures for the intensity level of each competing make from this information: (1) dealer accessibility (the buyer's distance to the nearest outlet for each make), (2) dealer concentration (the extent to which multiple dealers for each make are located near a given buyer), and (3) dealer spread (the dispersion of the multiple dealers for each make relative to the buyer's location). The authors propose a logit choice model, estimated with Bayesian methods, to study the association of these measures with new car choices. They apply the model to buyer records in the midsize premium sedan category, drawn from an anonymous sample provided by the Power Information Network. All three buyer-centric measures of intensity were significantly related to new car choice. Buyers were more likely to select cars whose dealer networks had shorter distances to the closest outlet (accessibility), more dealers within a given radius from the buyer (concentration), and locations that skewed toward the buyer (spread). Based on the modeling results, the market share elasticity of distribution intensity averages approximately .6 across the new car models included in the study. The approach should help firms evaluate the potential effects of expanding or contracting distribution networks for mature products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the relationship between the automobile and national park management in the U.S. The introduction of automobiles into parks in the 1910s created a preservation ideal in which it is possible to link nature with car. This serves as the guiding principle of the National Park Service in its management of Mount Rainier in Washington and other national parks.

Requiring manufacturers to manage their products when they become waste is an innovative form of regulation, one that has been adopted by countries in Asia, Europe, and North America on a variety of products that range from vehicles to appliances to batteries. However, even in many unregulated industries, some manufacturers are voluntarily assuming more responsibility for their end-of-life products, driven by customer demand and cost efficiencies. This article explores various forms of take-back regulation and highlights some of the key features of the institutions that emerge in response. In addition, it presents seven strategic product recovery alternatives, followed by a discussion of some factors managers should consider in developing a take-back strategy. INSETS: Major Product Take-Back Bills introduced into U.S. State...;RosettaNet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the Dayton Foot Patrol Program (DFPP). The DFPP spanned 28 weeks. During the DFPP, patrol officers were asked to conduct foot patrol in six hot spots located in the downtown business district for at least 2 hours a day but used their discretion to determine when, which hot spot, how long, and in which ways to patrol. On average, roughly 9 hours of foot patrol were conducted each day during the DFPP. Pre–post comparison statistics and pooled time series count regression models were estimated. The DFPP was linked to reductions in total crime in initial analyses, but only disorder crime incidents were statistically significantly reduced once the outcome was disaggregated into crime-specific outcomes. A diffusion of crime control benefits to nearby areas was also observed. The study's implications are that foot patrol can be implemented with fewer personnel resources and still produce crime reductions in downtown business districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Technological diffusion can be understood as a broader process of societal embedding. • User contexts, cultural meanings, policies, and infrastructures can accelerate and stabilize new technologies. • We explore case studies of automobile diffusion in the United States and the Netherlands. • Applied to electric vehicles, societal embedding demands a more robust treatment of policy and agency. Technological diffusion can be understood as a broader process of co-construction of technology and its environment. This article conceptualizes this co-construction as a process of societal embedding, in which new technologies find their place in wider societal domains, which include immediate user contexts, cultural meanings, policies, and infrastructures. This perspective helps address three under-developed dimensions in adoption models: (1) diffusion includes more actors than users/adopters, (2) user characteristics and environments are not known in advance, but are articulated during the technological diffusion process, and (3) societal embedding is full of choices and struggles that affect the directionality and thus shape of socio-technical systems. Societal embedding therefore calls importance to the "demand side" of sustainability transitions. Because electric vehicles have, so far, only achieved limited diffusion globally, we cannot use it to test and illustrate our framework. We therefore use a historical comparative research design, which utilizes the societal embedding framework with two case studies of automobile diffusion in the United States and the Netherlands between the 1880s and 1970s. We subsequently apply the resulting lessons and insights to the future development of electric vehicles, with examples from multiple countries. An important finding is that the successful diffusion of electric vehicles demands a more robust co-construction policy focus that includes tinkering with all aspects of the societal embedding process, and one involving a constellation of agents beyond policymakers and purchasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to drug addition research as of May 2019 along with web links to longer articles. Topics discussed include how Sri Lanka has ended a moratorium on the death penalty for drug offences, how the Philippines have approved medical cannabis consumption, and how the Ethiopian Parliament has passed a ban on public tobacco use and alcohol advertising.

