eLetters

43 e-Letters

published between 2007 and 2010

  • More on Robertson's paper
    Tony H. Reinhardt-Rutland

    Dear Editor

    I offer brief rejoinders to Robertson's critique of my comments:

    (a) Robertson may indeed have all the data available for the specified vehicles in his statistical analysis. Nonetheless, the theoretical underpinnings in any such statistical analysis assume an infinite population from which the real-world data are drawn.

    (b) I am not an adherent of the risk compensation hypothesis, wh...

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  • Author's response
    Leon S. Robertson

    Dear Editor

    Point A. The vehicles I studied are not a random sample but all of the specified vehicles in use (except pickups) during the period studied. Therefore, random sampling error does not apply. The paper clearly states, “The mix of vehicles in other countries and the ratios of pedestrians and bicyclists to motor vehicles would undoubtedly alter the percentages but it is unlikely that vehicles characteristic...

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  • Vehicle factors: engineering improvement does not necessarily deliver
    Tony H. Reinhardt-Rutland

    Dear Editor

    Robertson [1] has carried out correlational and regressional analyses of data concerning a number of vehicle factors and death rates of road users in the United States. Given the sometimes contentious issues that arise from such analyses, it behoves one to be cautious in what one concludes from this exercise. I list below three issues that are pertinent:

    (a) The degree of precision stated for...

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  • Scapegoating pedestrians: the limits of engineering solutions and pedestrian behaviour-change
    Tony H Reinhardt-Rutland

    Dear Editor

    Poudel-Tandukar et al report questionnaire data from a respondent sample of adolescent pedestrians in Nepal. Coincidentally, Perel et al [1] have outlined issues relating to road safety in low- and middle-income countries in the same issue of Injury Prevention.

    Commenting in an electronic letter regarding the latter, I asserted that a pervasive and unhelpful attitude often persists among moto...

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  • An endemic issue in all countries, no matter what their income
    Tony H Reinhardt-Rutland

    Dear Editor

    Perel et al (2007) outline some issues relating to research and its application - up to now largely restricted to high-income countries - which might inform and moderate the heavy casualty rates among vulnerable road users that too often follow motorisation in developing economies.

    One possible issue - both within the driving community and those professions charged with reducing casualty rate...

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  • Yes, this is an old game
    Stacey Robins

    Dear Editor

    In 1977 in London, Ontario, when we were only 12 years old, my 'girlfriends' and I used to play a similar game as the 'choking game' in the school bathroom. We would each take turns helping each other 'faint'. It started with deep breathing until we were dizzy, then with arms around your abdomen from the rear; someone would squeeze you until the next recollection was waking up with a tingling sensatio...

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  • Speeding up the debate on road speed: what about acceleration?
    Tony H. Reinhardt-Rutland

    Dear Editor

    Friedman et al (2007) provide an impressive study to add to the knowledge of the dangers of speed on the road. While the emphasis is normally on motorist casualties, let us remember that the danger is particularly accentuated for non-motorists such as pedestrians, cyclists and public-transport users. These environmentally-benign means of travel are not likely to be encouraged while private motoring ha...

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  • Use of Coroners' Records
    Peter J Bullock

    Dear Editor

    I have a database for Gloucestershire, 1700-1838, consisting of some 12,000 entries, mostly inquests but some other sources, plus transcripts of all supporting material. All this material has been sent to the Historical Violence Database (Prof. Roth) and will be available some time in the future. If interested, I can send extracts from the database relating to the under 15s (about 1200 entries) plus...

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  • Some important omissions
    Peter W Ward

    Dear Editor

    Ivers makes some important omissions in her Cochrane Corner article [1] where she reports the recent Cochrane review of bicycle helmet legislation. The author’s main conclusion was that the evidence ‘suggests a protective effect of bicycle helmet legislation against head injury amongst cyclists.’ Ivers might also have mentioned the authors qualifying comments that the evidence is ‘limited in qual...

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  • Gun Lock Safety Issue
    Ronald R. Flinders

    Dear Editor

    I would challenge anyone using their bare hands to move or remove the trigger lock on my gun once properly installed and locked in place. That is, short of cutting it off with a hacksaw or using a hammer and chisel. Lumping all trigger locks in to one category and then making the statement that trigger locks are not a safe storage method is absolutely asinine. When it comes to the quality of trigger l...

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