Improvement Of Road Traffic Safety Research Articles

Competency of Rural Roads Achieving Targets 3.6 and 11.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals in Bangladesh

Road Transportation is the major mode of transportation and is recognized as a significant contributor to the socio-economic development in many low-and-middle-income countries like in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, this transport system is now responsible for carrying about 70% of passengers and 60% of freights and increasing the share of modalities day by day with the development of road transport systems. The responsibility for the improvement and maintenance of the total road network of the country is assigned mainly to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). But the road network belongs to LGED termed as “Rural Road” which is about 94% of the total road length and in the meantime, more than 40% is improved by mainly flexible pavements. However, the state of road traffic safety on many improved rural roads is poor due to narrow carriageways and shoulders along with roadside hazards. On the other hand, the overall road traffic safety in Bangladesh is poor compared to the developed and motorized countries. However, according to the police report, about 4000 people die and another 5000 people become injured by road traffic crashes in each year in Bangladesh but the World Health Organization estimates the fatalities are more than 25,000. However, Bangladesh has committed to achieving the targets 3.6 and 11.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) assigned by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 concerning the improvement of road traffic safety by halving 50% of fatalities by 2030. Therefore, the achievement of the above two targets depends on the improvement of road traffic safety on highways as well as rural roads. This research highlights the barriers to improving the safety of rural roads to achieve the above two targets by 2030.

Smart Application for Every Car (SAEC). (AR Mobile Application)

Technology is continuously evolving at an exponential rate. Fast technological advances are being made, especially in the field of smart phones, that facilitate the conduct of our daily activities in many areas such as driving. The ever-increasing number of vehicles on roads increases the likelihood of traffic accidents, resulting in higher number of deaths and serious injuries to drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. Among the main causes of road accidents are over speeding, unsafe lane jumping, and failure to keep a safe distance between vehicles, to name a few. In an attempt to contribute to the improvement of road traffic safety, we have developed an Augmented Reality-based Smart Vehicle Driver Assistance application. The application is designed to enhance vehicle driver’s safety, in particular, but is also considered to lead to incremental improvement of safety of road traffic. The application can run on both Android and iOS platforms and incorporates several beneficial features required by a vehicle driver such as monitoring of vehicle speed, warning the driver in case of lane deviation, detection of road signs, and to alert the driver if the vehicle is not being driven at a safe distance from the vehicle in front. In addition to providing information to improve safe driving, the application also helps the vehicle driver save parking location of the vehicle in order to efficiently identify the parking location when retrieving the vehicle. This feature is very useful at large and unfamiliar parking areas, such as at airports or one-off large public gatherings, especially in inclement weather. The application also includes other useful functions such as the payment of parking fees, storage of information regarding vehicle maintenance, and keeping the vehicle legal document up to date. The application uses the stored information to display reminders of the appropriate action that needs to be taken before it becomes overdue.

Road Traffic Safety Development Trends in Latvia

The main focus of this article is on the road traffic safety development trends in Latvia. Soon after the regain of independence at the beginning of the 1990s, road traffic safety characteristics in Latvia were the worst in the Latvian history. The increase of car availability and affordability made the car a major road vehicle. The implementation of road safety programmes contributed to essential improvement of road traffic safety in Latvia. The number of road accident fatalities in 2020 compared to 1991 decreased more than sevenfold. Nevertheless, the current Latvian road traffic safety statistics is well below the average level of the EU member states and even the pandemics did not cause similar reduction as in most member states. This indicates that great improvement is still needed. The article shows the Latvian experience in road traffic safety enhancements and discusses the measures to improve road traffic safety.

Case Study - Benefits from Constructing a Grade-Separated Interchange

The paper presents the results of analyzes regarding the benefits of the planned road network development, reconstruction of a road intersection of the national road No. 25 and provincial road No. 254. Actual and forecasted traffic volumes and saturation factors on the road network were calculated based on the regional simulation transport demand model. The value of transport work performed by all vehicles traveling on this network, the value of travel time of drivers and passengers traveling during the weekday as well as the costs of impact of traffic into the environment were also determined. On this basis, a preliminary economic analysis was made as the base for a feasibility study, to proof economic benefits of such investment. Traffic analyzes, the results of which were presented in this paper, were made using the actual and prognostic four-stage regional simulation transport demand models. The authors adopted a typical trumpet-type of grade separated interchange for economic analyzes. It is a collision-free interchange, and therefore very safe in its very nature. The experience of current road practice indicates that significant improvement of road traffic safety will be the undoubted benefit resulting from the construction of such interchange. Additionally, such construction will also reduce time lost by road users in traffics. It should be noted that at present a railway at-grade crossing located in a short distance from the abovementioned intersections is the most serious source of time lost in traffic by road users. The railway line with heavy passenger and freight traffic causes each closing of the turnpikes effectively blocks traffic on main turns of above mentioned intersection. The construction of the grade separated interchange will enable collision-free intersection of the road with the railway, and thus will reduce the loss of time - a significant improvement in the functioning of the analyzed area.