Analyses of policies to reduce gasoline consumption have focused on two effects, a compositional effect on the fuel economy of the automotive fleet and a utilization effect on how much people drive. However, the literature has missed a third effect: a matching effect , in which policies change how high-utilization households are matched to fuel-efficient vehicles in equilibrium. We show that higher gas prices should lead to stronger assortative matching. Empirical estimates using US micro-level data are consistent with this hypothesis. We find a $0.50 increase in the gas tax would reduce US gas consumption by 0.8% through the matching effect alone, bringing annual environmental benefits of about $1.7 billion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes archival records to revisit Curb Heroin In Plants (C.H.I.P.), a public health intervention focusing on drug dependence that was created and led by Detroit, Michigan, autoworkers during the mid-1970s. Responding to widespread heroin use in Detroit auto plants, C.H.I.P. combined methadone maintenance with counseling on and off the job to treat heroin dependence while supporting autoworkers in continuing in employment and family life. Although C.H.I.P. ultimately failed, it was a promising attempt to transcend medical/punitive approaches and treat those with substance use disorder in a nonstigmatizing way, with attention to the workplace dimensions of their disorder and recovery. I argue that revisiting C.H.I.P. speaks to current public health debates about the intersection between the workplace and harmful drug use and how to create effective interventions and policies that are mindful of this intersection. For historians, C.H.I.P. is a valuable example of the crucial role of workplace actors in the early war on drugs and of an early methadone program that was not strongly concerned with crime reduction but incorporated social externalities (specifically job performance) to measure success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Despite ergonomic improvements in the workplace of automobile parts manufacturing industry, many jobs still require workers to perform repetitive tasks or manual material handling. OBJECTIVE: This study compares the characteristics of occupational injuries between MMH and non-MMH in the automobile parts manufacturing industry based in South Korea and the US. METHODS: Occupational injuries were analyzed by age, work experience, company size, employment type, injury severity, work type, type of accident, agency of accident, injured part of body, and injury type. RESULTS: Among 1,530 injuries, 271 people (17.7%) were MMH injuries, and 1,259 people (82.3%) were non-MMH injuries. The rate of MMH injury was higher in the logistics process, in the work experience with more than 10 years, and in the company size with more than 100 employees than that of the non-MMH injury. Also, the rate of MMH injury was higher in the types of sprain and herniated discs, and in the injured part of trunk/back, leg/foot, and shoulder than that of the non-MMH injury. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study can be used as essential data for establishing a systematic preventive policy for industrial accidents in the automobile parts manufacturing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this research study is to estimate the benefit to pedestrians if all U.S. cars, light trucks, and vans were equipped with an automated braking system that had pedestrian detection capabilities. Methods: A theoretical automatic emergency braking (AEB) model was applied to real-world vehicle-pedestrian collisions from the Pedestrian Crash Data Study (PCDS). A series of potential AEB systems were modeled across the spectrum of expected system designs. Both road surface conditions and pedestrian visibility were accounted for in the model. The impact speeds of a vehicle without AEB were compared to the estimated impact speeds of vehicles with a modeled pedestrian detecting AEB system. These impacts speeds were used in conjunction with an injury and fatality model to determine risk of Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale of 3 or higher (MAIS 3+) injury and fatality. Results: AEB systems with pedestrian detection capability, across the spectrum of expected design parameters, reduced fatality risk when compared to human drivers. The most beneficial system (time-to-collision [TTC] = 1.5 s, latency = 0 s) decreased fatality risk in the target population between 84 and 87% and injury risk (MAIS score 3+) between 83 and 87%. Conclusions: Though not all crashes could be avoided, AEB significantly mitigated risk to pedestrians. The longer the TTC