Transport and Safety

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. The Swedish Vision Zero—An Advanced Safety Culture Phenomenon

   Matts-Åke Belin

   Abstract

   Road traffic injuries have been recognized as a global public health problem by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda. Sweden which has one of the safest road transport systems in the world has planned and implemented a policy which naturally flows from Swedish society and its safety culture. In October 1997, Sweden reached an important milestone when the Swedish Parliament adopted Vision Zero as their new long-term goal and strategy for road safety. How Swedish society has responded to this public health problem and how it has evolved over the years forms the subject matter of this presentation. Vision Zero as a policy innovation and how it influences both Sweden’s road safety strategies and the operational road safety work and its results will be a useful example to other countries and societies looking for a sustainable answer.

3. Chapter 2. Sustainable Safety: The Dutch Example of a Safe System Approach

   Fred Wegman

   Abstract

   The objective of Sustainable Safety is to prevent road crashes from happening, and where this is not possible, to reduce the severity of injuries as much as possible. This can be achieved by a proactive approach in which human characteristics are used as the starting point: a user-centric system approach. These characteristics refer on the one hand to human physical vulnerability, and on the other hand to human (cognitive) capacities and limitations. People regularly make errors unintentionally and are not always able to perform their tasks as they should. This brings us to the question whether a Safe System approach is a bridge too far for India or could it be a source of inspiration. I believe that a Safe System could also be of importance for India. Not, of course, in the sense that the measures, as they have been implemented in the Netherlands and in Sweden, could be copied on a one-to-one basis for the Indian situation; the countries differ too much. Nor can the Sustainable Safety principles be applied in India without any adaptations. The challenge will then be to translate these principles to the Indian (road traffic) conditions and society.

4. Chapter 3. Traffic Safety: The Top Ten Issues

   Tony Bliss

   Abstract

   Traffic safety is a vital and evolving dimension of sustainable transport that can be explored in depth through a multitude of disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses, including a management perspective concerned with the delivery of traffic safety and how it is achieved across nations. Managing the delivery of traffic safety is highly relevant to India and other low and middle-income countries, yet our related conversations are built on implicit assumptions and methods of inquiry underpinning what is being said. In exploring ten topical road safety issues, this lecture takes a discursive, speculative approach to lay out a broader, overlapping set of entry points for considering traffic safety and its delivery, to minimize the masking of key issues often embedded in others and possibly lost in the immediate conversation. For each issue, questions are posed to help set an agenda for ongoing dialogue and research. In exploring these issues and questions arising, we can more realistically face the challenges ahead and commit to long-term action and success. We can both know more and do more with what we know.

5. Chapter 4. Legislation, Enforcement and Education for Traffic Safety: A Brief Review of the Current State of Knowledge

   Rune Elvik

   Abstract

   This paper briefly reviews the current state of knowledge with respect to the use of legislation, enforcement and education to promote traffic safety. Legislation can be a very strong policy instrument to promote traffic safety. Examples are given of major changes in road user behaviour and accidents associated with the introduction of new legislation. These examples also show that the effects of new laws may erode over time. To sustain the effects of legislation in the long term, effective enforcement is needed. Factors that influence the effects of enforcement are discussed and accident modification functions associated with enforcement are presented. Challenges in maintaining a high level of enforcement in the long run are discussed. Finally, the possibilities of motivating road users to adopt safer behaviour by means of education are discussed. It is concluded that some educational measures may improve safety, but that not all educational measures are likely to do so. Characteristics of the more effective educational measures are discussed.

