Czech Road Research Articles

Wildlife-vehicle collisions: The disproportionate risk of injury faced by motorcyclists

We applied a generalized linear mixed-effects model to determine the factors leading to injuries from wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs). We used the Police database representing WVCs which took place on the Czech road network between 2009 and 2022. The majority of WVCs in Czechia are with roe deer, followed by wild boar, i.e., both relatively small ungulates. Less than 2 % of these encounters ends with an injury to the motor vehicle occupants.We found that the probability of sustaining injury was systematically higher for motorcyclists than for car occupants. The odds of sustaining an injury during WVC were roughly 1600 times higher for motorcyclists than for car occupants. When applying an evading manoeuvre, the odds of sustaining an injury were approximately 68 times higher for car occupants while only 2.3 times higher for motorcyclists compared to a direct hit to an animal. The lack of helmets (for motorcyclists) and missing seat belts (for car occupants) were additional factors which made the outcomes worse for WVCs.While the acceptance of a direct hit (preceded by braking) seems to be a reasonable strategy for car drivers, WVC awareness (including maintaining a lower speed during critical times and places) should be raised among motorcyclists as both manoeuvres are almost comparably dangerous for them.

Modelling the road network riskiness for motorcycle transport: The use of accident probability and accessibility to emergency medical service

Abstract Motorcycle users are generally perceived as one of the most vulnerable road user groups. It is therefore evident that, in addition to a range of prevention and awareness-raising activities, it is also necessary to identify specific locations where motorcycle users are at risk. We use a synthetic approach to identify the road network sections dangerous for motorcycle traffic. We perceive the risk level of individual sections as a complex combination of the causes (accident probability) and consequences (accessibility of medical services) of motorcycle accidents. The combination of both factors is then used to define the Road Network Hazard Index (RNHI) as a newly introduced indicator synthetically assessing the risk levels of individual road network sections for motorcycle traffic. The motorcycle accident probability on the Czech road network is extremely differentiated. The time accessibility of accident locations from EMS dispatch stations shows a clear correlation with the severity of motorcycle accidents. The model for the accident locations’ accessibility indicates that the sparsely populated peripheral regions of the Czech Republic in particular show not only a higher motorcycle accident probability but also higher time accessibility values for emergency vehicles. The new RNHI provides a comprehensive view of the risk levels for motorcycle traffic in different Czech road network sections.

Czech Road to Artificial Intelligence: A New Tiger Emerging in Central Europe?

Abstract Summary In 2019 Czech Republic adopted a very ambitious national strategy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the vision of becoming a model example in Europe – a country of robots using safe and responsible AI. However, despite the adoption of many strategic documents, the Czech Republic remains at the level well comparable with other countries in the region. This article is providing an overview of the key documents, which marked the Czech way to AI and then confronting rather a positive image of the country with empirical findings, especially represented by the Government AI Readiness Index by Oxford Insights. The aim of the article is to provide a complex picture of the country in relation to Artificial intelligence, highlight most important milestones and discuss areas for the improvement. The author concludes that the Czech Republic is merely a „paper tiger“ with well-prepared background for AI, but just with a few areas of excellence.

Spatial Dimension of Unemployment: Space-Time Analysis Using Real-Time Accessibility in Czechia

This paper focuses on the analysis of unemployment data in Czechia on a very detailed spatial structure and yearly, extended time series (2002–2019). The main goal of the study was to examine the spatial dimension of disparities in regional unemployment and its evolutionary tendencies on a municipal level. To achieve this goal, global and local spatial autocorrelation methods were used. Besides spatial and space-time analyses, special attention was given to spatial weight matrix selection. The spatial weights were created according to real-time accessibilities between the municipalities based on the Czech road network. The results of spatial autocorrelation analyses based on network spatial weights were compared to the traditional distance-based spatial weights. Despite significant methodological differences between applied spatial weights, the resulting spatial pattern of unemployment proved to be very similar. Empirically, relative stability of spatial patterns of unemployment with only slow shift of differentiation from macro- to microlevels could be observed.

