Safety first, kids – MMD#499

Good day my good friend.

Currently, I am writing this in a period that authors would commonly refer to as ‘cramming it before a deadline.’ I just have 30,000 words to write during the next month in the book I am co-authoring with Beate Kubitz on Mobility-as-a-Service. While working my normal job. And moving house. No pressure!

If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.

James

Sod the kids, the adults aren’t alright

An interesting fact when it comes to riding in a car with kids. Where you seat them, and in what type of seat you seat them, has a huge bearing on their ability to survive a collision. For example, children under the age of 12 years old sat in the front seat are at risk of serious injury if the passenger airbag deploys. And the incorrect use of seat belts and booster seats has long been a child safety issue.

But the basic perception of road safety seems to go out of the window when it comes to safety in ride sharing services. New research shows that there is considerable disagreement among parents as to what constitutes ‘safe’ use of ride sharing by children. The authors put this down to inconsistent regulations and lack of experience of taking kids into ride sharing vehicles. Dare I say that this is also a matter of adults not realising that safety rules for their own cars may just be applicable elsewhere.

woman getting into the rear seat of a car. she is smiling at a young man in the front seat

Regulate it! (Maybe)

In the USA, the recent Ohio train derailment has caused a bit of a debate as to whether more regulation is needed on railways, and whether such regulations would have prevented a derailment. It is easy when disaster strikes to call for new rules, and its why we have investigations to get to the causes of the disasters before we rush to conclusions. But is regulating the answer?

It is not a matter of regulating, but of developing an effective solution to the issue, as good regulation is hard to do. I remember well in the aftermath of the Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash the call for Automatic Train Protection (ATP) to be installed on trains as opposed to the Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS). The disaster inquiry found that, while ATP may have stopped the trains in time, other factors were the main causes of the disaster. And TPWS had actually reduced the number of signals passed at danger. Its a lesson that sometimes, regulation doesn’t solve the problem.

Vietch Lister has a number of transport planning and data analytics services

Random things

These links are meant to make you think about the things that affect our world in transport, and not just think about transport itself. I hope that you enjoy them.

The great computing stagnation (Exponential View)
Thiel on Progress and Stagnation (Richard Ngo)
A systematic review of the impacts of intergenerational engagement on older adults’ cognitive, social, and health outcomes (Ageing Research Reviews)
Innovative data collection for measuring air pollution in Dakar (World Bank)
What digital-enabled dynamic capabilities support the circular economy? A multiple case study approach (Business Strategy and the Environment)

Something interesting

Well There’s Your Problem is a brilliant podcast about engineering mishaps. And I just found out they have a YouTube channel. This episode is one of the best: the saga of Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

This is a great blog by Paddy Carter of British International Investment on the sorts of things practitioners would like from research. I love the idea of an unanswered questions review!