of braking and the shorter the latency value, the higher benefits showed by the AEB system. All AEB models used in this study were estimated to reduce fatalities and injuries and were more effective when combined with driver braking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Researchers seeking to identify public policies to reduce automobile use have frequently compared characteristics such as population density and freeway provision across metropolitan regions to identify differences, their causes, and their implications for automobile reliance. One frequent comparison has been between metropolitan regions in Canada and the United States given their similar contexts but differing modal shares. However, past studies have produced inconsistent findings with respect to how Canadian and American metropolitan regions can be distinguished with respect to population densities and freeways. In response to methodological concerns with past research, this paper measures population densities and freeways in the 57 North American metropolitan regions with at least one million residents. Two spatial scales (metropolitan region and central core) are used to measure overall density, population-weighted average census tract density, and density of the top 5% of the population. These same spatial scales are also used to measure the absolute and per capita quantities of freeway lanes. The paper provides methodological explanations using Los Angeles and Vancouver as examples. While Canada's metropolitan regions are commonly portrayed as denser and less auto-oriented than their US counterparts, the six largest of Canada's metropolitan regions do not have population higher densities and fewer freeways than all of the 51 largest US metropolitan regions. Indeed, this generalization holds only when individual results are combined to produce national averages, as there are numerous US metropolitan regions that have density and freeways in the same range as Canada's metropolitan regions. The paper discusses some of the differences and recommends approaches for future comparative research into the causes of variation in transport and land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion, there is an emphasis on encouraging shifts to public transport, for both short and long distance travel. Major differences exist across countries in how successful these efforts are, and the United States is often used as the key example of a country with a strong resistance to shifting away from private car use. Even within the United States however, there is strong heterogeneity across regions and across different types of travellers. This paper seeks to add empirical evidence to understand the drivers of mode choice for intercity travel, using stated choice data from two major US intercity corridors: the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and the Cascade Corridor. We develop a hybrid choice model that allows for deterministic and random variations across travellers in their preferences, some of which can be linked to underlying attitudinal constructs. Our results highlight extensive heterogeneity and provide interesting insights into the drivers of behaviour, and the relationship between attitudes and actual choices. As an example, we see that for some groups, notably West Coast respondents, a stronger anti-car attitude is counter-acted by a reduced utility for non-car modes when making choices, possibly due quality of public transport provision. Similarly, for other groups, such as older and female travellers, a reduced concern for privacy, which would benefit public transport, is counter-acted by a stronger pro-car attitude. These findings highlight the complex way in which attitudes can influence choices and provide insights for targeted policy interventions. Through scenario testing, we also show how future modal split might change depending on how these patterns of heterogeneity evolve over time, noting that the way this might happen is of course unknown at present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a report based on a research by R. Stephen and Margaret F. Fells of the Chemistry Department at the University of Chicago about the energy cost of automobiles in the United States. The research aims to provide the Institute of Environmental Quality of State of Illinois with aid in making decisions on the disposal of automobile hulks and of solid waste in general. It also analyzes one aspect of how to use materials and energy from a thermodynamic perspective. The study concludes that recycling junked automobiles and reusing the scrap in the manufacture of new ones would realize reductions in total power consumption.

