Family Ties Essay

â€Å"Lispector’s writing can often be interpreted as symbolic, yet it is at the same time highly sophisticated and original. Discuss a particular pattern in her imagery or symbolism and its effect on the reader.† Often authors write with symbolism to communicate a deeper idea then what they what is presented. Symbolism opens doors for readers to have the freedom of going in to find meaning. Most of the time they use objects, actions and characters to offer the readers more meaning for the story. Symbolism helps each reader to connect in their on personal way. Clarice Lispector, author of Family Ties, has a very unique path for usage of symbolism and imagery. It can be proven that Lispector uses animals to show her emotion, however she indirectly places it for the readers to open the door and search for the meaning. In the some of the short stories it can be concluded that the use of animals are to show her emotion but also play the role of presenting the everyday life struggle lesson being taught. Symbols are used almost everyday, even when it is not known to all. They can be used in to give readers a more enjoyable experience. Lispector takes her time to describe the setting and the animal presented, to create a visual picture in the readers mind. In the story The Chicken, it was simply only a chicken, without hopes or dreams, unaware of it’s destiny or capability and Sunday’s lunch main dish. In a rare instinctive spasm, it decides to escape flying over the fence. Now lunch-less the family starts to chase the direction-less bird. When the chicken gets caught there is still hope that it will live due do it laying an egg in the kitchen. Lispector takes such an simple story and turns it into a story with s significant symbol such as the chicken, to carry the emotion and keep it orignal. â€Å"Alone in the world, without father or mother, she ran, out of breath, concentrated, mute. Sometimes in her flight she would stand at bay on the edge of a roof, gasping; while the young man leaped over others with difficulty, she had a moment in which to collect herself. The she looked so free.† (Lispector, 50) In the above quotation it proves to readers that the chicken is in a life of loneliness and sadness. â€Å"Alone in the world† phrase catches the readers attention to feel sympathic but quickly changes to â€Å"free† where they feel happy and joy for the chicken. Lispector does this to keep it interesting and effective for the reader to follow along. In the last sentence of The chicken, Lispector says; â€Å" Until one day they killed her and ate her, and the years rolled on.† (52). The readers are then defeated in making an effort to solve a myth, because Lispector suggests that there is, after all, no meaning to this chicken’s life, and hence no meaning to our own. The buffalo is appreiated for its main character and her complex feelings, an undistinguished women who is regretting her past because of a preivous break up. Lispector choses a springtime afternoon in a zoo to settle her resentment. Nowhere in the search at the zoo of life among the lions, giraffe, hippopotamus, monkeys, ape, elephant, camel, and coati could she find hatred or anger. In fact, she finds it easier to love and to be compassionate than to hate. This roller coster of emotions in the story starts with a women who has a struggle but overcomes it with the happy emotion of each animal. â€Å"I love you, she said, out of hatred then for the men whose great and unpunishable rime was not loving, â€Å"I hate you, she said imploring love from the buffalo.† (156) Lispector in this quotation shows the overcoming of hatred of men as she see’s that men can be innocent. The women soon becomes eye locked with the buffalo as she learns to love again. She has felt a lot o f sentiments but never hatred of man until she meets the huge, black, hairy buffalo, whose eyes reflect back â€Å"mutual assassination.† How she responds to this recognition is quite interesting. The buffalo has the effect on the reader that emotions can be changed based on trust and that being jugdemental and grouping something together isnt going to help anything. Once again she proves a lesson with the use of animals and emotion. In conclusion, Lispector does use the method of animal imagery and emotion to help build her stories with meaning and excitment. Rather than the author just clearly stating thoughts, it is much more effiecent and allows the author to draw more attention by adding symbolic meaning, however Lispector’s stories are still orignal with complications. Each short story including the use of animals to convery thoughts has an effect on the reader.

Romeo Character Analysis Essay

I chose to analyse Romeo. because I think that Romeo has many features and there is a batch to explicate about him. Besides Romeo alterations in the narrative line many times ; he can besides hold many different features at the same clip. Romeo is a type of adult male that if he wants something he will seek his best to acquire it. Romeo is a really down. sad adult male at the beginning of the drama because he loves a adult female but he can’t love because of the feud between their two households. This feud is between the Capulet household. and the Montague household ; this feud has been traveling on for many old ages and has ne'er ended. You can detect that Romeo is depressed because he locks himself in his room and makes it dark. and so he weeps and weeps about the adult female that he loves. Romeos love is a lady named Rosaline. he weeps because she has kept a promise to remain chaste ( stay pure. or remain a virgin ) for the remainder of her life. When Romeo and his friends attend the Capulet banquet Romeo notices a immature beautiful miss named Juliet. in which he falls in love with and depict her as a gem. and that her beauty is like a bright star. So Romeo forgets about Rosaline and he wants to run into and be with Juliet but it is besides out because she is the girl of lord Capulet. but Romeo does non care and as the dances slow down he sneaks towards Juliet and he impresses her by stating her about her beauty. and he kisses her. She tells him that he has taken her wickedness and Romeo kisses her one time more to give back her wickedness. During the center of the drama. Romeo is in love but shortly alterations right after. Romeo tells Tybalt that he loves the Capulet’s. But Mercutio draws his blade at Tybalt and calls Romeo dishonourable. but while Mercutio and Tybalt duel Romeo attempts to halt the battle and Mercutio gets stabbed and dies. But after Mercutio dies Romeo becomes infuriated and pursuits after Tybalt. But when he finds Tybalt he mocks him and pull at Tybalt. Romeo becomes a combatant as he challenges Tybalt in a affaire d'honneur. In decision I see that Romeo has many more features and that he has a passionate love to be with Juliet at all times. I besides like the narrative about these two because of the manner that they both alteration and how they want to be together everlastingly but can’t. But they find a manner how. so I recommend this book to anyone that loves a good love affair narrative line or drama.

Research Methods for Business Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Methods for Business - Research Proposal Example This paper is aimed at providing a proposal analysis of the importance of stress management in organisations. In the recent years organisations have provided much importance to the stress management of the employees. Efforts are taken by the employers to reduce the stress from the employees by incurring huge cost in this aspect. Almost every multinational organisation has a dedicated stress management team to provide relief to the workers (Hit, et al, 2006, p.259). The growing importance of the issue makes it an important matter to study in the present business environment. Considering the importance of the stress management, organisations are incurring huge amount of cost towards prevention of the issues. In this context it is important to investigate whether providing importance to this aspect is improving the profitability of the business. It is to be noted that the organisations also provides various financial incentives to the employees in order to improve their efficiency and to make them feel that they are not being over burdened with their work. In this context, the causes of stress developing among the employees are also an important matter of study. The consequence of stress, on the organisation also needs to be highlighted in order to carefully analyze the importance given to stress management. The programs undertaken by organisations in the stress management activities, needs to be investigated to underline the factors which finally help the employees to overcome their stress. The study of stress management will help in providing a clear analysis of the different factors which contributes towards the development of stress among different set of workers. The consequence of such stress on the workers will actually help us to determine how the organisational productivity is being hampered if a large set of workers in an organisation becomes the victim of stress. The study of the stress management

A Moment of Self Awareness Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Moment of Self Awareness - Personal Statement Example Because I consider myself to be goal driven and an industrious person, it is difficult to communicate with others without a defined goal. I found that going to the grocery store was equally easy. It is simple, I just go and purchase my groceries, check out what is on sale and go about my business. It is easy for me to ask someone where an aisle is because there is a goal to be met at the end and honestly, the conversation is innocuous and quick. I don't feel as if I am being put on the spot. Likewise for the library and at a house I visited that was for sale. "While you are not born with a self-concept, you certainly do play a key role in building one. Even though you are constantly undergoing change, once built, the theory or picture you have of yourself is fairly stable and difficult to alter". Most people would describe me as an outgoing individual, easy to talk to and on the whole, easy to get along with. What most do not know, is that I am absolutely at a loss when placed in an environment that I am unfamiliar with. I therefore attempt to control the conversation or topic of conversation. I suppose that this would be my hidden quadrant according to the Jahari Window. I am not so sure that this is something that is built deliberately. I think that because I am outgoing, I would like to be able to initiate conversations in any area and with ease.

Franz Marc Inspiration By Astronomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Franz Marc Inspiration By Astronomy - Essay Example This is a journal that would later become famous due the circle of artists that collaborated in it (Gerald 16). In the year 1912, Marc met with Robert Delaunay; this was an artist whose style was identified by many artists as the futuristic. The futuristic aspect was majorly on the use of color. Roberts work is known to be a major influence of the work done by marc and mainly influenced by the style of futurism and cubism (Wolf, et al, 68). This influenced Marc’s work to be more abstract and stark in nature. The work by Marc was deemed as fascinating as he was able to draw some of his artistic aspects from astronomy. Some of the most famous arts that Franz Marc is known for are ‘The deer in the woods’, ‘the fate of the animals’, ‘the lamb’ and ‘the fighting forms’. Franz marc is known for his fascination in animals of which he incorporated in his paintings. Franz Marc paintings are known for the bright color aspects which man y critics have associated with some cosmology aspects. Cosmology is the study of origins of the stars and the fate of the bodies that forms the universe. Franz in some of his artwork associated mixture of color which is associated with some of the heavenly aspects.... Edmondo Bacci’s painting known by the name, oil with sand on canvas is an example of artwork that was inspired by Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. In the Edmondo’s painting, the similarity to Franz painting is majorly associated with Franz work from the perspective that the three primary colors are the dominating colors in his painting (Marc, et al, 37). Edmondo having drawn inspiration of this art work from the cosmic bodies, Franz work can be awarded similar attributions in his work with the ‘Deer in the woods’. On the astronomical aspect the paintings by Franz marc can be associated by auroras, Auroras are colorful patters that are formed in the sky and are mostly occur in high latitude regions ( Liedke 6). These patterns are made of bright swirling colors that make them magnificent to look at. With the art work of Franz, the swirling effect that can be realized from the viewer’s perspective is relatively similar with the colorful patterns that fo rm the auroras. The first impression that one gets from the look of Franz’s painting is the colorful swirling image, the swirl effect has been referred to as the association with the genesis and the destruction of the heavenly bodies’ theories that have been put forth by many scientist. Van Gogh is one of the people who inspired the art by Franz Marc; van Gogh was popular among the greatest artists for his paintings that depicted the night skies. He is celebrated for his artistic powers in imagination of what encompasses the heavenly bodies. A piece of art that was created in the year 1889 known as the ‘starry night’ is a painting that was done by Van Gogh. This painting was considered as one of the major inspirations for most of the works done by Franz Marc. The inspirations that

English Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English - Research Proposal Example Introduction Currently, there are numerous changes in education of poor and minor students. Funding for their education should be increased. The American government should be interested in promotion and support of the future generation. Disparities between social groups in the American society are evident: â€Å"While some states rightfully have focused their attention on equitably funding their school districts, others have done little to close their funding gaps, and some gaps have grown even larger† (â€Å"Funding Gap†, 2004). The students’ achievements are guaranteed by proper investments of the American government. The state policy-makers should realize the fact that it is very important to provide poor students or ethnic minorities with the challenging curriculum, high-quality teachers, inspiration power of education and a regular control over the students’ successes. Therefore, it is argued further on that federal funding of education for students f rom poor or ethnic minority families should be guaranteed in the name of a sound nation, because education in the modern global world is the first and foremost issue of concern. Argument 1. Nowadays, there is a growing ethnic and social gap in America and the officials often claim that it is beyond their abilities to control education quality of children from ethnic minority families. ... es – could yet have a catastrophic effect on the competitiveness of an American workforce already under pressure from the emerging Asian economies of China and India† (Foster, 2012). Therefore, it is evident that it is beyond the abilities of the American government to take control over a coming childbirth potential of ethnic minority families, but the government is able to develop favorable conditions for a sound development of these families by making proper investments in education of their children. A future generation of Americans can be in a great trouble in case the government will not think about investments in education of ethnic minorities. Argument 2. It cannot be denied that children from poor families are the most vulnerable members of the society. Every day they should realize the fact that they are educated in a challenging and a favorable atmosphere. In accordance with recent data, children from poorer districts do not have enough resources for their deve lopment. It is evident that children from poor families do not have enough opportunities to develop their talents, and they need effective governmental support. Data on funding gaps is the following – in Illinois and New York the states have experienced the largest controversies in funding: â€Å"more than $2,000 per student; in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas are among the states with funding gaps greater than $900 per student† (â€Å"Funding Gap†, 2004). These figures are impressive, and it is evident that every student should be treated individually in order to find appropriate financial funds for a proper investment. Argument 3. The educational opportunities for the students from ethnic minorities or poor families should be friendlier. These children have suffered