Roadside vegetation influences clustering of ungulate vehicle collisions

The aim of this study was to identify landscape-related factors which could explain the concentration of traffic crashes with large ungulates in a forest environment. We worked with ungulate-vehicle collisions which took place on the Czech road network in the period 2014–2016 using the application Srazenazver.cz. With the KDE+ method, we chose the most significant hotspots with linkage to forest. For comparison we randomly selected control localities outside the KDE+ hotspots (i.e., with very low level of ungulate-vehicle collisions) but still in the forest area. A set of photos were taken at each hotspot and control locality (2 orthophotos and 4 driver views). Each set of images was then visually analysed by two independent evaluators. They did not know which set of images were for hotspots and which set of images were for control localities. From the point of view of the overall score, it cannot be said that these two groups of locations differ (p-value 0.3575, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). The only attribute that demonstrated a difference between hotspots and randomly selected locations was “attractiveness (quality food source and cover) of the immediate vicinity of the transport infrastructure for the ungulates” (p-value 0.0016, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). Results confirm the importance of landscape management in the surroundings of transport infrastructure, especially in its immediate vicinity. However, they did not confirm the possibility that the most dangerous locations from the UVC point of view could be identified on the basis of landscape composition and the overall state of vegetation around transport infrastructure.

Can the Czech Road Tax be considered a Tax on Externalities?

The transport sector is one of the important components of economic systems. Besides positive effects, it is also a source of external costs transferred to other entities. Through the evaluation of current settings of the tax base and parameters of the road tax rate progressivity it was ascertained that this tax fails to directly or indirectly reflect the external costs of transport. It is through a relatively simple adjustment of the existing road tax rates that indirect reflection of certain items of the road transport external costs may be achieved. Firstly, changes must be made in the definition of the road tax base so as to contain emissions or other parameters of externalities; subsequently, the direct reflection of the road transport external costs in the tax may be achieved.

A detailed spatiotemporal analysis of traffic crash hotspots

A number of traffic crash databases at present contain the precise positions and dates of these events. This feature allows for detailed spatiotemporal analysis of traffic crash patterns.We applied a clustering method for identification of traffic crash hotspots to the rural parts of primary roads in the Czech road network (3,933 km) where 55,296 traffic crashes occurred over 2010 – 2018. The data were analyzed using a 3-year time window which moved forward with a one-day step as an elementary temporal resolution. The spatiotemporal behavior of hotspots could therefore be analyzed in great detail.All the identified hotspots, during the monitored nine-year period, covered between 6.8% and 8.2% of the entire road network length in question. The percentage of traffic crashes within the hotspots remained stable over time at approximately 50%. Three elementary types of hotspots were identified when analyzing spatiotemporal crash patterns: hotspot emergence, stability and disappearance. Only 100 hotspots were stable (remained in approximately the same position) over the entire nine-year period. This approach can be applied to any traffic-crash time series when the precise positions and date of crashes are available.

Current Issues of Czech Road Traffic Law in the Context of Jurisprudence and Road Safety

Current Issues of Czech Road Traffic Law in the Context of Jurisprudence and Road Safety

Which curves are dangerous? A network-wide analysis of traffic crash and infrastructure data

We conducted spatial analyses of traffic crashes, which took place in Czechia over 2010–2016, with respect to the road geometry data. The aim of the work was to identify hazardous road sub-segments where higher than expected numbers of traffic crashes occur.The entire Czech road network (58,200 km) was segmented at intersections into 39,074 between-intersection segments of varying lengths. Each road segment was further automatically sectioned, according to its horizontal alignment, into geometry-homogenous units (horizontal curves and tangents). Overall, 257,101 curves, defined as curved sections with radii below 2100 m, and 136,388 tangents, were identified. Subsequently, traffic crashes were joined to the respective geometrical units to determine their hazardousness. The degree of hazardousness was determined relatively, on a segment-by-segment basis, in order to eliminate the lack of precise traffic exposure data. In addition, the exact binomial test and Bayesian inference were used to identify the most hazardous horizontal curves.It was found that, in general, the curves with a higher crash risk have lower radii than the other curves. We identified the geographical locations of all curves with a high crash hazard. We also ranked the curves according to the crash hazard. Approximately ten percent of road segments contained at least one hazardous horizontal curve. 6943 significantly hazardous curves were identified by the use of the exact binomial test. The Bayesian inference reduced this number to 1395 (0.31% of the entire road network) and ranked them according to the Bayes factor. The most hazardous curve was 45 m long and contained 8.7 traffic crashes per year. Its hazard rate accounted for 37.4. This state-wide analysis of primary data was conducted over an extremely short time (up to 3 days) as theresult of an application of an efficient algorithm for automatic road curvature determination.