6. Chapter 5. What and How of Effective Police Enforcement

   Dinesh Mohan, Rahul Goel

   Abstract

   Enforcement of traffic rules and regulations forms an important component of strategies to reduce deaths and injuries due to road traffic crashes. As with many other issues concerning road safety policy, it is not always clear whether common sense approaches in police enforcement actually reduce injuries and fatalities on the road. It is therefore important to assess whether a given enforcement measure, though seemingly beneficial in its intent, actually results in any reduction of delinquent behaviour of drivers and number of crashes. In this article, we assess the evidence base of effectiveness of on-road enforcement measures by conducting a review of systematic reviews on this topic. In this review, we focused only on the objective police programmes or strategies and excluded the reviews which assessed the effectiveness of a traffic enforcement law. We answer the following questions in this review: (a) what is the theoretical basis of different enforcement measures? (b) What are the different road safety enforcement measures for which evidence is available in systematic reviews and how current is this evidence? (c) What are the different limitations or drawbacks of different studies as reported by the systematic reviews and what are their implications on results? (d) What are the different factors which limit the generalisations of available evidence across different settings or across different types of modes? Our review suggests that: (i) legislation and enforcement are effective when violations are visible and easy to detect. (ii) Strict punishment not as effective as subjective perception of being caught violating a law. (iii) There is an absence of studies that could provide guidelines on police enforcement for low and middle-income countries on the following issues: (a) influence of road and infrastructure design on traffic violations and the difficulties of enforcement when designs are not adequate for the kind and volume of road users present; (b) critical/minimum levels of enforcement necessary for different traffic violations; (c) enforcement methods that would be cost effective in situations with high proportion of motorcycles and other vulnerable road users.

7. Chapter 6. Principles for Development of Safer Rural Highway Systems for Conditions Prevailing in Low and Middle-Income Countries

   Geetam Tiwari

   Abstract

   Road traffic safety has been recognised as a global health problem by all stakeholders in the new millennium. A disproportionately high burden of road traffic deaths and injuries occur in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) (90%), and the burden is expected to increase due to rapid urbanisation and motorisation in LMICs. This chapter presents a summary of the past efforts aimed at reducing the burden of RTIs in LMICs and highlights the need for the production of new knowledge instead of relying on road design standards which have been developed in high-income countries (HICs). There are two important concerns in using or developing highway design standards mainly based on those in use in USA or UK. The traffic mix for which these standards have been developed is very different from the traffic existing in LMICs. The second concern is whether the design standards are based on traffic safety science even in the HICs. Given the complexity of traffic safety science and its implementation in the field, continuous experimentation is required in the LMICs to develop safe highways based on the principles of a safe systems approach.

8. Chapter 7. Traffic Calming: The Way Ahead in Mixed Traffic

   Christer Hydén

   Abstract

   Traffic calming is about measures to reduce vehicle speeds to below 50 km/h in order to reduce injury accidents, pollution and to make areas more liveable for people. Reduction of speed below 50 km/h is the most central measure as it both reduces risks and makes streets less attractive to car drivers. Traffic calming focuses on vulnerable road users, primarily pedestrians. In this paper, I have scrutinised efforts ever since the nineteenth century to improve safety for pedestrians. My conclusion is that lots of efforts are made, however without actually solving the basic problem, namely to strike a balance between the interests of pedestrians and the interests of motorists. The solutions have a clear tendency to give high priority to motorised traffic without improving. The safety for pedestrians is an acceptable level. One of the best examples is to make crossings—primarily zebra crossings—safe. I present an example from Sweden showing that pedestrian risks were higher on zebra crossings than on locations where there were no facilities for pedestrians. After a change of the law in the beginning of 2000, giving priority to pedestrians over motorists at zebra crossings, there was an increase of risk. This is where traffic calming comes in. By introducing effective speed reduction at the crossing the risk went down to approx. half. Round-top humps are the most effective measures, and an example from Gothenburg in Sweden shows that this kind of hump can be introduced on a very large scale and actually reduce pedestrian (and bicycle) risk significantly. The problem is that these humps are not designed optimally, thereby producing annoyance without necessarily producing the best safety outcome. Another efficient traffic calming measure is small roundabouts which can reduce severe accidents with pedestrians very significantly (up to 80% reduction) and still offers quite good mobility for all road users. Finally, a study of traffic calming in India is presented. Comparisons of the speed reduction produced with the help of humps in the city of Lund, Sweden and similar ones in the city of Jaipur, India, showed that the speed calming effect was very similar in Lund and Jaipur. This result was very encouraging in the sense that based on this it was hypothesised that traffic calming should work in a fairly similar way in India as in many countries in (primarily) Europe. Large-scale trials in India would be extremely helpful in learning more about traffic calming which could assist low- and middle-income countries in forming new strategies making life for pedestrians both safer and more liveable.