Necessity of Philosophy of Education for Teachers or Educators Essay

Necessity of Philosophy of Education for Teachers or Educators - Essay Example There are essential differences between man and animal, which makes â€Å"education’ possible for man and one can only train animal (Vargas, 1994, p.273). It makes possible The philosophy of education can be of forms as realism, idealism, existentialism or pragmatism and implications can be drawn by one for teaching, education, curriculum, learning or other important issues of education (Orteza and Miranda, 2001, p.3). There are four major educational philosophies on the properties of knowledge and the way of knowing it within the frame of epistemology. These approaches of educational philosophy are recently used in the classrooms widely all over the world. These philosophies are Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism and Reconstructionism. These philosophical issues concentrate heavily on the curriculum aspects of WHAT should be taught (Crookes, 2009, p.85). The aim of this education is to consolidate the fact that teachers or educators gain knowledge of great Western civ ilization ideas. The ways to solve problems in any era is hidden in these ideas. The aim is to share ideas that are everlasting, to search for enduring truth that are constant, as the human and natural world at the most essential level remain unchanged (Ornstein, 2012, p. 431). Essentialism: It is believed by the essentialists that there is a common cluster of knowledge that should be transmitted to teachers in a constructive way. Intellectual and moral standards are the two bases in the conservative perspective on which emphasis is given. Essential knowledge and academic rigor and skills are the major arena of the curriculum. Essentialists accept the idea of probable changes in the core curriculum (Ornstein, 2012, p.431) Progressivists: Progressivists believes that the whole child should be focused for the education, rather than focusing on the content or the teacher. Reconstructionism: Social Reconstructionism, a philosophy that put stress on the quest and addressing of social que stions to construct worldwide democracy and better society (Cohen, 1999). Teachers do teaching and the institutions where they work have a purpose that deeply concerns education (Langford, 1978, p.3). Successful teachers do have their respective philosophies and they are quite strong ones. Sometimes, the teachers themselves are not aware of their own philosophy or the reason behind their success. But it is the philosophy that affects everything they do all the day. It would be amazing if all teachers â€Å"flowed through the day† to handle all our tasks with great ease and naturally, but it is us who have to do all our appointed works. Today in several occasions, the beliefs of parents and students are really strong and presume an important influence on what a teacher can do and cannot do. A part of those beliefs are cultural, some are religious and some others are utter nonsense, but all of them must be confronted, handled and addressed individually. A teacher could face a s ituation in the class to which might have no clue and probably he is not going to learn about how to handle them. This is where an essentiality for philosophy lies for the educators. If teachers make too many hard and fast rules for which they are not willing, ready or able to back up, consequence might push them right into a corner. Because there will always be someone to test the teachers regarding their rules to see if they really mean it. A teacher will be tested everyday, in fact many a times in a day. If they do not follow through, they are not only going to lose the battle, but also a lot of respect as well. Among the first things that teachers need to do first is to determine the kind of things that are important enough to have a strong philosophy about. New teachers build up their philosophy slowly at first, as they start gaining confidence and strength they will make choices and changes in their beliefs that are well thought out, based on good judgments, innovated in exper ience and beneficial to

Tourism Destination Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Tourism Destination Marketing - Essay Example The strategic direction identification process consists of assessment of the present status of the destination with respect to complete analysis of the prevailing conditions in the market. On the basis of the analysis, a future strategic marketing direction of the tourism destination will be formulated. After the formation of the strategic direction, a strategy of integrated marketing communication will be proposed for future development of the tourism destination. The mature tourism island destination that has been chosen for the study in concern is that of the Canary Islands which are located in Spain. The Canary Islands are integrated totally into the European Union and the level of safety and quality comply with the standards of Europe. Ei Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canara, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are among the Canary Islands. The islands are located in the region that has the greatest level of biodiversity in the world. The islands are characterised with lar ge variety of landscapes, lava flows, and beaches of several kinds, impressive cliffs, fertile valleys and various other aspects (Islas Canarias, 2011). 2.0 Audit of the Current Status of Canary Islands This is an important section of the research paper that will deal with the current status of the Canary Islands in terms of market position in the whole economy. The analysis will be taken up with reference to the market analysis, internal analysis, competition that it faces and structure and role of the Canary Islands. During recent times, the Canaries have applied a number of strategies for achieving sustainable development with regards to the islands’ environmental factors. 2.1 Market Analysis of the Canary Islands Market analysis of the Canary Islands will be presented in this part on the basis of the prevalence of the demand in these islands. The best possible way of analysing the market of the Canary Islands would be to review the number of arrivals there with the help o f previous records. The tourists’ arrivals will represent the prevalence of demand in the region during previous years. Considering the number of tourists’ arrival in the Canary Islands, it can be mentioned that not only the number of visitors were high but the distribution of these visitors throughout the year was even as well. In other words, the demand was distributed homogeneously over the year. The inbound tourism market of the Canary Islands is diverse, with tourists arriving mostly from Germany and the United Kingdom. Thus, the target market for Canary Islands is highly concentrated in the European countries. Data of the year 2002 reveal that 90% of the tourists’ arrival had occurred from the European countries. According to the views of the holiday makers, the most important reason for choosing the Canaries as a holiday destination is due to its weather, scenic beauty, beaches and peace in the atmosphere (Garin-Munoz, 2004). 2.2 Internal Analysis of the Canary Islands The internal analysis of the C

Scheme Evaluation & Future direction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Scheme Evaluation & Future direction - Essay Example The overall rational for this was that the researcher identified that there were core qualities of the original XML labelling platform that needed to be maintained even after the scheme had been designed. These qualities were deemed necessary because of the advantage they offer to data interchange programming. As mentioned already, some of these qualities were query performance, construction time and memory usage (Fennell, 2013). But to get the real measure of the GroupBased scheme’s performance or merits, it was important to introduce a new variable or parameter with which the comparative measure could take place. This necessitated the introduction of the Dynamic Dewey labelling scheme (DDE) on which the experiments were run to allow comparable evaluation under the same circumstances. To test the research hypothesis, the scheme was implemented based on the defined rules and characteristics (Ch.4). The design and implementation specifications were provided in detail in Chapter 5. As explained in the earlier chapters, the DDE scheme was implemented as it contributed to the formation of the proposed scheme. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, four main experiments were performed to test whether the scheme fulfilled its intentions. The experimental framework of these experiments and an analysis of their results were discussed in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7. Generally, it is fair to state that the research hypothesis was partly supported by the results; some of the results obtained were fully supportive of the hypothesis. For example, it would be seen that the hypothesis was testing three major outcomes as far as performance is concerned. These were the need for the scheme to facilitate node insertions in an efficient way, the need to offer inexpensive labels, and the need to achieve improved query performance. As far as the outcome of facilitating node insertions in dynamic XML data in efficient way, the results of the study as

Perform an experiment Essay Example for Free

Perform an experiment Essay I am going to perform an experiment on friction and the variables of friction using a wooden block, a piece of string and a Newton meter. I will test 3 variables: weight, surface area and surface texture. Each test will be repeated 5 times to get a fair range of results. Friction is the force of two objects rubbing together and slowing and/or stopping each other. The amount of friction produced depends on the appearance of its surface for example: The surface of the sandpaper has deep slopes and the surface of the paper has to move up and down those slopes to proceed, causing friction. My first test will be done to measure the affect of weight on the amount of friction between the block and the table top. The block ill be placed on the table and the Newton meter tied to it. Then the Newton meter will be pulled until the block starts to move and as soon as it does the amount of Newtons required to cause that movement will be recorded. This will be done 5 times then averaged. To make sure it is a fair test I will: use the same Newton meter and the same wooden block to avoid introducing other variables; I will also use the same section of table using the same side of the block every time. I will be vigilant of how I pull the Newton meter, the moving force should be parallel to the supporting surface because pulling it up will lessen friction and pulling it down will increase friction. I predict that as the weight on the block increases so therefore does the down force, increasing the amount of friction because it becomes more difficult for the ridges to pass over each and so a block with less/smoother ridges would find its passage a lot easier. When the experiment was carried out, as I predicted, when the weight on the block increased so therefore did the Newtons required to move it from a fixed position. The test was done with 2 Newton meters over 2 days. Using the same Newton meter was impossible as it broke. My results were as follows: Weight of block = 2. 0N Weight T1(N) T2(N) T3(N) T4(N) T5(N) Average(N) Block. Block + 5N 2. 8 3. 5 4 3. 5 3. 6 3. 5 In the first experiment weight was tested and a set of results produced. In this second experiment the surface area in contact with the desk will be tested. To obtain my results I will use the following method, the block will be placed on two sheets of paper a measured distance apart with a Newton meter tied to it. The block will then be pulled and as it begins to move the amount of Newtons required to cause this will be recorded. Each test will be done 5 times then averaged. To make sure it is a fair test I will; as the same Newton meter ensuring non-introduction of new variables, use the same side of the block, use the same two pieces of paper and make sure the blocks movement is parallel to the supporting surface. I predict that as the surface area of the block exposed to the desk increases so will the amount of Newtons required to move it because there will be more sharper ridges to pass over therefore requiring more Newtons. My results were as follows: Exp mm2 T(n) T2(n) T3(n) T4(n) T5(n) Avg(N). My prediction on 1 or 2 of the results was correct or partially correct but on the whole I fear my prediction was incorrect as it seems the surface area (exposed to the desk) does not greatly affect the amount of Newtons that is required to move it, any affect it does have is not continual and seemingly erratic. The friction experiment has now been done with 2 variables: weight and surface area. I have now come to the third and final, surface texture. To test the affect of surface texture on friction, I will, Place the block on the surface with a Newton meter tied to it, the meter will then be pulled and as soon as the block shows signs of movement I will record the amount of Newtons needed. Each test will be done 5 times then averaged. To make sure it is a fair test I will: unless it breaks use the same Newton meter, I will use the same block and the same side of the block every time, I will use the same substance/type of substance for instance making sure the sandpaper comes from the same sheet. I will also keep the movement of the block parallel to the supporting surface. Although smoothness is hard to measure I predict that the smoother a substance is to the touch, the less friction will be produced, because the smoother a substance is to the touch the less sharp or outstanding the ridges are, therefore the less resistance they cause. Key Substances: Silicon based carbon paper: Si Emery paper: Bs Sand paper: S Table top: TT Plastic Bag: Pb Substance T1(N) T2(N) T3(N) T4(N) T5(N) Average S As I predicted the smoother a substance feels to be, the less it causes resistance, as shown in the results. I followed my method very strictly any variation caused by my hand is small to negligible, and would not greatly affect the results. I have come to the conclusion that for a substance to reach minimal resistance it can achieve this being light weight, smoothly textured and have minimal contacting surface area with the opposing surface. If a substance is required to have maximum resistance it would be the opposite. I feel the experiment was performed rather well but there is room for improvement, to have maybe got fairer more accurate results I could have maybe repeated the experiment once or twice on all of them, then I would have more data to analyse giving me a better chance at accuracy. In all the three experiments instead of using the human hand to pull the Newton meter use a machine which would be less prone to inconsistency and use a table top free of blemishes. In the second experiment the block could have been placed on previously constructed platforms each measured to have 4 sides the same and those sides to be the measurements used meaning the non need of paper and a lot more accurate readings.