Most U.S. adults have voluntary rules prohibiting the use of smoked tobacco products in their homes and vehicles. However, the prevalence of similar rules for electronic vapor products (EVPs) is uncertain. This study assessed the prevalence and correlates of rules prohibiting EVP use inside homes and vehicles. Data from a 2017 Internet-based panel survey of U.S. adults aged ≥18 years (n = 4107) were analyzed. For homes and vehicles, prevalence of reporting that EVP use was not allowed, partially allowed, fully allowed, or unknown was assessed overall and by covariates. Correlates of prohibiting EVP use was assessed by multivariable logistic regression. In homes, 58.6% of adults did not allow EVP use, 7.7% partially allowed use, 10.1% fully allowed use, and 23.6% were unsure of the rules. In vehicles, 63.8% of respondents did not allow EVP use, 6.0% partially allowed use, 8.9% fully allowed use, and 21.4% were unsure of the rules. Following multivariable adjustment, prohibiting EVP use inside homes and vehicles was more likely among respondents with higher income and education, and with a child aged <18 years. Users of EVPs and other tobacco products, and respondents living with users of EVPs and other tobacco products, were less likely to prohibit EVP use in these locations. These findings show that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults have rules prohibiting EVP use inside homes and vehicles, but variations exist by population subgroups. Voluntary smoke-free rules in homes and vehicles that include EVPs can help protect children and non-users from secondhand EVP aerosol exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research summary: We successfully replicate the highly influential study: “The social construction of reputation…,”(Rao, ) which reports that cumulative victories in certification contests are negatively associated with firm failure. The replication is robust to the inclusion of additional controls. As in the original, tests of whether the theory is most powerful under higher uncertainty are not supported. Further, placing second, third, or merely participating in races also negatively predicts firm failure, and there is insufficient information in the data to tease out the importance of these predictors versus race victories. We discuss the assumptions under which the evidence can be interpreted as supportive of a more general argument of “loose coupling”, where affiliation with certification contests reduces firm failure. Managerial summary: We successfully replicate a study that related victories in races to the survival of early automobile firms. This result was interpreted as evidence that rank‐order certification contests legitimized firms and led to survival. We then demonstrate that there is insufficient information to tease out the relative importance of victories, as opposed to placing second, third, or merely participating in predicting survival. Our result is consistent with an argument that affiliation with certification contests, not only winning them, increases a firm's chances of survival. It is also consistent with an argument that firms with better quality automobiles won races and survived. An implication of our work is that there is insufficient evidence to determine if firms in new industries should expend finite resources on participation in certification contests or improvement of product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American automobile industry is facing substantial environmental and energy challenges driving the pursuit of alternative powertrain technologies—“The intervening mechanism by which power is transmitted from an engine to a propeller or axle that it drives,” which nominally includes engine, transmission, drive shafts, differentials, and the final drive. Emerging alternative fuel vehicles are showing their potential to address these challenges. However, diffusion of new technologies has many complications. This paper uses system dynamics modeling to investigate the impacts of individual and organizational parameters. This model embeds two traditional modeling methods for technology adoption, the Bass diffusion model and multinomial logit regression method. Five types of powertrain systems and three major stakeholders are considered. Mathematical relationships among different variables are elaborated. The qualitative impacts of government feebate, manufacturer willingness, and consumer purchasing preferences on economic and environmental issues are addressed using scenario analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1916 the federal government directed the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to begin a program to survey water sources as well as mapping and marking roads in the Mojave Desert, the first federal effort at doing so for automobile routes. Improved highways arrived later but based on an entirely different approach; these were maintained by a highway department which carried out numerous improvements over time based on goals of reducing travel cost. This engineered highway network has little in common with the earlier road network and remains in use today. This research will examine these changing road networks of the Mojave Desert from 1917 to 1940 to identify whether the changing purpose of these routes can explain how one road network so effectively replaced another despite using the same type of vehicles. Maps of the 1917, 1922, and 1940 road networks were digitized and cost distance routes generated in GIS in an attempt to replicate both the 1917 and 1940 networks. The expectation is that the 1940 network was based on optimization while that of 1917 was instead based on creating feasible routes between water sources that avoided physical barriers. The ability of cost distance routes to replicate the 1940 routes but not those of 1917 confirms that