Road Traffic Safety in Latvia

The article discusses development trends in road traffic safety indicators in Latvia. Changes in society and vehicle fleet after the regain of independence created new situation on the roads. More dynamic vehicle fleet allowed achieving higher average speed of the traffic flow. Reduction in the service level of public transport resulted in much higher use of cars which in turn led to increased traffic flow density. Currently the use of cars in Latvia and in particular in the rural areas has become an integral part of everyday life. It is obvious, that road traffic safety improvement is a complex and complicated task. Despite some achievements during past years, general road traffic safety situation in comparison to other EU countries has still relatively big improvement potential. The article is thus aimed at showing the influence of automobilization increase on road traffic safety level and discussing the reasons for improving road traffic safety level.

Improvement of road traffic safety in the zone of unsignalled pedestrian crossings

Abstract Analysis of accident rate on the roads of Russia has been performed. It is noted that there is a large number of road trafficaccidents with involvement of pedestrians as parties in fault. The shortcomings in organization of traffic on pedestrian crossings and actions of pedestrians crossing the roadway from the point of view of motor expert have been reviewed. The reasons of violation of the RF Traffic Rules by pedestrians have been identified. Appropriate measures have been identified to ensure traffic safety at pedestrian crossings. In order to ensure and improve road traffic safety, an option of arranging a pedestrian crossing by providing a safe zone in front of the stop line and zebra marking and control of actions of traffic participants has been proposed. The mechanism of the priority order of cars and pedestrians within the pedestrian crossing has been described. Propositions have been made for changing the sections of the RF Traffic Rules and State Industry Standards concerning pedestrian actions and arrangement of pedestrian crossings. The concepts of the dashed stop line and the special regulation signs, which designates the pedestrian crossing zone, have been introduced. A method of controlling the actions of road users has been proposed, without excluding administrative punishment for violation of the requirements of transport legislation.

Economic Aspects of Traffic Safety Administration

Abstract This paper presents tasks solutions targeting sustainable development of transport systems in condition of structural reforms from safety viewpoint. The paper defines economic aspects of road transport traffic safety management comprising three groups: (i) economic evaluation of risk and damage factors caused in road accident (RA) - and economic mechanisms of road traffic safety management, (ii) optimization of admissible RA-occurrence risks and (iii) selection of most efficient road traffic safety improvement activities. The paper examines economic development impact on road traffic safety and presents the process of selecting the road traffic safety effectiveness indices. Implementation of safety system efficiency indices enables transport system development, improves road conditions and social-economic development.

REDUCTION IN PROBABILITY OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON HIGH-CLASS ROAD USING RAMP ACCESS CONTROL

Мerging traffic junctions on high-class roads are considered as bottlenecks in the network and quality of their operation determines a probability for formation of traffic congestions. Investigations on congestion situations in the merging zones of ramp and freeway traffic flows have demonstrated that queuing ramp traffic flow leads to formation of so called “turbulence” effect due to re-arrangement of transport facilities and reduction in their speed on main road direction. Having high queuing traffic flow on main road the “turbulence” component can result in formation of an impact blow in the main traffic flow. It has been proved that an impact of the ramp traffic flow on congestion probability is higher in comparison with main road traffic flow. The paper makes it possible to establish that some transport facilities moving along a high-way simul taneously occupy two lanes in the merging traffic zones and they reduce capacity of the used road section. It is necessary to take into account this specific feature and it is necessary to pay attention to it in the zones of “turbulence” effect formation. The paper presents main approaches, methodology, principles and stages required for access control of high-class roads which are directed on higher quality of their operation including improvement of road traffic safety. The paper proposes a methodоlogy that allows to evaluate and optimize ramp control in the context of a transport queue length minimization at adjoining ramps for the purposes of probability reduction in transport congestion.

Road Safety Performance Assessment: A New Road Network Risk Index for Info Mobility

The development of communication systems for road traffic safety improvement has become one of the most important aims of information technology for road users. Detecting risk factors and informing drivers about them can contribute to make the transportation system more safe and comfortable. This assumption is the base of the Research Project “M2M – Mobile to Mobility” carried out at the University of Calabria, Italy. This research presents first applications of a methodology for developing a road safety performance index, Risk Index (RI), related to the risk deriving from infrastructure's features. In detail six different classes of events are identified: number of occurred accidents; density of intersections/accesses on the road section; road surface anomalies; problems related to both horizontal and vertical road signs and deficiencies of roadside and safety barriers. The research is focused on the possibility of giving real time information to road users about the risks associated to the specific travelled road segment, using a multiplatform mobile application and GPS system. The information is given to drivers considering driver's speeds (operating and average speeds) that are registered continuously by the application. In order to reach this aim, the road network is discretized with a squared grid: each node derived from the intersection of the grid with the infrastructure's network is considered as an informative node which contains the information related to an area, centered on the same node (RIj). This step represents just the initialization of the road network, which will be enriched with new points generated by users trips uploaded through an automatic server-side. According to this procedure, the road network will be more “information-rich” as many users will use the platform, according to a user-generated schema. When the single driver is approaching to the i-th node, he may be informed on the Risk Index associated to the relative area and he simultaneously provides its speed at server.