Fluctuating Present Value Of A Cash Flow Finance Essay

Fluctuating Present Value Of A Cash Flow Finance Essay Answer: A cash flow stream is a series of cash receipt and payments over the life of an investment. It is the inflow and outflow of cash, which matters in practice. It is the cash, which a firm can invest, or pay to creditors to discharge its obligations, or distribute to shareholders as dividends. The assets are the items which are owned by the business. The level of interest rates arising in the capital market is associated with the cash flows `and the assets , when the rates increases , the availability of the funds decreases. As a result when the interest rates increase in the capital market, the obligation increases which leads to decrease in the availability of funds to invest in the investments. The present value of cash flow is equal to the sum of the present value of individual cash flows. The equation for present value of cash flow stream is as follows- PV= Where, PV=present value r= rate of interest t= the year n= the last year, where the cash flow occurs Interest rate is the rate at the interest is paid by the lender to the borrower for use of money by the borrowers from the lenders. So, the rise in the interest rates , the availability of cash flows streams due to higher rate of interest , the present value of cash flow streams will decline. 2. List and explain the points of financial impact on a company if it raises the credit standards required of its customers who utilized trade credit offered by the company. Answer: Credit standards are the criteria to decide the types of customers to whom goods could be sold on credit. If the firm has more slow-paying customers, its investments in accounts receivable will increase. Trade credit refers to the credit that a customer gets from providers of goods in the normal flow of business. In practice, the buying firms do not have to pay cash immediately for the purchase made .This deferral of payments is a short term financing called trade firms. The credit standard policy has significant impact on the financial condition of a company-The following are the financial impact on a company due to rise in credit standard . Decrease in credit sales- A rise in credit standards will have a limit on the buyers who will borrow from the company and as a result the sales will decrease as most of the buying firms do not pay cash immediately. This will lower the sales of the company leading to less in revenue generation. Decrease the demand-The rise in credit standards will lower the demand by the buyers which will lead to decrease in demand and decrease in revenue earning. Relatively faster average collection period- A rise in credit standards will make the average collection period relatively faster for the new customers leading to better collection process and increase in volume of cash in inflow. Prompt in collection by existing customers- The rise in standard will pull the collection by the existing customers and make the payments from them prompt and on time. Better return on investment- The rise in credit standards will lead to better return on investments made and credit allowed will be selected as the customers will be prompt in payments and the selection of the customers will be limited. 3. Define Weighted Average Cost of Capital and explain why a company must earn at least its Weighted Average Cost of Capital on new investments. What are the financial implications if it does not? Answer:- Weighted average cost of capital is organisations the calculation of cost of capital where each category of capital is proportionally weighted .A firm obtains capital from various sources due to the risk differences and contractual agreements between the firms and the investors, the cost of capital of each source of capital differs The cost of capital of each source of capital is component source of capital. The component costs are combined according to the weight of each component capital to obtain average cost of capital. The combined cost of all source of capital is called overall cost which also known as weighted average cost of capital. Thus, it is the overall return that firm must earn on its existing business operation in order to maintain or increase the current value of current stock. A company must earn at least weighted average cost of capital in new investments. By taking weighted average, the interest to be paid by the company for a investment is calculated. Wei ghted average cost of capital is the expected rate of return, weighted by proportion each to the overall financial structure. The minimum rate of return on the new investments must be earned so as not to reduce the shareholders. A firm should earn at least its average weighted rate on capital investment in its assets the weighted average cost of capital is used a discount rate to calculate the present value of the of a specific investment. If the firm does not earn the least average weighted cost of capital in its new investments, the firm will incur loss in that new investment, and so it should discontinue or should not invest further. The average weighted cost of capital is the minimum expected rate of return from an investment, so it should be calculated first and then the decision for the investment should be made. 4.As a corporation what are the benefits and ramifications of using convertible debt to finance a publicly traded company? As an investor what are the benefits and ramifications of purchasing convertible debt in a publicly traded company? Are there any conflicts between the goals of the investor and the goals of the corporation? Answer:- Convertible debt are the debts like bonds and debentures with an option to convert it into common stock in future date. The following are the benefits and ramifications of using convertible debt to finance a publicly traded company:- Attractions for the investors:-convertible debts will attract investors by providing safety of debt along with the option to convert it into common stock in future. The investors will lend money to the company with the view that the company will make regular interest payments and the return of capital. If the company achieves growth in future and the stock value increases, the investors has the option to convert it into common stock. Lesser fixed-rate borrowing cost-Convertible debt will allow the issuers to issue the debts at lower cost. Increase in total debt gearing -The convertible debt will increase the total amount of debt level in the company .It will provide additional funding to the company which will be beneficial to the issuers. Financing option- The convertible debts are good financing option for start up companies as equity shares pose a challenge for them. As the convertible debts carry low interest payments by the company, while remaining competitive. Fixed limited income- The convertible debt holders obtains fixed limited income until its conversion and it will benefit the company because more of operating income is available for the common stock holders. Voting solution is deferred- With the convertible debts, the voting rights of existing shareholders happens only on eventual conversion of debts. Ramifications of convertible debts to company- There are some complications for issuers as well .First one , is that financing with convertible debts draws the risk of debasing not only the EPS of its common stock, but also the control of the organisation. If a heavy part of the issue is purchased by one buyer, like investment banking company or insurance company, conversion will change over or take over the voting control from original owners of the company and toward the converters. This issue may not be a significant matter for bigger companies with millions of stock holders, but for the small company, it will be a real and important consideration. Due prominent use of debt will adversely affect a companys capability to finance operations in clips of economic downturn. If the company faces any downfall, it will experience great trouble in raising capital further. The following are the advantages and ramifications to the investors.- Safer investment -The convertible debts are the safer investment compared to buying common stock with returns They are less explosive than stocks and their value can only come down to a price where the yield would be equal to a non-convertible bond of the same terms. Strong protection- The convertible debts provide strong protection to the investors in the times of market fluctuations and at the same time providing periodic returns. Interest payments-The convertible debt holders have a right on the receiving of interest and periodic returns in spite of any downturn in the market. Larger claim on companys assets Convertible bond holders have a larger claim on the assets of the company as compared to the shareholders in case of collapse. More protection from economic downtrend- The convertible debt holder will have a gain during the economic downtrend due the option of conversion into equity shares. As a result, the market stock of share stocks will increase with market prices dissimilar for the debts where the interest rates are fixed. This means that bond holders will gain as during inflation because his money looses value more. Ramification to the investors- Convertible debts could have complication in the view that the debt holder will be obtaining considerably lower yield to maturity in comparison to the non-convertibles. But it is only a worry when the issuers equity does not gain the upward price predictions that would make taking the lower grant speculation worthy. Finally, the ability for predictions are reduced to a great extend when a call provision is bonded to the convertible bond. This will limits the upside and will let the debt holder to declare their debt at a discount to market. The goals of an investors towards the convertible debts is to invest in debts at lower cost and gain fixed returns whereas the goal of a issuing company is to achieve higher operating income with lower borrowing cost. 5) Which two of the six methods used to evaluate projects, and to decide whether or not they should be accepted, do you prefer as a financial manager?   Explain why you decided on these two and not the other four. List the perceived deficiencies of the four not selected. The six methods which are used to evaluate projects, and to decide whether or not they should be accepted are as follows:- Investment decisions for a project evaluation postulate special aide due to the following reasons The projects influence the long term growth of the firm. The decision for a project will affect the risk factor of the firm Evaluation of the project is an important tool as it involves commitment of large amount of finances or stocks They are one of the most difficult conclusions to arrive at. The six methods are as follows:- Accounting rate of return (ARR) Internal rate of return (IRR) Net Present Value (NPV) Payback Period Profitability index Modified Internal rate of return Accounting rate of return ARR is also referred as Return on investment (ROI), as it uses the information of accounting revealed by the financial statements, to measure the gainfulness of an investment. The calculation of ARR involves the ratio of the average tax after profit divided by the average investment done Disadvantages: it can be calculated in a lot of ways profit is not a good alternate option for cash flow adjustment is not considered to calculate the time value of money Impulsive break-off date Contrary decisions can be made. Net Present Value NPV is the method of measuring the investment proposals. It is the discounted cash flow technique that explicitly acknowledges the time value for money. It rightly takes that cash flow coming up from various time periods differ in values and are comparable only when their corresponding present values are taken out. Advantages Says if the finances invested will increase the firms value Takes into account all the cash flows Takes into account the time value of money Takes the risk of future cash flows. Profitability Index The profitability Index is the ratio of present value of cash influxes to the initial of cash outlay of investment at a required rate of return Advantages Says if the finances invested can increase the firms value Takes into account all cash flows of the project Takes the time value of money Takes the risk of future cash flows Provide ranking and selection of projects when capital is rationed out. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) IRR is the way of DCF(Discounted Cash Flow), which takes into consideration the intensity and timing of cash inflows and outflows. The concept of IRR is quite simple to understand in the case of a one-period project. Disadvantages It needs to have a projection of the COC (Cost of Capital) to make a decision The given value-maximizing decision when used to compare mutually exclusive projects may not give the proper decision The given value-maximizing decision when used to choose any projects when there is capital rationing may not give the proper decisions Its not useful in the situations in which sign of cash flows for a project changes more than once during the life of the project. Payback Payback is the number of years needed to retrieve the original cash expenditure invested in a project. If the project yields constant annual cash influxes, the computation of payback period is carried out by dividing cash outlays by the annual cash influxes. Disadvantages 1) the decision criteria is not that concrete to show if an investment increases the firms value 2) Refuses the cash flows beyond the payback period 3) Refuses the time value of money 4) Refuses the risk of future cash flows I will take into consideration the Net present value and the profitability index for the consideration of two of the techniques for the project which will be undertaken due to the advantages which has been described above. I dint find much disadvantages in those methods and so I have given the advantages of those two methods which will be taken under consideration by me, the other methods I dint find of much worth in respect to evaluation for the concerned project as they have less advantages and more disadvantages and so I have written the same above for them. 6.What are the benefits and costs of placing a financially troubled company into a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceeding? Is this a legitimate and ethical vehicle for management to use for the benefit of the companys stakeholders? A)   Bankruptcy is a legal process for financial debtors who seek to eliminate their debts. Bankruptcys governs the federal statutory law which is there in the Title 11 of the U.S. Code. It provides for federal procedures of statutes and courts which objects the debtors to put their financial matters under the hold of the bankruptcy court. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Chapter 11 bankruptcy says to restructure a business under some kind of supervision, rather getting liquidated because the business will still be functioning, but in case of a whole new different circumstances, the benefits of the retirement may or may not be ceased. Protection Benefits Federal law entitles a person to get pensions with some protection. When an employee announces himself to be bankrupt, finances for pensions are not to be utilized for the repayment to creditors. Also, all the retirement benefits you have earned being an employee will not be enforced to him. Federal Insurance The federal government assures standard and effective retirement plans. Any employer who cannot fund Federal government will fund temporarily. This type of insurance is not eligible for 401(k) plans. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy is the most costly anatomy of Bankruptcy in respect to average cost front. It is the most expensive form of bankruptcy and the small businesses should also take this into consideration before filling the bankruptcy. It is expensive as it involves two separate elements which are debt repayment plan and reorganization plan a. The reorganization plan means the person has to convince the court and the debtors that you can put in profit very soon which should be detailed and supported by proper research wherein you have to show a budget through which you need to assess how you are going to pay your creditors in the next several years. Its a process wherein you have to negotiate the same with the creditors and the court. A minimum of $15,000 have to be paid if there is no disputes and expensive attorneys over your reorganization plan but for Chapter 11 bankruptcy it will exceed to $ 100,000 and also this amount can vary depending upon the attorneys and disputes filed by the creditors. I understand that its not an ethical and legitimate step for the stakeholders but when there is no words to express the matter in concern and already the things have gone wrong and worse there can be few things which, if kept in mind can at least fetch some benefits for the stakeholders Filling in Court This is the first way when you can file in the court for a recovery notice wherein you owe the creditors and attorneys that you will come up with the company in a stipulated years of time and also by paying a fees for the time being just to show a courtesy to the creditors and the attorneys. Cost Minimization In this approach, an effort to minimize the cost of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy can be exercised while it may not work in most cases. The matters can be sorted out with the help of an attorney a fee agreement which would imply that most of the paper work preparation planning and filling must be carried out by the concerned person and he would simply pay his attorney to act as a legal coach in case of any need or questions. Most of the attorneys may not accept this type of payment agreement due to the complexity of plan of Chapter 11. Warning The rate of success in Chapter 11 bankruptcies is exceedingly low, which means that a very small percentage of reorganization plans will actually obtain approval from the court. As without the approval the plan will be worthless. There will be higher chance of spending lot of money and putting together a plan along with creditors negotiation and attending to win approval from the court, but this could be a failure too.