9. Chapter 8. State of the Art of Roundabout Performance for Promoting of Urban Safety

   Werner Brilon

   Abstract

   Roundabouts provide a significant potential to improve traffic safety. The paper contributes an overview about research results on safety at roundabouts with a focus on urban intersections. Even if it is written from a German perspective, it includes results from several other countries. As a conclusion from all studies, there is no doubt that roundabouts are the safest type of intersection. Especially the single-lane roundabouts reveal the highest level of safety. Also mini-roundabouts have an extraordinary good safety record. Turbo-roundabouts—regarding safety—are on the same level as the single-laned. This high degree of traffic safety is strictly depending on the speed-reducing design of the whole intersection. In comparison to conventional types of intersections like signalized or two-way-stop intersections, the car occupants and the pedestrians enjoy the highest gains from roundabout safety. On the other hand, bicyclists can become a problem for traffic safety at roundabouts. However, also cyclists can be operated with a sufficient degree of safety—but only if the requirements for design are strictly obeyed. It should be emphasized that the high degree of safety is coherent to road user discipline and to the acceptance of the existing traffic rules. This acceptance should be strengthened by an adequate intersection design. Therefore, the favourable safety effects of roundabouts can only be achieved if the rules for modern roundabout design, as they are documented in many national design guidelines, are strictly applied.

10. Chapter 9. Pedestrian Safety Versus Traffic Flow: Finding the Balance

    Robert B. Noland

    Abstract

    Pedestrian safety is an issue in many urbanized areas throughout the world. While this is recognized by policymakers, many tend to focus more on traffic congestion and finding solutions to improve traffic flow. These two objectives are often in conflict in urban areas. This paper outlines the early history of this conflict in Great Britain and the USA leading up to the development of engineering guidelines focused on improving traffic flow and the level of service in cities, guidelines that are replicated in many developing countries. New safety manuals are being developed and some of the flaws with these are also highlighted, primarily that they tend to ignore behavioral adaptation that can occur in response to safety policies. This is followed by a review of research examining safety trends and policies that have successfully reduced fatalities. This research also suggests that the construction of large arterial and collector roads is counterproductive, despite the recommendations in engineering guidance. Pedestrian casualties and their severity are then discussed, with findings that show that larger, high-speed roads tend to result in more severe injuries and that various features of urban environments are beneficial for pedestrian safety. Various problems with the data available for conducting this type of analysis, especially pedestrian fatality data, make the rigorous tracking of such information problematic. Solutions to improving traffic and pedestrian safety are then highlighted, including shared space concepts, complete streets, and road diets that reduce the flow of traffic. A cost/benefit analysis of a road diet is evaluated showing that for the case studied, the safety benefits are overwhelmingly positive, with only minor costs associated with extra traffic delay. In closing, the implications for rapidly developing countries are briefly discussed with a warning not to follow the path of some western countries.

11. Chapter 10. Current Vehicle Safety Technologies and Future Directions

    Murray Mackay

    Abstract

    This paper outlines the various technologies which can reduce both the risk of crashes occurring and the severity of injuries if a crash does occur. The development of electronic sensing systems in recent years has the promise to make major reductions in accidents occurring. However, crashworthiness design will still play a major role. The function and effectiveness of the various systems are outlined and discussed. In low- and middle-income countries, motorised two-wheelers (MTWs) are a major component of the traffic mix. The most effective and practical short-term solutions for better MTW safety are daylight use of headlights and anti-lock brakes. The importance of the various new car assessment programmes (NCAP) is emphasised.

