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Alpine sports carry risk of serious injury while riding down runs or riding up on chairlifts. Some potential for injuries can be mitigated if riders use safety equipment such as helmets, snow goggles, and safety lap bars when present. In this observational study, skier and snowboarder use of such equipment was studied at three chairlifts in the United States. Researchers observed that the majority of riders wore helmets and snow goggles, with a greater proportion of children wearing helmets than adults. Skiers were more likely to wear helmets than snowboarders. Despite the prevalence of personal gear, a minority of chairs had riders lower the lap bar while riding the chairlift, and younger age and chairlift access to beginner runs corresponded with increased lap bar usage. While the use of personal gear was high in the observed sample, there is room to improve on the implementation of potentially life-saving safety equipment.

The emergence of vehicle technologies that promote driver safety and convenience calls for investigation of the prevalence of driver assistance systems as well as of their use rates. A consumer driven understanding as to why certain vehicle technology is used remains largely unexplored. We examined drivers’ experience using 13 different advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and several reasons that may explain rates of use through a nationally-distributed survey. Our analysis focused on drivers’ levels of understanding and trust with their vehicle’s ADAS as well as drivers’ perceived ease, or difficulty, in using the systems. Respondents’ age and experience with Level 0 or Level 1 technologies revealed additional group differences, suggesting older drivers (55+), and those with only Level 0 systems as using ADAS more often. These data are interpreted using the Driver Behavior Questionnaire framework and offer a snapshot of the pervasiveness of certain driver safety systems.