Female Drunk Driving on the Rise Nationwide
Young women’s participation in “”risky”” driving behaviors – such as operating a vehicle while intoxicated – is on an alarming upswing, according a decade-long UC Irvine study that analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Emergency medicine physicians at the Center for Trauma & Injury Prevention Research found that women between the ages of 16 to 24 were 13 percent less likely than males to have been drinking in fatal crashes, but that the proportional change over 10 years was nearly equal between men and women. Between 1995 and 2004, the rate of men involved in drunk driving fatalities rose 1.4 percent, coinciding with a similar 1.3-percent increase for women. The increases were most apparent in those of legal drinking age.
The data also showed that seatbelt use increased in both men and women, but the increase for women (7.5 percent) was less than the increase in male use (9.2 percent). Overall, however, men were found to be 17.9 percent less likely than women to use seatbelts.
When combined with other distractions such as peers in the vehicle and cell phone use while driving, these findings do not paint a favorable picture for young women behind the wheel, the researchers said.
“”Young women should not be overlooked or underestimated in risky driving habits and involvement in alcohol-related crashes,”” study leader and professor of medicine Virginia Tsai said.
UCLA to Brighten, Cheapen TV Technology
Two UCLA researchers have recently discovered a technology that could potentially make purchasing products such as cell phones and plasma televisions less expensive than current market cost.
Materials science and engineering professor Yang Yang and graduate student Jinsong Huang, both from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, have achieved a breakthrough in light-emitting diodes, or LEDs – better known as the devices that provide plasma televisions and cell phones with their unique glow.
The pair’s technique resulted in an LED that emits 18 lumens per watt, appreciably more than the standard LED score of 12 lumens per watt.
Yang and Huang were able to produce their LEDs for approximately half the current technique’s cost.
According to Yang, the breakthrough could have significant implications regarding the cost of LED products.
The technology has been licensed by Canon and is expected to be commercially available some time in the next three years.