12. Chapter 11. Possible Futures of Vehicle Safety

    Yves Page

    Abstract

    This paper proposes an overview of achievements in the safety benefits (lives extended and injuries mitigated) provided by current or close-to-market vehicle technologies. It also proposes to review some of the research and developments in future vehicle safety such as connected vehicles and automated driving. It finally discusses expected safety benefits, and potentials as well as barriers to a large dissemination of these current and future technology-based traffic safety measures. As they are mostly foreseen in high income countries in the middle term, another type of revolution is needed in low and middle income countries for before these technologies can be put onto all global markets at a reasonable cost and contribute to the safety benefits of all road users. Frugal safety, coming from the frugal engineering concept, would be the recommended way to enable and accelerate this deployment. As for vehicle safety technologies already on the market, they have proven to be highly effective in mitigating vehicle occupant injuries, and injuries of vulnerable road users. Secondary safety devices and basic driver assistance systems have been largely evaluated and the effectiveness of seat belts, load limiters, pretensioners, airbags, car structure, electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA) and other such devices have been examined. Available results show that, for example, if all cars were Euro NCAP five stars and fitted with EBA and ESC, compared to four stars without ESC and EBA, injury accidents would be reduced by 47%, all injuries would be mitigated by 68% and severe + fatal injuries by 70% (Page et al. in 53th AAAM conference, Baltimore, 2009). Unlike secondary safety systems, ESC, ultrasonic park assist, cornering lights and manual speed limiters, most of the primary safety systems or advanced assistance systems (such as blind spot detection, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, automated cruise control, night vision and high speed AEB) are not, or just poorly, deployed on the market. There are a few reasons for this. First, their maturity and their capacity to work well without too many counter effects are recent, technological barriers have been strong for a long time. They were launched first in luxury cars in the USA, Japan and Western Europe in the mid-2000s and democratization has started just a few years back. Secondly, these features are costly, in terms of unit price and also in terms of investment; and their deployment demands progress in cost reduction. Thirdly, their expected safety benefits are, to a certain extent, not really known. If it is now epidemiologically demonstrated that secondary safety features bring safety, as well as ESC, the positive effectiveness of not yet largely deployed primary safety devices is only estimated and not yet proven, except for some of them like low speed automatic emergency braking (AEB). Studies about effectiveness of these devices take into account the potential in saving lives of generic functions, but a lot is still unknown about the real-world usage and acceptance by drivers and pedestrians of these applications. As there are many variants of these features, and especially concerning the mode of restitution to the driver of the information, the alert, or the warnings, the genuine efficiency of each variant is still a mystery. Of course, in-house studies by suppliers and car manufacturers anticipate positive acceptance by drivers and have identified and countered possible counter effects. Of course, current research is evaluating their potential to safety and in covering real-world driver needs, but a large field of research is still open for their safety assessment in real-life. Anyhow, the introduction of vehicle safety technologies is supposed to bring safety for a variety of road users and a variety of crash configurations. Of course, they will first be disseminated in high income countries but they will also be further disseminated, expectedly quickly, in the rest of the world under the pressure of customer demand, competition between vehicle makers as well as pressure from all kinds of New Car Assessment Programs, NCAP’s (Latin NCAP in South America, Bharat NCAP in India, Asian NCAP in Asia, etc.), and more generally from Global NCAP, which federates NCAP’s all over the world. This will be a first step in the globalization of existing or close-to-development vehicle safety technologies. Now, further on, emerging (more complex) technologies such as connectivity (vehicle-to-X communications) and automated driving will bring additional opportunities to tackle road crashes by adding safety applications not yet covered by passive safety or traditional (advanced) assistance systems. Actually connected technologies for safety and driving assistance systems in the current world of stand-alone technologies have three additional values:

    • Improve the robustness of current systems by enhancing/duplicating capabilities and functionalities.
    • Replace existing systems at a lesser cost.
    • Add new functionalities to current ones and then expand the potential of coverage of various crash configurations and risk factors. For example, the EU-funded Drive C2X has selected 9 applications that are mainly safety-related (most of them address the so-called risk awareness issue, i.e., a crucial information needed by users and preventing them from a potential road hazard. The danger does not require an immediate action from the driver but requires an increase in attention and situation consciousness), but that can have also an impact on efficiency, mobility and the environment.