ROCA - An ArcGIS toolbox for road alignment identification and horizontal curve radii computation.

We present the ROCA (ROad Curvature Analyst) software, in the form of an ESRI ArcGIS Toolbox, intended for vector line data processing. The software segments road network data into tangents and horizontal curves. Horizontal curve radii and azimuth of tangents are then automatically computed. Simultaneously, additional frequently used road section characteristics are calculated, such as the sinuosity of a road section (detour ratio), the number of turns along an individual road section and the average cumulative angle for a road section. The identification of curves is based on the naïve Bayes classifier and users are allowed to prepare their own training data files. We applied ROCA software to secondary roads within the Czech road network (9,980 km). The data processing took less than ten minutes. Approximately 43% of the road network in question consists of 42,752 horizontal curves. The ROCA software outperforms other existing automatic methods by 26% with respect to the percentage of correctly identified curves. The segmented secondary roads within the Czech road network can be viewed on the roca.cdvgis.cz/czechia web-map application. We combined data on road geometry with road crashes database to develop the crash modification factors for horizontal curves with various radii. We determined that horizontal curves with radii of 50 m are approximately 3.7 times more hazardous than horizontal curves with radii accounting for 1000 m. ROCA software can be freely downloaded for noncommercial use from https://roca.cdvinfo.cz/ website.

An evaluation of odor repellent effectiveness in prevention of wildlife-vehicle collisions

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) amount to 11% of all registered traffic crashes in the Czech Republic causing, apart from numerous deaths and serious injuries to animals, property damage and injuries to car passengers. Odor repellents have the potential to lower the overall number of WVC and allow animals to cross roads at the same time.We tested the effectiveness of odor repellent preparation in prevention of WVC. 18 places were selected on the Czech road network where WVC were concentrated on the basis of traffic crash data. Control sections on the same road segments were also delimited in order to keep the traffic intensities constant.We applied a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study design to control not only the effect of the measures but also the expected natural variations in wildlife populations over time. Data were compared before and after odor repellent installations. Wildlife carcass gathering was carried out during the spring and autumn. We also used the police crash database to supplement carcass data when no field works were carried out. 201 killed mammals (roe deer and wild boars) were identified in total over 47 months.We applied a Bayesian approach as only a limited numbers of WVC were available. A WVC decrease between 26 – 43% can be expected on the treated road sections. These numbers are, however, up to three-times lower than those claimed by producers of odor preparations.

Effective way to reconstruct arch bridges using concrete walls and transverse strands

There are more than 500 masonry arch bridges in the Czech Road system and about 2500 in the Czech Railway system. Many of them are cracked in the longitudinal (span) direction. The barrel vaults are separated by the cracks into partial masonry arches without load bearing connection in transverse direction. These constructions are about 150 years old and they are also too narrow for the current road system. This paper presents a strengthening method for masonry arch bridges using transverse post-tensioning. This method is very useful not only for strengthening in the transverse direction, but widening of masonry arches can be taken as secondary effect especially in case of road bridges. Several bridges were successfully repaired with the use of this system which seems to be effective and reliable.

Srazenazver.cz: A system for evidence of animal-vehicle collisions along transportation networks

We present a system for state-wide evidence of animal-vehicle collisions (AVC). The primary part of this system is a geographic database which is connected to a web-map application. AVC data come from the Police via an online system of traffic incidents (JSDI) and from volunteers through a web or mobile interface. Data are processed using automatic scripts which identify data errors and perform spatial analyses.The application automatically computes AVC hotspots every midnight and crash densities along road sections. Hunter area administrators consequently have an overview of their areas. More than 40,000 records are currently included in this database. 50% of them were added over the last two years when it was launched. The majority of data (90%) came from JSDI. The species is known for 44% of JSDI records. The majority of the identified species were roe deer (75%), followed by wild boar (15%).Roe deer crashes occur most frequently in May within 2h after sunset. 32.5% (56.4%) of these crashes occur within 1h (2h) before or after sunset or sunrise. For wild boar, the values are less distinctive (19.4% and 37.7%). Approximately 1800 AVC hotspots, which cover 0.5% of the Czech road network, were detected and visualized on a map.