НАПРЯМИ МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ СОЦіАЛЬНИХ РИЗИКіВ ДОРОЖНЬО-ТРАНСПОРТНИХ ПРИГОД

The paper considers approaches and methods of assessment of human health and safety risks related to road traffic accidents (RTA). It must become one of the key indicators when analyzing negative social and economic consequences of road traffic accident rate, and developing the state policy of the road traffic safety improvement. The paper gives models, which can be used for analyzing and evaluating the RTA risks, as well as economic and social losses caused by RTA. In the most general way the RTA risk value can be expressed as the product of event and consequences probability. Therefore, one and the same risk can be caused either by high probability of RTA with minor consequences or limited probability of RTA with a high level of losses. The quantitative risk evaluation models, presented in the paper, do not completely show real mechanisms of the RTA emergence and development in different road traffic situations, elements of a road network. Therefore, each specific analysis case requires an appropriate risk evaluation model, which allows getting accurate results with the least expenses for calculation and source data collection

Appraisal of Feasibility of Using Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications for Safe Passage of Unsignalled Road Intersection under Varying Conditions

Improvement of road traffic safety is one of the principal directions in development of intelligent transport systems. Exchange of information about transport vehicle location and movement parameters by means of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication is designed to significantly improve the operation of the existing systems for warning drivers of hazardous situations on roads. The present article examines the feasibility of using V2V communications under varying conditions to ensure safe passage of an unsignalled road intersection.

Influence of Legislation on Road Traffic Safety

The objective of this paper is to analyse road traffic safety in the Republic of Croatia based on the selected indicators which were used by the legislator in bringing the Law on Road Traffic Safety which has been in force since 28 July 2004, and the achieved effects in reaching the desired safety level in the three-year period from 2005 to 2007. The aim of the research is to establish a prognostic trend of the values of the studied indicators in the time period following the enforcement of new legal regulations. Adequate safety indicator values for the respective period were analyzed using the methods of analysis and synthesis, mathematical statistics as well as trend assessment based on the found mathematical prognostic models. Based on the results of this research it was found that the basic hypothesis according to which the implementation of new legal guidelines had to result in positive change in the condition of road traffic safety, failed to be confirmed. A change in the road traffic safety improvement strategy has been proposed as well as a more significant participation and recognition of the profession and science in this field which is of great significance for the society. KEY WORDS: influence of legal regulations, road traffic safety, effects and tendencies

Towards a driver fatigue test based on the saccadic main sequence: A partial validation by subjective report data

Developing a valid measurement of mental fatigue remains a big challenge and would be beneficial for various application areas, such as the improvement of road traffic safety. In the present study we examined influences of mental fatigue on the dynamics of saccadic eye movements. Based on previous findings, we propose that among amplitude and duration of saccades, the peak velocity of saccadic eye movements is particularly sensitive to changes in mental fatigue. Ten participants completed a fixation task before and after 2 h of driving in a virtual simulation environment as well as after a rest break of fifteen minutes. Driving and rest break were assumed to directly influence the level of mental fatigue and were evaluated using subjective ratings and eye movement indices. According to the subjective ratings, mental fatigue was highest after driving but decreased after the rest break. The peak velocity of saccadic eye movements decreased after driving while the duration of saccades increased, but no effects of the rest break were observed in the saccade parameters. We conclude that saccadic eye movement parameters—particularly the peak velocity—are sensitive indicators for mental fatigue. According to these findings, the peak velocity analysis represents a valid on-line measure for the detection of mental fatigue, providing the basis for the development of new vigilance screening tools to prevent accidents in several application domains.

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Density of Fatalities on National Roads in Poland

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Density of Fatalities on National Roads in PolandIn Poland 20% of the total number of accidents occur on the national roads, which constitute 7% of the length of all roads. In the case of fatalities this share is significantly higher as it constitutes up to 36% of the total casualties. In accordance with the EU Directive (Journal of Laws EU L. 319/59) the level of road traffic safety should be raised by targeting investment on the most dangerous road sections. Finding the dependence between road and traffic factors and the number of accidents and casualties of road accidents may be helpful in predicting safety levels and selecting road traffic safety improvement measures. The paper presents the experience of other countries and preliminary tests results of the impact of the selected factors on the density and the number of road accident fatalities on the national roads in Poland.