Essay --

After a twelve-hour descent I reached my destination. As I cautiously walked out of my abyss that is the airplane, I instantly get a hit of the cruel humidity of South Korea. The sky still covered in clouds suggested that it would soon cool off but of course it was all just a painted picture as the beads of sweat that started from my neck continued to race down the crevice of my spine and down to my hip. I decided to travel to South Korea alone in order to fully grasp and understand the culture that my family grew up living in. The first thing I noticed was how short everyone was, this lead to an extra kick in my step and an obnoxious protruding self-confident walk. I was being stared at like I was some sort of prized possession either because I was taller than everyone else or that I was a foreigner. Koreans love their foreigners; to a blind eye even though I looked the part of a Korean, they could tell who the foreigners were and they were definitely not fooled. It took some time before a little boy had the courage to confront me and display all the cool English phrases he had learned at ‘hagwan’. Hagwan is school on weekends taught by tutors and is very common that everyone attends these classes. Soon after, I was completely mobbed by Koreans of all ages, and my most memorable conversation I had was with this man in his thirties. The man and I had an endless conversation about soccer, the economy and travel. I remember the first words he said were â€Å"People don’t take trips, trips take people† he later explained that he meant that people need to ignore their final destination as an endpoint, but rather the beginning of a new unexpected trip. After our conversation I pulled out my map and asked him to draw in Dongdaemun. He repli... ...laxing where I’m from but here in Korea there are a couple rules to follow. Again, status plays a role, similar to the handshakes, if an elder offers to pour you a beer, you must hold your glass with both hands and if it is your first drink you should always accept it, as it is polite to. Also you must keep both hands on the bottle when pouring for elders. Elders however are allowed to use one hand as it shows authority. Apparently it is also very rude to pour yourself a drink, as I learned out the hard way, my new friends disciplined me by giving me a couple shots of Soju. Needless to say, that was I all I remembered from that night. You should always leave some alcohol in your glass and keep in mind that this flowing alcohol won’t stop for a while. So blame the alcohol and their rules when you see a group of coworkers stumbling down the streets in broad daylight.

The Banning Of e For Ecstasy By Nicholas Saunders :: essays research papers

The Banning of "E for Ecstasy" by Nicholas Saunders The book entitled E for Ecstasy, by Nicholas Saunders, is a book of history, information, and stories about the illegal drug ecstasy. The author presents a vast amount of information about many aspects of the drug such as the history of the invention of the drug, information about how the drug effects people in different ways, positive reasons to use the drug, side effects and negative reasons to use the drug, and an overview of how the drug has been accepted into various societal groups. A shipment of this book, which was published in England in 1994, was ceased by Australian customs agents in the spring of 1994 and has been banned in Australia ever since. The ban on this book is currently still in place and being upheld by the Australian government due to the way the book portrays the drug ecstasy in a primarily positive way. According to the author of the book, even anti-drug groups are opposed to the ban because they believe both sides of the story should be heard. As I read this book, at first I felt a temptation to try ecstasy due to the positive way in which the drug was described. After reading further into the text, however, much more detailed information about the drug is brought fourth. For example, the book associates use of ecstasy with the cultures of all kinds of illegal drugs. In my opinion, the ban should be lifted because the book does not just give the positive information about this drug. While the book does side towards the use of the drug, it does provide all kinds of interesting information and education including negative data about the drug. If information about drugs is kept in the dark, people will be tempted to seek information in potentially harmful ways. If information flows freely, however, people can usually be trusted to make smart choices. The latest twist to this otherwise traditional story is that the entire text of the book is now available on the Internet, as is the text of many other banned books.

Alchemy :: essays research papers

Alchemy, ancient art practiced especially in the Middle Ages, devoted chiefly to discovering a substance that would transmute the more common metals into gold or silver and to finding a means of indefinitely prolonging human life. Although its purposes and techniques were dubious and often illusory, alchemy was in many ways the predecessor of modern science, especially the science of chemistry. The birthplace of alchemy was ancient Egypt, where, in Alexandria, it began to flourish in the Hellenistic period; simultaneously, a school of alchemy was developing in China. The writings of some of the early Greek philosophers might be considered to contain the first chemical theories; and the theory advanced in the 5th century BC by Empedocles—that all things are composed of air, earth, fire, and water—was influential in alchemy. The Roman emperor Caligula is said to have instituted experiments for producing gold from orpiment, a sulfide of arsenic, and the emperor Diocletian is said to have ordered all Egyptian works concerning the chemistry of gold and silver to be burned in order to stop such experiments. Zosimus the Theban (about AD 250-300) discovered that sulfuric acid is a solvent of metals, and he liberated oxygen from the red oxide of mercury. The fundamental concept of alchemy stemmed from the Aristotelian doctrine that all things tend to reach perfection. Because other metals were thought to be less "perfect" than gold, it was reasonable to assume that nature formed gold out of other metals deep within the earth and that with sufficient skill and diligence an artisan could duplicate this process in the workshop. Efforts toward this goal were empirical and practical at first, but by the 4th century AD, astrology, magic, and ritual had begun to gain prominence. A school of pharmacy flourished in Arabia during the caliphates of the Abbasids from 750 to 1258. The earliest known work of this school is the Summa Perfectionis (Summit of Perfection), attributed to the Arabian scientist and philosopher Geber; the work is consequently the oldest book on chemistry proper in the world and is a collection of all that was then known and believed. The Arabian alchemists worked with gold and mercury, arsenic and sulfur, and salts and acids, and they became familiar with a wide range of what are now called chemical reagents. They believed that metals are compound bodies, made up of mercury and sulfur in different proportions. Their scientific creed was the potentiality of transmutation, and their methods were mostly blind gropings; yet, in this way, they found many new substances and invented many useful processes. >From the Arabs, alchemy generally found its way through Spain into Europe.

Panera Bread Essay

Panera Bread is a nationwide known eatery that provides premium foods in a sophisticated atmosphere. Panera Bread is in the line of bakery-cafà ©. They decided to set themselves apart from eateries such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. The stores are equipped with very intimate settings and Wi-Fi. Panera Bread specializes in a variety fresh baked bread and meal options for the health conscience customer. SWOT Analysis Strengths †¢Panera Bread is known nationwide and this helps to attract customers. †¢Panera Bread has an assortment of fresh breads and meal offerings to accommodate those that are health conscience. †¢Panera Bread moved past the fast food market and decided to offer high-quality, premium food to its customers. †¢The overall ambience of the eatery gives an intimate, at home feel that makes the customer want †¢Scott Davis, senior vice president and chief concept office had a clear vision of the direction Panera Bread would take and a clear strategy of how to achieve that goal. Weakness †¢The eatery offers premium, fast dining and the prices may appear to be on the higher end to customers. †¢Panera Bread has not been able to increase the frequency of which customers dine at the eatery. †¢In order to enter as a franchise, Panera Bread has a very strict list of criteria that makes it difficult to qualify. Opportunities †¢Panera Bread can cease the opportunity to offer their fresh baked breads in supermarkets or sell their breads in store to customers. †¢Panera Bread has the opportunity to offer a lower end eating experience. This lower end chain will appeal to potential customers who cannot afford and expensive meal for the family. Threats †¢Panera Bread’s direct competition is fast-casual restaurants. †¢The change in the economy has affected how often individuals and families go outside of the home to dine. Alternatives 1.Offer Panera Bread’s signature dough and bread to local supermarkets or for sell at the Panera stores. 2.Introducing a lower market restaurant. 3.Make entering the franchise easier by making the criteria to qualify less strict. Discussion of Alternatives Alternative 1: Pros: Offering their dough for purchase by customers has the potential to generate more revenue for the company. It will also introduce the Panera Bread brand into households of those who have not visited the restaurant. Cons: The cost to produce the fresh dough to customers may exceed the overall gain to the company. Alternative 2: Pros: Introducing an alternate chain to appeal to a lower income customer base will expand the customer base. With the present state of the economy, families are finding it hard to eat out especially when the prices are high. Cons: This particular alternative detours the company from their clear goal. With so many affordable eateries, Panera Bread strives to set itself apart from the others. Alternative 3: Pros: Easing the criteria would make entry in the franchise easier. This will allow for more Panera Bread stores to open. Cons: Easing the criteria would deteriorate the stability of the franchise. The strict criteria ensure the overall success of the franchise. Recommendations Panera Bread would benefit most by teaming up with supermarkets to supply fresh baked Panera Bread. Even though the company itself does not serve frozen bread, it may be a good idea to offer the frozen dough for customers to purchase.

Powdered Milk as Casein Glue

Powdered Milk as Casein (Anacardium Occidentale) Used as Alternative Glue A Research Paper Submitted to the Faculty of Victorious Christian Montessori – Imus Block 11 Lot 36 Tacloban St. Southern City Tanzang Luma, Imus Cavite In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for Graduation (Grade School) Rachelle Ann Calaustro Dylan Andrei Paus March 2O13 DEFINE INTRODUCTION In our Grade School Life, we are really going to need glue. First problem is some of students can’t afford expensive glue because of difficulty in money; the effect is, now the students are enabled to do their project or artwork because of lack of glue.The second problem, glue can be a risk for the children to use because some of glue has toxic chemicals that can harm them. And the researchers don’t want that to happen. The researchers thought of an idea that will solve the problems of many people. So the researchers come up with the idea of using Powdered Milk as Casein Glue. This glue is non-toxi c and is eco-friendly. This cannot harm the children and is much cheaper than the glue that is sold in the stores because some of the ingredients can usually find in the house. It becomes ore interesting for the children to use it because we add some coloring in them. Project Charter Objectives 1. To provide glue that is non-toxic so it won’t be a risk for the children/people to use it. To test and compare the level of adhesiveness, texture, color and odor perceived by the selected users ( Pupils and Teachers ) Significance of the Study The researchers believed that the result of this study benefited the following: 1. To the Students. This will help the students in their project or artworks in class or in the house. 2. To the Kids.This will not harm the kids if they accidentally eat it. 3. To the People. This will help them to consider our glue instead of other glue. 4. Researchers. This will help them to analyze what is the importance of making an eco-friendly project. Scope and Delimitation (Focus and Directions) The study covers only to produce and test the effectiveness of powdered milk as casein glue. DEFINITION OF TERMS Curd-  are a  dairy product  obtained by  curdling  (coagulating)  milk  with  rennet  or an edible acidic  substance such as  lemon juice  or  vinegar, and then draining off the liquid portion.The increased acidity causes the milk proteins (casein) to tangle into solid masses, or  curds. Coagulate- To cause transformation of (a liquid or solid) into or as if into a soft, semisolid, or solid mass. Casein (AnacardiumOccidentale) -is a protein that is found in milk and used independently in many foods as a binding agent. Technically, it is part of a group called  phosphoproteins, collections of proteins bound to something containing phosphoric acid. It may also be called  caseinogens, particularly in Europen food. Ingredients and Materials Needed Powdered milk |White Vinegar | |Baking soda | Water | |Food Coloring |Sieve | |Container |Measuring Cups Procedure: 1. Heat a casserole with 168 grams of milk powder and 1 liter of water. 2. Stir the milk powder until everything is dissolved. 3.Turn off the stove, and then add 56 ml vinegar. 4. After stirring, separate the curd from the whey using a sieve. 5. Place the curd into a pan then add little water and a tablespoon of baking soda. 6. Heat the mixture until it starts to bubble. Stir it and let it cool. 7. Add drops of food color until you get the right color that you want. 8. Put it in the container then put it in the refrigerator to let it cool. MEASURE |MATERIALS: |COST: | |Powdered Milk 80 g. |23. 50 Php | |Baking Soda 125 g. No budget required | |White Vinegar |No budget required | |Food Color (optional) 20 ml |No budget required | |Water |No budget required | |Sieve |No budget required | |Container |10. 00 Php | Methodology Method of Research The method that we used is descriptive research. Method of Collecting Dat a The researchers collect the information and data mostly in the market and in the house. Another method of collecting data used was survey. Time and Place of Study The study was conducted in the Victorious Christian Montessori- Imus. Statistical ToolsThe following are the statistical tools that used in this research as an instrument basis for quantitative analysis, sufficient interpretation of an existing data. A. Frequency – it is a statistical treatment wherein data are organized and counted into a desired form. B. Percentages – the percentages of a given frequency is obtained by dividing the frequency with the total number of frequencies or number of population then multiply the quotient by 100. The formula is: F P= ——– x 100 N Where: P = percentage F = frequency N = total number of respondents Advantages of Powdered Milk as Casein(AnacardiumOccidentale) used as an Alternative Glue: 1.It is safe for the children to use because it’s only made of milk. 2. It is environmentally friendly because we don’t use chemicals that can harm the environment. 3. It’s easy to prepare. 4. It has pleasant odor than the one that is sold in the bookstore. Disadvantages of Powdered Milk as Casein (AnacardiumOccidentale) used as an Alternative Glue: 1. It’s not quick to dry. Summary The researchers conduct this study to determine if the glue made of milk powder is really effective. The researchers found out that it is only craft glue which means it is effective on different kinds of paper and other things for art. The descriptive research was conducted at Block 11 Lot 36 Tacloban St.Southern City, Tanzang Luma, Imus, Cavite. The milk powder has protein casein. Liquid casein is natural glue that’s why milk is able to be glue. Another method of collecting data used was a survey. It was used for the respondents so they can test it if it really works. We prepare survey forms for the respondents, and every survey form has written questionnaire that they would have to answer while testing the produced product and the commercialized product. As we did the survey some of them have negative answers while the other has positive answers. Conclusion The following conclusion has been made after undertaking and studying the survey forms.According to the survey 10 out of 12 agrees that our produced product has strong adhesiveness and 2 out 12 says that it has only moderate adhesiveness. On the Level of Texture there are 11 out of 12 who says that it is smooth and there are 1 out of 12 that says it is slightly rough. On the Level of Color 11 out of 12 respondents says that it has bright color and 1 of 12 respondents says that it has dull color. On the Level of Odor 10 out of 12 says that it has pleasant odor and 2 out 12 says that it has unpleasant odor. Recommendation We recommend the students and children to use it because it doesn’t have chemicals that can harm them. We recommend using the gl ue only for art materials. It’s easier to do this at home instead at school.

