Kimberly Vachal

What can we learn about North Dakota's youngest drivers from their crashes?

For North Dakota teens, three of every four deaths are from motor vehicle crashes. Injury crash records for teen drivers were studied to gain insight regarding driver, vehicle, and road factors for public safety policy and program discussions. Results show 14-year-old drivers are three times more likely to die or be disabled in an injury crash than 17-year-old drivers, and that male drivers are 30% less likely to incur severe injury. As expected, seat belt use is a critical factor in severe injury avoidance. The likelihood for death or disablement is 165% greater for unbelted teen drivers than for those who are properly belted. In addition, rural and gravel roads pose a risk. Teens are six times more likely to be severely injured in crashes on rural roads than on urban roads. Findings suggest that an increased licensing age and seat belt emphasis may reduce teen traffic injuries in the state. In addition, more information on exposure should be attained to better understand rural and gravel road as risks.

UNDERRIDE SAFETY PROTECTION: Benefit-Cost Assessment of Rear-Impact Guards for the North Dakota Farm Truck Fleet

Objective: The North Dakota Legislature recently passed a law exempting the states agricultural truck fleet from a federal safety program requirement for rear-guard equipment on large trucks. This equipment has been shown to reduce crash severity when a passenger vehicle collides with the rear of the truck. This study uses truck fleet, truck crash, and injury severity data to estimate the public safety benefit derived from passenger-vehicle underride protection during rear-end crashes involving large agricultural trucks in North Dakota. Methods: A benefit-cost analysis of crash injury avoidance is developed based on the frequency and severity of rear-end truck collisions in North Dakota between 2001 and 2007. Results: The injury avoidance benefits and commercial vehicle safety grant benefits are estimated to be

Oil County Traffic Safety: Perspective of Western North Dakota Residents

11.4 to

U.S. Containerized Grain and Oilseed Exports: Industry Survey

20.2 million during the seven-year depreciable truck life. Conclusion: The public safety benefits for rear-impact guards are higher than the estimated lifetime cost for the equipment and maintenance of

U.S. containerized grain and oilseed exports: Industry profile

8.1 million.

LONG-TERM AVAILABILITY OF RAILROAD SERVICES FOR U.S. AGRICULTURE

The sharp increase in travel volumes, the shift in traffic mix, and the large increases in traffic crashes have transformed the travel environment in the oil region of western North Dakota. Roads once used only for local access and agricultural purposes are now being used at high volumes to serve expanding oil production. Oil companies, oil workers, commercial trucks, and industrial equipment associated with gas and oil development all use these roads to access oil drilling and production sites. This change has led to an increase in traffic volume and a larger number of overweight and oversized vehicles on the road. A survey questionnaire was sent to drivers to understand better the perceptions and behaviors of road users in this region. County-level crash data were gathered for the state of North Dakota to understand changes in driving conditions during the latest oil boom, specifically between 2004 and 2011. This study addresses two key goals related to improving traffic safety in the region: first, to examine public perceptions of traffic safety issues and priorities and, second, to address crash trends and possible intervention strategies with a focus on the interaction between large trucks and passenger vehicles. Survey results indicate that drivers perceive the region to be dangerous and that driving improvements can be made. Crash data reveal that most crash statistics are growing at exponential rates. One safety initiative, ProgressZone: Moving Forward Safely, appears to be beneficial, but further improvements must take place.

Promoting youth occupant restraint based on need

Containerization has evolved from an industry serving niche markets to an industry creating niche market opportunities. Although the grain and oilseed industry is dominated by bulky, homogenized product marketing that is heavily reliant on economies of scale in delivering competitively priced commodities, technological advances, foreign market privatization, and declining global market transaction costs have supported diversification of this industry in niche markets such as small-volume containerized products. The findings of this research suggest that an established and growing U.S. shipper population is active in marketing containerized grains and oilseed products. A survey of shippers suggests that premiums for containerized grain and oilseed products are

Assessment of Three Affiliated Tribes Primary Seat Belt Intervention

5 per hundredweight, compared with premiums for the local bulk counterpart market. The net return to shippers is opaque as business practices and market fundamentals influence the costs associated with delivering the product to a customer overseas versus a local grain terminal or processor. Assuming that market activity is positively correlated to profitability, the grain and oilseed container shippers appear to be achieving acceptable levels of profit. Shippers report that container exports increased annually between 2000 and 2002, and they are projecting it will increase another 20% by 2005. Although many factors affect industry ability to realize this growth, shippers deem ocean freight rates as most crucial. Ocean liner routes and services, distance to container terminal, and foreign buyer information are also rated as having above-average importance.

Truck Fleet of Northern Plains Grain Farms

Diversification of production agriculture has received much attention in recent years. As producers and customers adapt to technologically advanced production and marketing systems, it is important to consider opportunities available for adding value to raw grain through alternative handling and transportation options. One such opportunity that has been more widely recognized in recent years is marketing grain products via container. It has been estimated that this option is currently used in marketing about 1% of U.S. grain production, with growth to 3% expected in the next 5 years. A profile is presented of the U.S. containerized grain and oilseed export industry, including marketing activities, future expectations, information needs, and business practices. Information developed concerning shipment origins, commodity volumes, and market destinations provides an industry profile that might be used as a tool in research, development, planning, and enhancement of opportunities for containerized marketing of grain products.

Differential Effects of Rail Deregulation on US Grain Producers

Future customer demands, service availability, and industry investment decisions will shape the modal marketing decisions of the grain-marketing sector. The Delphi technique is used to survey a cross section of grain-industry experts regarding future trends for the grain-marketing sector. The survey produces several interesting expectations, including further consolidation of the rail and elevator industries, increasing prominence of the heavy-axle cars in grain service, the upward trend in rail rates, increased use of market-based car-ordering systems and shuttles, expansion of the short-line rail network, and small market-scale, but large-volume, increases in the share of grain marketed via container. The insights are valuable in understanding the future of the rail grain industry. These expert opinions are important to identify research needs and discuss implications of government policy and market investment that affect the rail grain sector.