    Furthermore, the automated driving allows some kind of delegation of driving tasks from the driver to the system, from partial delegation (e.g., lateral control in congested traffic) to full automation (driver out of the loop or even out of the vehicle). Even though the technologies are not really fully reliable and robust, automated cars are largely experimented with in the USA (and not only the much-publicized Google or Tesla cars), in Europe and in Japan and are presented as the future of the automobile. These cars are expected to bring extremely large safety benefits when the technologies are mature and the driver errors eradicated. Finally, frugal safety is a concept that helps in identifying ways to reduce dramatically the costs of technologies, both in the devices themselves and in the process to produce the devices and their integration in the vehicles. Examples of vehicle-to-X technologies, automated driving functions and frugal safety devices illustrate our discussion about the promises of such technological revolutions. They are expected to highly contribute to crash and injury reductions to an extent never achieved by traditional safety measures so far.

13. Chapter 12. Head Trauma Biomechanics

    Remy Willinger, Caroline Deck, Nicolas Bourdet

    Abstract

    Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and permanent impairment in accidents. In both the severe and mild TBI, diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is the most common pathology. Computation of axon elongation by using finite element head model in numerical simulation can enlighten the DAI mechanism and helps to establish advanced tissue level head injury criteria. The main objective of this research is to propose a brain injury criterion based on multiscale computation of axonal elongation under real-world head trauma.

14. Chapter 13. Urban Transport Planning in the Age of Global Warming

    Hermann Knoflacher

    Abstract

    “Limits to Growth” was the first report to the Club of Rome analyzing the physical parameters of human activities by comparing them with the available resources of the globe. The report was translated in all major world languages. Deane and Dennis Meadows have shown that the existing exponential growth of population, the use of resources and the growing air pollution cannot continue in a limited world. It was the first global warning for humankind that the continuation of resource use and energy wastage of the industrial society cannot be sustainable. Radical changes in the system were recommended, but not accepted by politicians, narrow-minded experts and the society. If politicians would have been sensitive to this report and would have changed their policy, a sustainable future of the globe would have been possible after 1972. But this did not happen. Today, we know that there is no sustainable future for the human society any more. The global system is in a state of overshoot and collapse. Professor Dennis Meadows explained in many lectures and publications that changes in the next 20–30 years will be much bigger than the changes we had during the last 100 years. The humankind of today lives in a world outside the carrying capacity of the globe. The ecological footprint as an indicator for human activities is 30% over the carrying capacity of the globe.

15. Chapter 14. The Energy Glut: Transport and the Politics of Fatness and Thinness

    Ian Roberts

    Abstract

    Global environmental change, in particular climate change, presents a serious threat to the stability of the ecosystems on which all human life depends. On the other hand, mitigating climate change through the decarbonisation of transport, and society more generally, presents unrivalled opportunities for improving public health. The policies that need to be implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will also bring about substantial reductions in heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, road deaths and injuries and air pollution. These health benefits arise because climate change policies necessarily impact on two of the most important determinants of health: human movement and human nutrition. Although the health co-benefits of climate change policies are increasingly recognised by health professionals, they are not widely appreciated by those responsible for environmental policy. Because the existence of important health co-benefits will dramatically reduce the cost to society of taking strong action to mitigate climate change, failure to appreciate their importance could have serious environmental consequences. In the transport sector, the creation of safe urban environments for mass active travel will require prioritisation of the needs of pedestrians and cyclists over those of motorists. Walking or cycling should become the most direct, convenient and pleasant option for most urban trips. We have an urgent responsibility to ensure that the health benefits of wider environmental policies are understood by both the public and by policy makers.

16. Chapter 15. ‘How Can Transport Contribute to Other Urban Agendas?’

    David Satterthwaite

    Abstract

    In this lecture, we address the question on whether and how transport can serve and support other local and global agendas in urban areas. There are important contributions that a well-functioning city transport system can make to a range of goals—including improving housing (and lowering housing costs), reducing poverty (including increasing income-earning opportunities and lowering transport costs), and reducing disaster risk, adapting to climate change and climate change mitigation. But to what extent do the transport components of these strategies overlap or conflict? And, perhaps as importantly, is it possible to implement what is needed, especially in regard to land-use management that supports these goals.