This study investigates a variety of laptop configurations and their effects on posture and discomfort. There are several benefits to using laptops in an office setting. They conserve space and allow greater computing flexibility in meetings or business travel. One potential drawback of laptops is that the keyboard and monitor cannot be adjusted independently, which may lead to constrained postures and musculoskeletal discomfort. In this study, 14 users experienced six laptop configurations. The configurations varied in terms of laptop placement and the kinds of external peripherals (e.g. external monitor) that were used in conjunction with the laptop. Past findings showing increased neck flexion and discomfort with laptop use were replicated. However, the addition of peripheral devices to laptops seems to mitigate the problems previously associated with their use.

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Previous research into drivers' ability to assess road hazards has focused on experimenter, or expert, defined hazards. The present study attempted to use a more objective definition of hazard by comparing drivers' ratings of hazard for a series of road segments with the actual crash rates for those segments. Forty-one transportation professionals (operationally defined as “Experts”) and 38 undergraduate students (“Novices”) participated. A personal computer was used to display 24 randomly selected road segments from the 1994 Connecticut Photolog to participants, who then responded to a 6-item hazard perception survey (based on Groeger & Chapman, 1996). A Mann-Whitney U analysis indicated that the correlations between drivers' perceptions of hazard and actual crash rates were significantly higher for Experts than for Novices. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Objective Despite successes in the 1980s and early 1990s, progress in reducing impaired driving fatalities in the United States has stagnated in recent years. Since 1997, the percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes with illegal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels has remained at approximately 20% to 22%. Many experts believe that public complacency, competing social and public health issues, and the lack of political fortitude have all contributed to this stagnation. The number of alcohol-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities is still unacceptable, and most are preventable. The public needs to be aware that the problem presented by drinking drivers has not been solved. Political leaders need guidance on which measures will affect the problem, and stakeholders need to be motivated once again to implement effective strategies. Methods The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Transportation Research Board (TRB) Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Transportation Committee (ANB50) sponsored a workshop held at the NAS facility in Woods Hole, MA, on August 24–25, 2015, to discuss the lack of progress in reducing impaired driving and to make recommendations for future progress. A total of 26 experts in research and policy related to alcohol-impaired driving participated in the workshop. The workshop began by examining the static situation in the rate of alcohol-impaired driving fatal crashes to determine what factors may be inhibiting further progress. The workshop then discussed eight effective strategies that have not been fully implemented in the United States. Workshop participants (16 of the 26) rated their top three strategies. Results Three strategies received the most support: Impose administrative sanctions for drivers with BACs = .05 to .08 g/dL.Require alcohol ignition interlocks for all alcohol-impaired driving offenders.Increase the frequency of sobriety checkpoints, including enacting legislation to allow them in the 11 states that currently prohibit them. Five other important strategies included the following: (a) increase alcohol taxes to raise the price and reduce alcohol consumption; (b) re-engage the public and raise the priority of impaired driving; (c) lower the illegal per se BAC limit to .05 for a criminal offense; (d) develop and implement in-vehicle alcohol detection systems; and (e) expand the use of screening and brief interventions in medical facilities. Conclusions Each of these strategies is proven to be effective, yet all are substantially underutilized. Each is used in some jurisdictions in the United States or Canada, but none is used extensively. Any one of the three strategies implemented on a widespread basis would decrease impaired driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Based on the research, all three together would have a substantial impact on the problem.

The detrimental effects of fatigue on the safe operation of vehicles or the execution of critical tasks in transportation systems (e.g., monitoring pipeline systems or maintaining vehicles) have been well established. However, estimates of the percentage of transportation accidents attributed to fatigue has varied greatly, and much of that variability can be attributed to the methods used to investigate and document accident causes or risk factors. In addition, using research findings in accident investigation can be very difficult, and establishing that fatigue played a role in an accident illustrates very well the challenges of relating research to practice. In this chapter we will discuss how fatigue research has informed accident investigation and how findings from accidents and incidents can guide future research and policy decisions. The chapter will (a) establish the seriousness of the fatigue problem in transportation accidents and incidents; (b) provide insights into the difficulties associated in determining whether fatigue is a contributing or causal factor in an event; (c) describe, in detail, a methodology that can be used to identify fatigue factors in accident investigation; and (d) illustrate how accident investigations where fatigue is well documented can inform the research community and lead to design and policy changes that will mitigate fatigue and help improve transportation safety.M any discussions of transportation fatigue begin by citing the wide range of estimates of the percentage of transportation accidents attributed to fatigue. Much of the variability in those estimates can be attributed to the methods used to investigate and document accident causes or risk factors. Fortunately, as the researchers in this volume show, there is a large body of scientific research on sleep, shiftwork, and fatigue that can inform an investigation about what factors lead to a state of fatigue and how fatigue affects performance. Unfortunately, relating findings from research conducted in a laboratory or a simulator to the unique circumstances of a transportation accident can be very difficult. Furthermore, the wide range of individual differences in sleep patterns and the effects of sleep loss on performance make it difficult to know whether aggregate findings are applicable to individual cases. As Coury, Ellingstad, and Kolly (2010) pointed out, "most major transportation accident investigations involve uncertainties in 573950R EVXXX10.1177/1557234X15573950Reviews of Human Factors and Ergonomicsa Method for Investigating Fatigue research-article2015