The Traffic Safety Problem in Urban Areas

THE TRAFFIC SAFETY PROBLEM IN URBAN AREAS J. ARCHER1 and K. VOGEL2 1 CTR, Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan, Stockholm, Sweden; 2 VTI, Linkoping, Sweden E-mail: jeffery. [email  protected] kth. se; katja. [email  protected] se As the number of people who reside and work in urban areas increases, so, too, do the needs and demands placed on the infrastructure. This has led to severe congestion in many European cities, a situation which affects not only the environment in terms of pollution, but most notably levels of traffic safety.In Europe, tens of thousands of people are killed in road traffic accidents, and more than 1 million are injured each year at a cost, which is estimated to exceed the total European Union budget by a factor of two. The majority of accidents involving injury occur within urban areas often at junctions, while the number of fatalities outside these areas is greater, largely as a result of higher speed. Traffic safety research has shown a biased interest in the pr oblems associated with motorway and rural areas in the past.There are many reasons, which advocate a greater interest in urban areas, in particular, those related to the safety of unprotected road users. In urban areas the traffic system context is more complex, where a mixed road user environment prevails and greater perceptual and cognitive demands are placed on road users. In the past, many of the more successful safety countermeasures have focused on designing the roadway to meet the needs and limitations of road users. These solutions have, however, proved to be very costly.Today, new and relatively cheap technological solutions referred to as Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have been developed which have the capacity to reduce exposure, accident risk, and accident severity. While the long term effects of these systems are largely unknown, and problems associated with standardisation and legislation are in need of resolve, systems such as Intelligent Speed Adaptation and ad vanced traffic control systems have shown great potential with regard to the traffic safety problem in urban areas.In order to effectuate this potential, a great deal of integrated multi-disciplinary research is required. 1. INTRODUCTION The last century of the second millennium has seen vast improvements in the living conditions and economic wealth of the industrialised nations of the world, and consequently a large growth in population, particularly in urban areas. The growth of cities and towns has also led to an increase in the need for mobility, and a consequent increase in the numbers and types of vehicles occupying the road infrastructure.The exponential increase in the number of vehicles during the twentieth century has far outweighed the projected capacities and adaptive capabilities of the existing road infrastructure systems, this has resulted in a situation of congestion and frustration among road users of all types and has had significant detrimental effects for traffic safety in terms of the unacceptable numbers of road accidents involving fatality and injury. During 1997, there were approximately 45 000 fatalities, and 1. million injuries reported from road traffic accidents within the European OECD countries according to statistics taken from the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD). The costs of such accidents within the European Union are estimated to be in the region of 160 billion ECU per year, thereby exceding the total annual budget for the EU in 1997 (89 billion ECU). Statistics indicate that while approximately two-thirds of all fatalities occur outside urban areas, two-thirds of the total number of injuries occur inside urban areas.The outcomes of urban accidents are usually less severe in terms of the numbers of injuries and fatalities as a direct result of the greater limitations imposed on speed. Mainly for this reason, most of the international and national traffic safety research has focused on motorways and ma jor roads that link towns and cities by traversing rural and suburban areas. 2 Why Focus on Traffic Problems in Urban Areas?There are however, a number of very important reasons why the traffic system existing in urban areas should not be disregarded by prevailing research. Most importantly, there are a great number of people living in urban areas, and travel distances are generally shorter than in rural areas, which encourages people to use bicycles or to walk. According to the statistics for the European OECD countries, pedestrians amounted to 15 per cent, and cyclists 6 to per cent, of the total number of roadtraffic fatalities during 1997, respectively.For other types of road users, such as vehicle drivers, there are significant differences in the types of accidents that occur in urban areas with a greater number of rear-end and turning collisions, and a larger percentage of collisions occurring at junctions. Generally, the urban environment can be regarded as more complex with many different types of road users with different needs, the physical and mental demands placed on road users are therefore much higher, and are reflected in the statistics by a comparatively greater number of accidents involving injury.The Development of Traffic Safety in Urban Areas from a Historical Perspective In the past, European traffic safety in urban areas has most typically focused on speed management and traffic calming. Kjemstrup and Herrstedt (1992), identified three specific periods of development. During the first period prior to 1968, the major growth in the number of vehicles was initially countered by expanding the infrastructure where possible.These measures soon proved insufficient, leading to the hazardous overuse of local roads that had previously catered for lighter traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. In the second period from 1969 to 1979, the traffic safety problem was approached by separating light and fast-moving heavy traffic, and by designing the traffic environment with an emphasis on uniformity and simplicity. â€Å"Traffic calming† initiatives became popular together with what became known as â€Å"Woonerf design†, which entailed physical speed-reducing measures (e. . humps and narrowings), and rules to govern speeds and priorities within urban areas. The third period from 1980 to 1990 saw increasing opposition to speed reducing measures by public and private interests. A new and less expensive solution was required, and eventually took the form of â€Å"environmentally adapted through-roads†, which took into consideration: flow-rates, composition of traffic, accident rates, pedestrian needs, and environmental sensitivity (in relation to noise levels air-pollution etc. ).Research has shown considerable success in a number of European countries (e. g. Denmark, France, Germany), while others have neglected the potential offered by this concept. Kjemstrup and Herrstedt (1992) concluded at the time of writing, th at automatic speed regulation devices were â€Å"a long way into the future† and that traffic calming through physical measures and the design of street space was the only currently available approach to achieving lower speeds and increased safety and security and an improved urban environment.Despite safety countermeasures such as traffic calming techniques, various legislative measures, publicity campaigns, active police enforcement, improvements in vehicle safety standards, and local improvements in the infrastructure, the problems related to traffic safety in urban areas still prevail at an unacceptably high level. One area of research that has shown great promise is that concerning Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) which exploit the latest information and communication technologies and integrate them into the traffic system.This approach enables the already congested infrastructure to be utilised with much greater efficiency, and to some extent can resolve problems ass ociated with human limitations. The future appears to have arrived for automatic speed regulation devices such as â€Å"Intelligent Speed Adaptation† (ISA), which are perceived to have great safety potential (see e. g. SNRA, 1996). There is however, an irrefutable need for establishing sound scientific knowledge related to how effective countermeasures, with or without the aid of ITS, can be designed, developed, and implemented to resolve urban area traffic safety problems.The Need for Traffic Safety Strategies The World Health Organisation has referred to the existing traffic safety as a social and public health problem. In order to approach this problem, different European and world-wide traffic safety research programs have been initiated, which call for international co-operation between different institutions and establishments, and a conglomeration of different scientific disciplines in a major offensive to find ways to improve the present situation.At a national level some countries have developed specific traffic safety strategies in order to approach the traffic safety problem. 3 In Sweden, the â€Å"vision zero† has been sanctioned by the government in order that individuals and organisations can develop an operational energy and innovative thinking towards a new and radical future situation where the desired ultimate goal is to have zero road-traffic fatalities (Tingvall, 1995). This is to be achieved by emphasising for individuals that loss of health is completely unacceptable, and that traffic safety is ultimately their responsibility.The focus of attention is placed on active safety (i. e. the prevention of accidents), passive safety (i. e. reducing the severity of accidents upon occurrence), and improving the rescue services, health-care, and rehabilitation. Importantly, it is recognised that there are other interests in society in addition to the provision of safety (e. g. environmental issues and regional planning issues) which m ust be discussed in order to find a balance by authorities other than those in the road-transport sector in a social and political context.Thus, the â€Å"vision zero† concept involves a wide spectrum of interest at many different levels in order to provide an integrated and far reaching approach to the traffic safety problem in Sweden. Delimiting and Defining Urban Areas for Traffic Safety Research In this report it is important to distinguish between those roads that can be regarded as part of an urban area road network, and those which are not. A reasonably straightforward definition of urban areas could be taken to include all types of roads provided that they fall within a town or city boundary.This distinction is, however, too general to be of value for research purposes. The definition that is adopted by the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communications Analysis ( SIKA), and which will be used as a de facto definition in this report is: †¢ roads which most of ten are directly adjacent to large numbers of buildings where people live and work †¢ roads where there are many different types of road users (including cyclist and pedestrians) allowed to use the road †¢ roads where there is a high density of road junctions, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings etc. n order to allow for a reasonable level of accessibility for all road users †¢ roads where the maximum allowed speed is no greater than 50 km/h, or where a higher speed limit is posted, but the density of the surrounding buildings and the traffic conditions resemble those described above Roads that lead through built-up areas, but do not have intersections and are separated from the environment (by a fence) or restricted to motor vehicles are not considered to lie in an urban area (SIKA, 1999).The Swedish National Road Authority makes a distinction between â€Å"central†, â€Å"intermediate†, and â€Å"suburban† roads (SNRA, 1989, p. 55). What are consi dered â€Å"urban† or â€Å"built-up† areas differs to some extent from country to country depending on the responsibilities and prevailing political climate of the local and central authorities with regard to different road categories, and environmental and traffic safety issues. The exact distinction remains therefore somewhat â€Å"fuzzy† at an international level. 2. SWEDISH AND INTERNATIONAL T RAFFIC S AFETY S TATISTICS : THE D IFFERENCES BETWEEN URBAN AND NON-URBAN AREAS The traffic safety situation in Sweden is described annually in an official publication entitled â€Å"Traffic Injuries† produced by the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communication Analysis (SIKA). This publication is based entirely on police reported accident data, and represents only those accidents, which involve personal injury.The problem of under-reporting is acknowledged, and it is believed that the statistics presented might represent only as much as 30 per cent of the lighter injuries and approximately 60 per cent of the more serious injuries. Most injuries in relation to the different road user groups are believed to be represented to a level of approximately 50 per cent (e. g. caroccupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians). The most notable exception is found in the statistics for cyclists which are only believed to be represented to a level of 15 per cent (SIKA, 1999). Basic Swedish statistics and trends for the period 1960-1997 With 8. 5 million inhabitants, Sweden has one of the smallest populations among the European OECD nations. The infrastructure consists of a 210 000 km road network that is populated by around 4. 44 million motor vehicles. During the period between 1960 and 1997, the total number of accidents and the number of urban accidents has declined marginally (see Figure 1). The total number of fatalities and the number of fatalities in urban areas has, however, declined significantly (by more than 50 per cent since the mid-1960†™s) during this time period (see Figure 2).During the period from 1960 to 1997 the proportion of accidents involving fatality in urban areas has remained relatively constant, at an average of 32 per cent of the total number. Similarly, the proportion of accidents involving injury in urban areas has remained fairly constant during this time period at around 58 per cent of the total number. 20000 18000 1200 16000 14000 12000 1000 1400 No of Accid. 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 1960 Accidents Urban Areas Accidents in total No of fatalities 800 600 400 Fatalities In total Fatalities urban areas 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 200 0 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 990 1995 1960 1965 Year Year Figure 1: Absolute number of police reported accidents on Swedish roads that resulted in injuries or fatalities during the period 1960 to 1997, and absolute number for the same types of accidents in urban areas during the same period. Figure 2: Absolute number of police reported fatalities on Swedish roads d uring the period 1960 to 1997, and absolute number for the same type of accidents in urban areas during the same period. Comparing Swedish Urban and Non-Urban Statistics In 1997, 9 015 of the 15 752 reported road accidents involving fatality or injury occurred in urban areas.These urban area accidents resulted in 154 fatalities, 1 765 serious injuries, and 11 593 less serious injuries. The remaining 6 737 accidents occurring outside urban areas resulted in 387 fatalities, 2 152 serious injuries, and 7 689 less serious injuries. The majority of the accidents that are reported to the police authorities involve one or more motor vehicles. The main classes of accidents are single vehicle accidents, vehicle-vehicle accidents, and accidents where vehicles and unprotected road users are involved (i. e. oped riders, cyclists, and pedestrians). 