these two networks were based on different principles. Despite this transition a few early roads remain in the desert and the mapping work of the USGS remains relevant in the twenty first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sedentary lifestyles contribute to premature death and health inequalities. Researchers have studied personal and community-level determinants of inactivity but few have analyzed corporate influences. To reframe the public health debate on inactivity and open new doors for public sector intervention, we conducted a scoping review of evidence from several disciplines to describe how the business and political practices of the automobile, construction, and entertainment sectors have encouraged sedentary lifestyles. In the last 50 years, these industries have found it profitable to produce motor vehicles, housing, and entertainment, which intentionally or unintentionally discourage physical activity. Ceding primary authority for policy decisions in these sectors to the market-based economy has enabled the growth of powerful lobbies that encourage and maintain sedentary lifestyles. To counteract these influences, public health and civil society need to confront more upstream economic and social determinants of sedentary lifestyles. Building on evidence from efforts to change harmful tobacco, alcohol and food industry practices, we propose the creation of research and policy agendas that contribute to public health practice that can modify corporate practices that contribute to physical, social and political environments that discourage physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transit is often advocated as a means to address traffic congestion within urban transportation networks. We estimate the effect of past public transit investment on the demand for automobile transportation by applying an instrumental variable approach that accounts for the potential endogeneity of public transit investment, and that distinguishes between the substitution effect and the equilibrium effect, to a panel dataset of 96 urban areas across the U.S. over the years 1991–2011. The results show that, owing to the countervailing effects of substitution and induced demand, the effects of increases in public transit supply on auto travel depend on the time horizon. In the short run, when accounting for the substitution effect only, we find that on average a 10% increase in transit capacity leads to a 0.7% reduction in auto travel. However, transit has no effect on auto travel in the medium run, as latent and induced demand offset the substitution effect. In the long run, when accounting for both substitution and induced demand, we find that on average a 10% increase in transit capacity is associated with a 0.4% increase in auto travel. We also find that public transit supply does not have a significant effect on auto travel when traffic congestion is below a threshold level. Additionally, we find that there is substantial heterogeneity across urban areas, with public transit having significantly different effects on auto travel demand in smaller, less densely populated regions with less-developed public transit networks than in larger, more densely populated regions with more extensive public transit networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are a class of vehicle technologies designed to increase safety by providing drivers with timely warnings and autonomously intervening to avoid hazardous situations. Though laboratory testing suggests that ADAS technologies will greatly impact crash involvement rates, real-world evidence that characterizes their effectiveness is still limited. This study evaluates and quantifies the association of ADAS technologies with the likelihood of a moderate or severe crash for new-model BMWs in the United States.Methods: Vehicle ADAS option information for the cohort of model year 2014 and later BMW passenger vehicles sold after January 1, 2014 (n = 1,063,503), was coded using VIN-identified options data. ADAS technologies of interest include frontal collision warning with autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, and blind spot detection. BMW Automated Crash Notification system data (from January 2014 to November 2017) were merged with vehicle data by VIN to identify crashed vehicles (n = 15,507), including date, crash severity (delta V), and area of impact. Using Cox proportional hazards regression modeling, the study calculates the adjusted hazard ratio for crashing among BMW passenger vehicles with versus without ADAS technologies. The adjusted percentage reduction in moderate and severe crashes associated with ADAS is interpreted as one minus the hazard ratio.Results: Vehicles equipped with both autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning were 23% less likely to crash than those not equipped (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73-0.81), controlling for model year, vehicle size and body type. Autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning generally occur together, making it difficult to tease apart their individual effects. Blind spot detection was associated with a 14% reduction in crashes after controlling for the presence of autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning (HR =0.86; 95% CI, 0.744-0.99). Differences were observed by vehicle type and crash type. The combined effect of autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning was greater in newer model vehicles: Equipped vehicles were 13% less likely to crash (HR =0.87; 95% CI, 0.79-0.95) among 2014 model year vehicles versus 34% less likely to crash (HR =0.66; 95% CI, 0.57-0.77) among 2017 model year vehicles.Conclusion: This robust cohort study contributes to the growing evidence on the effectiveness of ADAS technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]