Accident Analysis Model Research Articles

Rule-Based Model for Traffic Accident Visualization and Analysis

This research develops and tests a computerized model for intersection accident data visualization and analysis. The model implemented a rule-based visualization module that automatically constructs the collision diagram according to traffic flow conflicts, where accident characteristics can be analyzed either individually or collectively. A data acquisition module was developed for accessing accident databases maintained in state transportation and public safety departments. Using a local database management system as part of the model, the user can select to analyze any accident data through Structured Query Language statements. In addition, this model has implemented a data analysis and graphing module for comparing similarities and identifying differences in accident data and for presenting the results of the analysis through charts and tables. The model was tested with accident data obtained from the Ohio Department of Public Safety in a number of scenario studies, and some of them were presented in this paper as examples. Because the model is very time efficient and user friendly, it can be developed into an effective engineering tool for field applications.

Geographic Information System—Based Integrated Model for Analysis and Prediction of Road Accidents

The applicability and reliability of accident analysis and prediction models depend on their ability to integrate relevant input from disparate databases in a seamless and automated manner. These inputs include information on road geometry, traffic composition, accident profiles, and spatial referencing. With powerful functionality in spatial referencing, data management, and visualization, geographic information systems (GISs) provide a natural platform for this type of model. An integrated and user-friendly GIS platform for road accident analysis and prediction is described. To demonstrate this platform, it has been applied to safety problems specified at different levels of spatial aggregation, from individual route sections to the overall network. The model was developed by using databases obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

On accident analysis and slip-resistance measurement.

Four accident analysis models are discussed in relation to a specimen slipping accident. One classification, or ‘single-type’ model, commonly used in accident statistics, lumps all events and agencies from each accident in one ‘cause’ group. This may lead to serious underestimates of particular hazards. In past occupational injury statistics for Sweden, slipping appeared in less than 5 % of all accidents during 1975. With an entirely different sequential model of the present statistics system (‘ISA’, recording about 100 descriptors for each of more than 100000 annual accidents), slipping has been registered in more than 77% of all accidents during 1979. Fault-trees and dynamic work analysis models are considered for case studies and hazard descriptions. Having identified a major hazard, appropriate techniques and criteria must be developed for safety performance tests. Reports of more than 60 different slip-resistance meters have been found in the literature. Many of the meters are designed to gauge the static friction coefficient, even though tribology research concludes that any frictional force requires motion, at least between rubberlike materials. Thus, the actual forces and motions from human slip-ups must be known, if real slip-resistance is to be measured. Such biomechanical data have been recorded in the laboratory with a computerized gait analysis system. Practical conclusions are presented, based on more than 100 experiments with subjects walking on the level.

FX2-POOL—A Two-Dimensional Coupled Hydrodynamic Thermodynamic and Neutronic Computer Model for Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident Analysis

Subroutine POOL was developed for the study of hypothetical core disruptive accidents in nuclear reactors and, as such, is set up for use as a subroutine in the FX-2 Dynamic Neutronics Code. This combination permits scoping studies of the total neutronic/hydrodynamic interactions and is capable of performing phenomenological investigations of hypothetical problems ranging from the high ramp disassembly calculations, performed in the past by the Lagrangian code VENUS, to the study of recriticality in boiling pools of fuel and steel. POOL specifically includes, in at least parametric fashion, the following phenomena: (1) intra- and inter-element heat transfer by diffusion, convection, and radiation for both fuel and steel inside the pool and at the boundaries; (2) local vapor generation and concurrent local pressurization; and (3) hydrodynamic behavior using the inviscid Navier-Stokes equations in a Eulerian formulation. Sample results are shown for boil-up of an initially quiescent dense pool of fuel and steel. Subroutine POOL was modified by removing the free surface portion of the calculation and the associated expansion of the Eulerian Grid. The combined code, known as FX2-POOL, was used to perform prompt burst calculations for two comparison cases for a 1000-MW(t) demo-like reactor. Good agreement is shown between FX2-POOLmore » and VENUS II for these two hypothetical situations, indicating that the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic assumptions made in POOL are accurate enough for prompt burst analysis and compare well with the VENUS models.« less