5 Single vehicle accidents usually occur in situations where drivers lose control over their vehicle, often as a result of driving too fast for the s ituation and prevailing road conditions. Many of these accidents occur at night-time and involve collisions with parked vehicles. With regard to vehiclevehicle accidents, a more in-depth look at the nature of the accident called for is in order to get a clearer picture of the different accident profiles occurring in Swedish urban and non-urban areas.The main types of vehicle-vehicle accidents described by SIKA are: †¢ Overtaking and Lane-Changing – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are on the same road travelling in the same direction without any planned turn and where one of the vehicle drivers intended to either change lanes or overtake. †¢ Rear-End – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are on the same road travelling in the same direction without any planned turn and the following vehicle collides with the vehicle in front. No intended overtaking should be present in the situation. Meeting – Accidents in which both of the primarily involved vehicles collided while travelling in opposite directions with no planned turn. †¢ Turning – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are originally travelling on the same road in the same or opposite direction, and where one or both of the vehicles has planned to turn. †¢ Crossing – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are originally travelling on different roads, and where neither of the vehicles has planned to turn in a situation where the vehicles’ planned routes cross each other, or where one or both vehicles planned to turn. Others – Accidents that do not fit any of the above descriptions (e. g. reversing accidents and U-turn accidents). The differences in the number of accident occurrences between urban and non-urban areas are depicted in Figure 3. The figure indicates that almost all accident types are more frequent in urban areas, with the exception of single-vehicle accidents, acciden ts involving overtaking or lane changing, and meeting accidents.Single vehicle accidents occur more often outside urban areas often as a result of loss of control at speeds, which are too high for the prevailing road conditions. Overtaking tends to occur less frequently within urban areas where a speed limit of 50 km/h or less is posted, and generally congested conditions restrict the opportunity for a manoeuvre of this type. Lane changing on the other hand occurs quite frequently within urban areas, but does not result in the same number of accidents most probably on account of lower speeds.The number of rear-end accidents is greater within urban areas than in rural areas, there is a considerably larger number of situations per km of roadway which require vehicles to stop or yield. Similarly, there is a greater number of opportunities for turning and crossing accidents within urban areas due to higher levels of congestion and the higher number of traffic junctions. The most noticea ble differences between urban and non-urban area accidents that are depicted in Figure 3, are those concerning motor vehicles and unprotected road users (i. . mopeds, cycles, and pedestrians). There is a comparatively greater number of unprotected road users in urban areas, but the absolute number of these accidents in comparison to single vehicle and vehicle-vehicle accidents suggest that this is one area that should be given great attention in the field of traffic safety research. The â€Å"others† category shown in Figure 3, which is not vehicle-vehicle related refers to accidents involving a vehicle and another type of obstacle than those already mentioned.In rural areas and on motorways (and occasionally with urban areas) accidents occur that involve motor vehicles and wild animals that have strayed onto the road, larger animals such as moose can cause severe injury and sometimes fatality. Other types of motor vehicle accidents resulting in injury can also involve other forms of transportation that occupy or cross the roadway (e. g. trains, trams, tractors and other more unusual vehicles). Accidents that result in injury also occur between forms of transportation that do not involve the more common motor vehicles category, and in some cases pedestrians (e. . between cycles, mopeds, and/or pedestrians). 6 The fatality statistics reveal some interesting facts (see Figure 4). Most importantly, all types of vehicle-vehicle accidents result in a greater number of fatalities outside urban areas, despite the fact that some types occur more frequently within urban areas. This fact can be attributed largely to the higher speeds allowed on non-urban roads, and is exaggerated further by the number of fatalities in meeting accidents in non-urban areas where the collision speed is the sum of the two vehicles that are approaching in opposite directions.The unprotected road users category is that which is of great concern to traffic researcher with regard to urba n areas. The proportion of accidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists that result in fatality are considerably greater in non-urban areas as a result of the higher speed of the vehicles, but the absolute number of those accidents is considerably smaller outside urban areas. The traffic safety problems associated with unprotected road users are quite prominent.The fatality risk independent of the type of area where the fatality occurred for pedestrians in relation to vehicle occupants given the relative number of travelled kilometres is 11 to 1, for cyclists 4. 5 to 1, and for moped riders 24 to 1. 3000 No of Accidents 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Veh-Veh Crossing Veh-Veh Meeting Veh-Veh Turning Veh-Veh Rear-E Veh-Veh Others Veh-Pedestr Veh-Single Veh-Moped Veh-Veh LCh/Ov Veh-Cycle Others Veh-Pedestr Others Urban Accidents Non-urban Accidents 0 Accident CategoryFigure 3: The number of urban and non-urban accidents for different road user accidents categories (LCh/Ov = Lane Changing and Overtaking, Rear-E = Rear-End, Pedestr = Pedestrian). 140 120 No of Fatalities 100 80 60 40 20 Veh-Single Veh-Veh Crossing Veh-Veh Meeting Veh-Veh Turning Veh-Veh Rear-E Veh-Veh Others Veh-Moped Veh-Veh LCh/Ov Veh-Cycle Urban fatalities Non-urban Fatalities 0 Accident Category Figure 4: The number of urban and non-urban fatalities for different road user accidents categories (LCh/Ov = Lane Changing and Overtaking, Rear-E = Rear-End, Pedestr = Pedestrian). During 1997 almost 200 more accidents occurred per month within urban areas rather than outside. In the urban environment, more accidents than average occurred from May to October, with a local minimum in July. July is also the month in which the majority of accidents outside urban areas occur. This can be explained by the fact that a large percentage of the Swedish population take their holidays in July, resulting in a lower number of road users within urban areas and a greater number on rural roads and motorways .A look at the distribution of accidents occurring within urban areas according to the days of the week also shows a different pattern when compared to accidents occurring in nonurban areas. In urban areas, the number of accidents is above average on workdays, rising marginally towards Friday. A sharp decline in the number of accidents can be noticed during weekends. For times of day, the patterns are similar for accidents occurring within and outside urban areas. The main difference lies in the larger quantity of urban accidents. Most accidents occur in the afternoon between 16:00 and 18:00.Few accidents occur during early morning hours before 6:00. Comparing Swedish and International Urban and Non-Urban Statistics In the 1999 summer edition of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) newsletter â€Å"Safety Monitor† it was stated that the fatality rates expressed in 100 million person/kilometres travelled were significantly greater for cyclists (6. 3), pedestrians (7. 5 ), and moped/motorcyclists (16) than all other modes of travel. This situation remained unchanged even when the fatality rates were expressed in terms of 100 million hours of relative exposure.The ETSC also pointed out that there is a considerable difference (by a factor of 7) between the country with the most adverse fatality rate and the country with the least number of fatalities, and recommended that priority should be given to the traffic safety problems associated with unprotected road users. The European fatality statistics suggest that car travel is ten times safer than walking (although car travel is in itself ten times less safe than bus travel). The majority of international statistics in this report are extracted from the OECD IRTAD database.This data is presented with due consideration to the problems of under-reporting and a general lack of exposure data. Currently twenty European nations (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hun gary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom) report data to IRTAD each year. Some of the more standard detailed data is, however, not available for some countries (most notably Greece, Luxembourg, and Portugal).Besides these European countries there are data for Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. Table 1 indicates some of the basic demographic and traffic safety data for Europe (with Sweden shown separately), and other IRTAD countries for 1997. Table 1: Basic demographic and traffic safety data for the OECD countries who report their statistics to IRTAD. The OECD European countries are shown as a grand total (OECD Eur Total), and as an mean average (OECD Eur Average), the data for Sweden is also shown separately. Country/Continent Population (x 1000) Road Network (km) Land Area (sqkm)Motor Vehicles (x 1000) Reported Accidents involving Injury 15 752 72 393 1 303 074 2 455 118 152 7 65 -9 482 780 399 246 452 Reported Accidents involving Injury in Urban Areas 9 015 50 015 850 258 1 564 411 107 019 -5 944 566 169 162 320 Reported Fatalities Reported Fatalities in Urban Areas Sweden OECD Eur Average OECD Eur Total USA Canada Australia New Zealand Japan South Korea 8 844 20 281 405 610 267 636 30 286 18 532 3 743 126 166 45 545 210 000 183 568 3 304 227 6 346 857 895 562 810 000 91 864 1 152 207 82 342 449 760 194 134 3 882 684 9 363 353 9 360 527 7 686 844 269 122 377 837 99 266 428 10 767 215 347 203 568 17 576 11 238 2 393 75 713 11 991 541 2 485 44 728 41 967 3 064 1 767 540 11 254 13 343 154 790 13 427 14 861 1 043 -146 5 512 5 378 The statistics presented in Table 1 show that Sweden is smaller in terms of population than the average OECD European country, yet larger in terms of the land area and the size of the road network. The number of accidents involving injury and the number of fatalities (regardless of whether they occurred within or outside urban areas ) are also considerably smaller than the average. 8An interesting comparison can be made between OECD Europe and the USA. The population of OECD Europe is approximately one-third larger than USA and the number of motor vehicles is only 5. 5 per cent higher. However, the road network in the USA is 48 per cent larger in terms of the number of kilometres, and the total number of reported accidents involving injuries is 47 per cent higher than in OECD Europe. The total number of fatalities for the USA is only 6 per cent smaller than for the OECD European countries despite the smaller population and larger road network.The higher number of vehicles relative to the population could partly explain these differences. Before any more solid conclusions can be drawn important exposure data are required. The problem of under-reporting as previously mentioned, and the actual reporting method may also have confounding effects on the data. The rates for all accidents that resulted in injury per 10 000 population, and fatality rates per 100 000 population, for the different OECD countries and continents mentioned above are shown in Figure 5. The number of accidents that resulted in injury was not available for Australia.The average rates for the OECD European countries were calculated individually on the data that were available (some data was not available for Greece, Luxembourg, and Portugal). The data presented in Figure 5 show that Sweden (and other Scandinavian countries) has a lower fatality rate and accident rate than other OECD European and non-European countries that reported data to the IRTAD database. 100 Fatalities per 100,000 population 90 80 Accidents involving injury per 10,000 population 70 No of Acc/Fat 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Sweden OECD Europe (Av) USA Canada Australia New Zealand Japan Korea Country/ContinentFigure 5: Accident rates for all accidents that resulted in injury per 10 000 population, and fatality rates per 100 000 population, for the different OEC D countries and continents. Looking at the international statistics in relation to urban and non-urban areas it can be noticed that all of the OECD countries, with the exception of Norway, had a higher proportion of accidents involving injury occurring within urban rather than outside. Sweden (57 per cent) came a close second to Norway (47 per cent), with the OECD European average matching very closely that of USA (63 and 64 per cent respectively).Japan had the highest proportion of accidents involving injury occurring within urban areas (73 per cent). This might well be attributable to the high level of urbanisation in Japan and the resulting high proportion of urban roads. In Sweden, 28 per cent of all road-traffic fatalities occur in urban areas. This figure is lower than the OECD European country average (33 per cent) and lower than most of the countries and continents outside Europe with the exception of New Zealand (27 per cent). Japan has the highest urban area fatality rates (49 per cent) perhaps for the same reasons as mentioned above.Within OECD Europe, Spain has the lowest recorded fatality rate in urban areas (20 per cent), closely followed by Norway (21 per cent), Austria (23 per cent), and Germany (24 per cent). Unfortunately, the IRTAD database is not so detailed concerning the exact types and involvement of different categories of road users concerning urban area accidents that involve injury and urban area fatalities. With regard to the fact that many accidents in urban areas involve unprotected road users it is worthwhile to take a look at the available IRTAD data concerning these categories despite the fact that 9 he proportions of accidents involving injury and fatalities in urban and non-urban areas are not available. The data indicates that Sweden has one of the lowest overall pedestrian fatality rates per 1 million population, and also a low cyclist fatality rate per 1 million population within (but not outside) the OECD European countri es (see Figure 6). Obviously the proportional number of cyclists needs to be taken into account for the different countries in order to allow statements about their relative safety. 