Analysis of traffic safety for cyclists: the automatic detection of critical traffic situations for cyclists

Abstract

Over the past years, the bicycle has gained importance as a means of transportation in big cities. The use and acceptance of a bicycle as being an evolving means of transportation is highly linked to its transportation safety. Still, the risk of accidents is a dominant barrier. Even though the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development established a National Cycling Plan to enhance cycling and improve safety aspects, serious accidents still occur. Even if the number of traffic accidents is declining in Berlin, the consequences of bicycle accidents with physical injury are characterised by increasing results. Thus, it is proved that more than half of the accidents that involve bicyclists are caused by the cyclist itself. To understand causes of accidents and to eventually arrange preventive measures and enhance cyclists’ safety, critical situations were detected. The application is based on cyclists’ trajectories generated from video sequences. As a result, atypical and dangerous traffic situations can be identified automatically whereas rule violations can be detected manually. First experiences at an intersection in Berlin show a general applicability of this approach, which has to be widely tested at other intersections.