MODERN TURBO-ROUNDABOUTS AND THEIR DESIGNING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Even though the turbo roundabouts have been designed in the Czech Republic since the beginning of this century, until the middle of 2015, there was no national regulation which would describe the way of their construction. As a result of this, there are only 10 turbo-roundabouts with various widths of design elements and different traffic signs in the Czech Republic now. From this number there are some that even cannot be considered a turbo-roundabout. The aim of this paper is to present the results we gained within the research project and to present readers with the approach to the construction of geometry of turbo-roundabouts in the conditions of Czech road network and existing legislation and standards.

R35 Sedlice - Opatovice, Construction of the Flyover SO 206.2 at the R35 Expressway km 3.15 - 4.10

The R35 expressway is one of the key roads that form part of the Czech road network. A flyover exceeding 1 km in length was designed as part of R35 expressway near the town of Opatovice nad Labem. The construction of the bridge structure was time-consuming and technically very demanding. Therefore different technical procedures were chosen. The aim of this paper is to present these technologies to the professional public.

The Delimitation of Urban Hinterlands Based on Transport Flows: A Case Study of Regional Capitals in The Czech Republic

Abstract The delimitation of the urban hinterlands of the most important settlement centres in the Czech Republic, based on transportation flows, is presented in this paper. Transport flows are a very good indicator of complex spatial relations. Therefore, one can hypothesize that the delimited transport hinterlands are strongly associated with other types of urban hinterlands (e.g. commuting hinterlands). Transport regions of the Czech regional capitals are defined in the empirical section of this paper. These transport regions, supra-nodal territorial units of the Czech transport system, identify the main transport relations within the Czech road network and define the hinterlands of the main settlement centres. The metropolitan regions defined by transport relations are compared with regions of the Czech Republic based on commuting flows. There is a high concordance between the two regional delimitations.

Consideration of fatigue resistance tests variability in pavement design methodology

The article is focused on the description of a road pavement design procedure and introduces a specific method of considering the repeatability and reproducibility of the fatigue resistance test. An example is taken from the Czech Road Pavement Design Methodology pursuant to TP 170 (2004, Navrhování Vozovek Pozemních Komunikací, Ministry of Transport, Czech Republic, available from: http://www.pjpk.cz/TP%20170.pdf). The article draws on foreign experience in the consideration of fatigue resistance in France and the USA, and the objective of the designed methodology is to bring the results of laboratory tests closer to a specific road pavement design allowing a better distinction in the quality of bitumen mixtures used in the design of road pavements.

Borderless possibilities, hesitant voyagers: Mapping identity in three post-1989 Czech road movies

ABSTRACTThis article discusses three Czech road movies from the post-1989 period that seek to map the place of the Czech nation in Europe and between conceptions of ‘East’ and ‘West’. I analyse Jízda/The Ride (Jan Svěrák, 1994), Výlet/Some Secrets (Alice Nellis, 2002) and Úcastníci zájezdu/Holiday Makers (Jiří Vejdělek, 2006) as representatives of the road movie genre and within the context of Czech and Czechoslovak history and cinematic tradition. I argue that while these films do not cross the borders that were opened by the fall of communism, they do use the road motif to engage with questions of identity, encouraging cinematic travellers and audience alike to consider the place of the Czech Republic within Europe and the world.

Increasing Permeability of the Czech Road Network for Large Mammals

The total length of motorways in the Czech Republic is expected to double within 20 years. A project run by the Agency of Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic evaluated the permeability of the current motorway network for large and medium-sized mammals. The method used is transferable to other countries. The project made recommendations for making critical motorway sections permeable by proposing minimum parameters, optimal locations and distances between wildlife passages on existing roads, and recommendations for building new roads. These recommendations were summarised in the handbook On the Permeability of Roads for Wildlife, which the Ministry of the Environment officially recommended for new motorways in the Czech Republic. A monitoring programme to evaluate the influence of traffic on wildlife populations and the effectiveness of mitigation measures is planned. High attention must be paid to the legal status of habitat fragmentation and to international legal harmonisation to facilitate cross-border cooperation.

The rise and fall of Czech capitalism: economic development in the Czech Republic since 1989

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Towards Economic Reform 3. The Transformation Depression 4. The Golden Age and After 5. Money and the Central Bank 6. Politicians and the Central Bank 7. Voucher Privatisation and After 8. Banks and the Czech Road 9. Transforming Industrial Enterprises 10. Government and Industry 11. Skoda-Plzen 12. Chemicals - A Failure for Privatisation 13. Inward Investment and Competitiveness 14. Conclusion References Index