120 Fatality Rate (per 1 mill. pop. ) Pedestrian Fatality Rate per 1 million population 00 80 60 40 20 0 Cyclist Fatality Rate per 1 million population Sweden OECD Europe (Av) USA Canada Australia New Japan Zealand Korea Country/Continent Figure 6: Fatality rates for pedestrians and cyclists per 1 million inhabitants for the different OECD countries and continents. A Closer Look at Accidents that Occur at Junctions in Sweden Having identified the fact that the majority of accidents in urban areas occur at junctions it is interesting to look more closely at the nature of these accidents and the differences between existing types of junctions.Figure 7 below indicates the main differences between road-links (i. e. the roads stretching between junctions), T-junctions, crossroad junctions, roundabouts, and ot her categories, in relation to the different types of road users involved. Unfortunately, no urban and non-urban breakdown of the statistics is available. 3000 Link 2500 No of Accidents 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Single Veh-Veh Veh-Cycle T-Junction Crossrd-Junc Roundabout Other Veh-Pedestr Accident Types Figure 7: Number of accidents on road-links and different junction types shown in accordance with the different types of road users involved.Figure 7 shows that the majority of all single accidents occur on link roads. The accident statistics also show that accidents occurring on road-links have a higher frequency of fatalities and more serious injuries than those occurring at junctions. Of the 493 accidents involving fatality in Sweden during 1997, 329 occurred on link roads (i. e. 67 per cent), 69 at T-junctions (14 per cent), 68 at crossroadjunctions (14 per cent), and 4 at roundabouts (1 per cent). It is important to note that roundabouts are relatively uncommon in Sweden, between 3. and 10 times less in number than other types of crossing (Englund et. al, 1998). 10 Before discussing the vehicle-vehicle accidents, it is important to note that the majority of vehiclecycle and also the vehicle-moped accidents occur at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions. A far greater number of accidents occur at these types of junctions than on link roads. For pedestrians an almost equal number of accidents occur on road-links (523) and at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions taken together (498).There is little difference between the accident and fatality rates for T-junctions and crossroad-junctions, and the data for roundabouts is not comparable on account of the relatively low number existing in the traffic infrastructure. The statistics show a larger number of vehicle-vehicle accidents occurring at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions taken together (3 436) in comparison with the number of accidents on road-links (2 216). It is interesting to examine the vehicle-vehicle accide nts in relation to the different categories of accidents that occur (see Figure 8). 1000 No of Accidents 800 600 400 200 0Veh-Veh Overt / LCh Veh-Veh Rear-End Veh-Veh Meeting Veh-Veh Turning Veh-Veh Crossing Veh-Veh Other Link T-Junction Crossrd-Junc Roundabou t Other Vehicle-Vehicle Accident Types Figure 8: Number of accidents on road-links and different junction types shown in accordance with the different types of vehicle-vehicle accidents (Overt/L Ch = Overtaking and Lane Changing). Figure 8 shows that very few ‘overtaking and lane changing’ accidents and very few ‘meeting’ accidents occur at junctions (these are more likely to fall into the ‘crossing’ and ‘turning’ categories when they occur at junctions).It can also be noticed that a similar number of ‘rear-end’ accidents occur at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions, but these are far exceeded by the quantity occurring on road-links (this may reflect the way thes e accidents are coded with regard to distance in relation to a junction). Differences can be noticed at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions regarding the number of ‘turning’ and ‘crossing’ accidents. ‘Turning’ accidents occur with much greater frequency at Tjunctions (690) than at crossroad-junctions (381), whereas ‘crossing’ accidents are more likely to occur at crossroad-junctions (1030) than at T-junctions (481).These statistics reflect differences in the frequencies of ‘turning’ and ‘crossing’ manoeuvres and possible conflict situations that occur at these two sites. These findings concur with those of the Swedish researcher Brude (1991) who points out that more than half of the accidents in urban areas occur at junctions. He also states that 4-legged junctions are 1. 5 to 2 times more accident-prone than 3-legged junctions, and consequently that redesigning 4-legged to three-legged junctions can enhan ce safety. 11 3.THE M AIN CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS IN URBAN AREAS In the majority of traffic accidents, urban or otherwise, the cause cannot usually be traced to a single factor but rather to a combination of circumstances in a chain of events that are best described by the interactions between: a) the road user, b) the vehicle, and c) the roadway and prevailing environment. Any attempts to explain and improve traffic safety in urban areas must ideally adopt a â€Å"systems approach† in order to consider the contributions and interactions of all important factors, and to capture the dynamics and complexity of the traffic system (Hyden, 1994; Leveson, 1995).The concept of traffic safety can ultimately be regarded as an emergent property of the actions and interactions of the main elements of the traffic system. This suggests that any systems analysis aimed at examining existing traffic safety problems must be performed at an appropriate contextual level in order to gain appropriate knowledge and insight into the existing complexities and dynamics of the system and it’s constituent elements at a given time. However, even if a systems approach is adopted, the subject of how and why accidents in urban areas actually occur presents a number of problems for researchers.The main difficulties appear to lie in establishing the exact chain of events leading up to the accident. This information is of some relevance to the police authorities and insurance companies for the purposes of determining responsibility, but is often neglected with regard to important details that might provide a more in-depth systematic description of what actually occurred. Often, post crash interviews are susceptible to distortion as a result of trauma or fear of the consequences of being assigned responsibility.Describing the conditions leading up to an accident is also made more difficult as they are often not monitored consciously by the driver who is often performing skills in what is best described as â€Å"automated† mode (Wickens, 1992). In the remainder of this section three important and relevant studies from different countries, which focus specifically on the reasons behind urban accidents, are described and discussed, and related to the traffic safety problem in urban areas in Sweden.The English Study One of the most comprehensive and most interesting studies in relation to the causes of urban area accidents was carried out in the Leeds area in England at the end of the 1980’s ( Carsten, Tight, Southwell & Plows, 1989). During a one year period, Carsten and colleagues investigated 1 254 injury accidents reported to five different police sub-divisions that involved 2 454 participants (1 863 drivers, 463 pedestrians, and 128 cyclists) that occurred in the Leeds area on roads that had a speed limit of 40 mph (approx. 60 km/h) or less.The accident data showed that 2 per cent of the accidents involved fatalities, and as many as 20 per cent in volved serious injury. Nearly 70 per cent of all accidents occurred at junctions, and of these junctions 12 per cent were controlled by traffic-lights or stop signs, and 72 per cent by give-way signs, the remaining 16 per cent were uncontrolled. Besides the official police accident reports, questionnaires were administered by interview or post, and a visit was made to the accident site prior to a case conference that was convened to determine and classify the circumstances surrounding the accident.An innovative method for describing accident causation was adopted in which four different levels could be combined in accordance with a multi-level coding scheme comprised of 150 different items in order to form what was described as a â€Å"chain of factors† approach. According to Carsten and colleagues (1989) a contributory factor behind an accident could be defined as â€Å"a road user or traffic systems failure without which the accident would not have happened†, the imm ediate failure that precipitated the accident.The results of this study indicated that, of the first level factors (i. e. immediate failures that precipitated an accident), ‘unable to anticipate’ accounted for 29 per cent, ‘failure to yield ’ for 16 per cent, and ‘failure to anticipate ’ 10 per cent of the factors coded. ‘Unable to anticipate’ implies that the road user in question had the right of way, and a â€Å"reasonable road user† would also have been unable to anticipate the faulty behaviour of the other person, while ‘failure to yield’ implies that a â€Å"reasonable road user† would have perceived the upcoming danger earlier.Results also show that as many as 44 per cent of drivers were â€Å"innocent victims of others’ mistakes†. Failure to yield was also a factor for adult and child pedestrians (66 and 78 per cent, respectively). 12 At the second level (i. e. failure that increased the likelihood of an accident), findings suggested that 62 per cent of the factors determined were situational problems. For the drivers the most important factors were ‘driving too fast for the situation’ (29 per cent) and ‘following too close’ (8 per cent). On the third level (i. e. oad user behaviour or lack of skill that led to failure) different road user skills are considered. It is found that especially pedestrians, and mostly children, â€Å"fail to look†, while the main problem of motor vehicle drivers usually is the misinterpretation of other road users’ intentions. Both groups also show â€Å"lack of judgement†, which includes a wrong estimation of the speed or the path of other road users. The most common problem on the fourth level (i. e. the explanation for the failure or behaviour) for drivers is their view being obstructed by something, either inside the car or outside. Impairment†, which mainly means the influenc e of alcohol, is much more common among adult pedestrians than among drivers. Some other points of interest to emerge from this study concerned the fact that 75 per cent of all accidents occurred within the first 5 kilometres of travel, and also that 93 per cent of the respondents had knowledge of the road where the accident occurred. Also, it is noteworthy that as many as 16 per cent of all pedestrians involved in accidents admitted consuming alcohol within a three hour period prior to the accident, compared to 4. percent of drivers. Some important differences were also found regarding different age groups, more specifically, the problems of younger drivers (most notably males) such as driving too fast for the situation differ from those of elderly drivers associated with deteriorating perceptual and cognitive abilities with increasing age. Perhaps one of the most important points concerns the fact that almost 50 per cent of the second most common level 1 factor, ‘ failure to yield ’, could be explained by lower level perceptual and cognitive factors (e. . ‘failure to look ’ and ‘failure to see’). On the basis of the important knowledge gained from their study, the authors were able to make a number of recommendations concerning road user issues for drivers (and riders), and pedestrians, and suggests ways in which traffic management and engineering issues might be brought to bear on traffic safety problems along with counter measures that involve improvements in publicity, education, and training.The French Study Another major study which looked at some of the reasons behind accidents in urban areas, and the differences between these accidents and those occurring outside urban areas, was conducted by the French traffic researchers Malaterre and Fontaine (1993). This investigation was primarily aimed at identifying the safety needs of drivers, and the possibility of satisfying these needs by using the different Intelligen t Transport Systems (ITS) functions suggested in the European PROMETHEUS programme.The authors identified 17 different basic needs in relation to the driving task: â€Å"For each user the accident could have been avoided, if the need had been satisfied†. 3179 accidents involving 6049 road users were examined according to these needs. For approximately 20 % of the road users no needs were identified – they are considered the passive victims of the accident. The needs were grouped into the road user skills of :â€Å"control†, â€Å"prediction†, â€Å"estimates†, â€Å"detection†, and â€Å"status†. The results of this study show an overriding need for detection in urban areas (mainly at junctions), followed by the need for prediction (i. . predicting the manoeuvre of a road user who has already been detected). Detection problems were advocated in 61 per cent of the accidents analysed, and within this particular grouping of identified ne eds ‘transversal detection’ problems (i. e. detecting the approach of another road user on an intersecting lane at a junction, or similarly for a pedestrian, detecting the approach of a vehicle on the roadway he/she is preparing to cross) occurred most frequently (19 per cent of all accidents). Outside urban areas detection problems were still predominant over the other types of identified needs (45 per cent of all accidents).However, the second most important need was identified as statusrelated diagnostic needs (i. e. mainly driver-related problems in relation to alcohol or fatigue, and space-time assessment needs) rather than prediction needs which were found to be somewhat less important in non-urban areas. The authors suggest that a large number of junction-related accidents in urban areas (i. e. meeting and turning accidents) could be avoided by the introduction of suitable Intelligent Transportation systems (ITS) which support driver needs such as ‘critical course determination’, ‘obstacle detection’, ‘vision enhancement’, and ‘safety margin determination’. 3 The American Study The North American researchers Retting, Williams, Preusser, and Weinstein (1995) have conducted another major study focusing specifically on traffic safety problems in urban areas. According to the authors, efforts to reduce the number and severity of accidents have been seriously inhibited by a general lack of important information with regard to the specific types of accidents that predominate in urban areas.The primary purpose of their study was to develop a classification system based on pre-accident driver/vehicle behaviour in order that planners and policy makers could develop suitable countermeasures aimed at reducing the most prevalent types of urban accidents. The investigation conducted by Retting and colleagues was based on police reported accident data from three cities and one urban county, each from di fferent states. The data were collected between August 1990 and July 1991 and included records from 4 526 accidents, many of these included property damage only in contrast to European police accident reporting.The results of this study show that 56 per cent of all accidents occurred at intersections, and only 31 per cent of accidents resulted in injury. Pedestrian and cycle accidents were not included in the accident statistics, although it is reported that these would otherwise have accounted for 5 and 3 per cent of the total number of accidents, respectively. Five of the thirteen different types of accidents accounted for 76 per cent of the total number that occurred in the four urban areas, these included: ‘ran traffic control’ (i. . a situation where a vehicle that is required to stop, remain stopped, or yield disregards the requirement and collides with some other vehicle) with 22 per cent, ‘stopped or stopping’ (i. e. a situation where a vehicle that has stopped, or is stopping or just starting up in a travel lane is hit from the rear) with 18 per cent, ‘ran-off road’ (i. e. a situation where a vehicle leaves the travel lane(s) striking an object such as a parked cars) with 14 per cent, ‘lane-change’ (i. e. situation where a vehicle in a travel lane swerves or moves into another in the same direction that is already occupied) with 13 per cent, and ‘left-turn oncoming’ (i. e. a situation where a vehicle in the process of making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic is struck by or strikes a vehicle which is both coming from the opposite direction and which has a superior right of way) with 9 per cent. These five accident types also accounted for 83 per cent of the total number of accidents involving injury.The rank order among these five accident types differed between areas. Also, the ‘ran traffic control’ and ‘left-turn oncoming’ accidents occurred most freque ntly at intersections. A closer look at the ‘ran traffic control’ category showed that 41 per cent of the intersections where the accidents occurred were controlled by stop signs, and that 31 per cent were controlled by traffic lights. It was also noticed that the ‘left-turn oncoming’ accidents generally occurred in the presence of traffic lights and were most often the result of a failure to yield to a right-of-way.The ‘ stopped or stopping’ accidents, involving mostly rear-end collisions, were found to be the result of inattention. It was proposed that the most common types of accidents, described as ’ran traffic control’, could be resolved by better signal timing, the increased visibility of signals and signs, reduced speeds near intersections, red-light cameras, or redesigning the intersection in terms of traffic signals and signs. It is also recognised by the authors that different intersections are likely to have different a ccident type distributions depending on (e. g. oad geometry, population density, traffic density, methods of traffic control, and police enforcement strategies). Similarly, ‘stopped or stopping’ accidents might be reduced by better signal timing and reducing the number of stops. The ‘ ran-off road’ category of accidents might be reduced by better roadway design including the use of one-way systems, better lane delineation, and better lighting. Suggestions are also made regarding other possible solutions including changes in roadway design to reduce the possibility for conflict between different road users.Comparison of the Swedish, American, English and French Data It is problematic to compare the four different countries directly because of the many differences in data collection methods, the grouping and inclusion of different road-users, and the many differences in the traffic systems. The most important differences that are noted include the fact that t he French study does not consistently distinguish between accidents in rural and in urban areas, and the fact that the American data also includes property damage accidents and excludes other important accident types (e. g. accidents with unprotected road users).Also, both the English and the French study give only sparse information as to the accident location. 14 One of the main conclusions that can be drawn concerns the fact that urban area junctions are accident-prone. In the USA 56 per cent of the accidents occurred at junctions, for England this number lies at 70 per cent, and in Sweden at least 46 per cent of the accidents that involve only motor vehicles occurred at junctions. This figure is probably larger, because it is likely that part of the rear-end accidents (21 per cent of all urban motor vehicle accidents in Sweden) also occurred at junctions.In the English study it is stated that the majority of accidents for drivers occur as a result of an inability to anticipate, a failure to yield or a failure to anticipate (29, 16 and 10 per cent of all accidents respectively), the Swedish data suggests that 13 per cent of all urban area accidents are crossing accidents between two vehicles (i. e. suggesting a failure to yield or to anticipate), and also that 8 per cent of all urban area accidents are turning accidents (i. e. suggesting an inability or a failure to anticipate).Also of importance in this comparison is the finding that 50 per cent of the accidents resulting from a failure to yield (which is the second most common form of accident) were attributed to perceptual factors for all road-user categories and a further 14 per cent to cognitive factors. The Swedish traffic researcher Brude (1993) arrives at nearly the same figure – he suggests that 61 per cent of all urban area accidents are attributable to detection related (i. e. perception and cognition) failures. A more detailed comparison can be made for certain types of accidents in Swede n and in the USA.It has to be kept in mind, though, that the Swedish data does not include damage only accidents, and there is no information given if damage only accidents in the US show a different pattern of occurrence than injury accidents. Only accidents in urban areas that involve motor vehicles are considered. The percentages with which different accident types occur are quite similar in Swedish and American urban areas. The most common type in the US is ‘ran traffic control’ with 22 per cent, which might be matched against crossing accidents in the Swedish data (26 per cent).Rear-end accidents make up 18 per cent in the US and 16 per cent in Sweden, single accidents in the US account for 14 per cent, but for 22 per cent in Sweden. The next common category in the US is lane-changing accidents with 13 per cent, which (including overtaking) account for only 3 per cent in Sweden. ‘Left turn oncoming’ accidents in the US make up 9 per cent of the urban a ccidents, while the figure for Sweden lies at 12 per cent, ‘left turn waiting’ accidents make up 3 per cent in both countries.It can be seen that the distribution of accident types is quite similar for both countries, with the exception of single accidents and lane changing accidents. This last difference might be due to the fact that roads with more than one lane in each direction are much more common in American urban areas than in Swedish cities, which makes the occurrence of lane changes more likely in the US. 15 4. SAFETY ENHANCEMENT M EASURES IN THE TRAFFIC S YSTEM Road accidents are the result of a potentially large number of causal factors that exert their influence at approximately the same location and time.In order to be able to propose, evaluate, and compare safety enhancement measures within the context of the traffic system, a suitable model is required. There are a number of models that can be applied for road safety management in order to describe the sa fety situation at a national or communal level. While many models tend to focus on the events surrounding the accident occurrence, or human error mechanisms, one of the more useful and more comprehensive models that is recognised internationally focuses on three dimensions related to: exposure in traffic; the risk of an accident given the exposure; and the consequences (i. . severity) of accidents (see e. g. Thulin & Nilsson, 1994; Rumar, 1996; and OECD, 1997). Other models also aim at predictability or effectiveness evaluation, perhaps using econometric modelling. There are also models that exist at the micro-level in order to describe safety problems at an individual level. These models are usually associated with the evaluation of subjective risk and are predisposed to problems associated with the fact that accidents are random and essentially unpredictable at the micro-level, requiring the use of other less valid proxy measures or safety indicators.Many of these micro-models are not comprehensive enough to be of any great value in assessing risk within a systems context. Researchers in the field usually advocate a multi-disciplinary approach, although presently there are no known models that can bridge the macro-micro gap (see OECD, 1997 for a more complete description of different models). The three dimensions suggested in above model are adopted for a description of the more traditional approaches taken when dealing with the traffic safety problem.Emphasis is given to urban area safety although many countermeasures may also have value in other areas. One of the advantages of this model is that it can be applied to the three primary elements of the traffic system (i. e. road users, vehicles, and the roadway environment), in order to form a 3 by 3 classification matrix for the many different traffic safety countermeasures (see Table 2 below). Table 2: Classification matrix for different types of traffic safety countermeasures related to the three main elem ents of the traffic system. Road-User Exposure E. g. mprovements in attractiveness of alternative (safer) modes of transport to relieve congestion and reduce travel time, etc. E. g. better use of other safer forms of (public) transport, ITS-functions which aid driver perception and decision-making, better driver training, etc. E. g. better use of in-vehicle injury prevention devices such as seat belts, better use of protective clothing by unprotected road users, etc. Vehicle E. g. more effective use of roadsystem through route-guidance, increases in parking costs, annual vehicle/road taxation, fuel taxation, etc. E. g. se of improved technology to provide better handling, ABS brakes, high-mounted brake lights, better man-machine, interface, warning systems, etc. E. g. better vehicle design and use of materials that can absorb energy on impact, provision of injury prevention devices such as air-bags, etc. Roadway E. g. better infrastructure design, differential toll-systems, improved traffic management strategies for better flow and capacity etc. E. g. improvements in roadway design, better visibility and lighting, separation of different types of road users to reduce possibility for conflicts etc.E. g. Greater speed restrictions, Limited access to urban roads, Removal of dangerous roadside objects, etc. Accident Risk Accident Severity Safety Improvements Aimed at Individual Road Users For the different categories of road users, changing levels of exposure is very rarely stated as a primary goal for the purposes of improving the traffic safety situation. This may be related to the fact that accurate exposure data are very difficult to collect and are rarely presented in conjunction with accident statistics, thereby making exposure related improvements difficult to measure.There are also problems associated with making comparisons between different modes of transport owing to the fact that exposure can be measured in terms of travel time or travel distance. In S weden travel habit surveys that focus of establishing reliable exposure data have been performed on several occasions, and related to accident data (e. g. Thulin & Nilsson, 1994). 16 Factors, which tend to reduce road user exposure in general, are usually associated with the attractiveness of alternative modes of transportation.For example, reductions in the use of private vehicles in favour of public transportation (e. g. buses and commuter trains) usually occur as a result of more competitive pricing combined with good levels of service, where the change of one transportation mode to another can also result in lower levels of congestion and a reduced exposure level in the traffic system in general. Careful regional planning is required to find a balance in the system that reflects the demands of the users in relation to the different forms of transportation and their perceived costs and benefits (i. . attractiveness), and the effects that such changes might have for the community at large. Another important factor regarding changes in modes of transportation is that many forms of public transport are safer by comparison than the use of private vehicles, and cycling and walking, thereby reducing not only exposure but also accident risk (ETSC, 1999a). Safety countermeasures that reduce the accident risk for road users are now commonly provided by the many different in-vehicle systems that enhance perceptual abilities and aid cognitive decisionmaking (see e. . Malaterre & Fontaine, 1993; ETSC, 1999b). Many of these types of systems that have to do with the way information from the environment is interpreted, manipulated and acted upon, are discussed in the following chapter concerning Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The quality of driver education training is also an important factor, and has resulted in a number of new approaches such as ‘graduated licensing’, which is built upon the concept that driving tasks become gradually more diffi cult and unrestricted.Generally, the majority of systems include three levels of tests, an initial provisional license, a preliminary licence, and a full licence (Englund et. al. , 1998). This form of graduated licensing has been shown to have a number of beneficial effects including a reduced risk for accident involvement (Smith, 1994). Inverted licensing, which encourages drivers to understand and accept responsibility for their actions has also been suggested (Klyve, 1998). Attempts to reduce accident risk through public safety campaigns and education programmes (e. . for school children) have often had a limited long-term effect on traffic safety (see e. g. OECD, 1986; Jarmark, 1992; Linderoth & Gregersen; 1994; Englund, Nyberg & Thiseus, 1997). Attempts to reduce accident severity for road users, particularly drivers and passengers of motor vehicles, has been the subject of a great deal of research by different vehicle manufacturers, particularly those who use the safety concep t as an argument for marketing campaigns.The actual road user injury protection that has been developed as a result of large investments in in-vehicle design and research is discussed below in relation to vehicle engineering. For the safety of drivers and their passengers, the most important factor often concerns the use of injury protection measures rather than their provision. This is especially important with regard to the fact that many drivers consider themselves better than the average (Svenson, 1981; Williams, Peak & Lund, 1995). In many European countries, seat-belt use is relatively low resulting in an unnecessary number of fatalities and serious injuries.Many also fail to realise that the effectiveness of air bags is dependent on the use of seat belts (ETSC, 1999b). For unprotected road users the risk for (and consequences of) an accident can be reduced by ensuring easy detection by other road users through the use of suitably coloured clothing, reflexes, and cycle lights (OECD, 1998). Safety Improvements Through Vehicle Engineering Vehicle engineering has come a long way during the past century, a fact that is reflected by the relatively small number of accidents that are directly attributable to vehicle failure.Modern vehicles undergo rigorous testing in order to ensure stability and handling, adequate steering charact