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The advent of active safety systems calls for the development of appropriate testing methods. These methods aim to assess the effectivity of active safety systems based on criteria such as their capability to avoid accidents or lower impact speeds and thus mitigate the injury severity. For prospective effectivity studies, simulation becomes an important tool that needs valid models not only to simulate driving dynamics and safety systems, but also to resolve the collision mechanics. This paper presents an impact model which is based on solving momentum conservation equations and uses it in an effectivity study of a generic collision mitigation system in reconstructed real accidents at junctions. The model assumes an infinitely short crash duration and computes output parameters such as post-crash velocities, delta-v, force directions, etc. and is applicable for all impact collision configurations such as oblique, excentric collisions. Requiring only very little computational effort, the model is especially useful for effectivity studies where large numbers of simulations are necessary. Validation of the model is done by comparison with results from the widely used reconstruction software PC-Crash. Vehicles involved in the accidents are virtually equipped with a collision mitigation system for junctions using the software X-RATE, and the simulations (referred to as system simulations) are started sufficiently early before the collision occurred. In order to assess the effectivity, the real accident (referred to as baseline) is compared with the system simulations by computing the reduction of the impact speeds and delta-v.
In-depth accident investigation offers many advantages for the analysis and comprehension of crash mechanisms. IFSTTAR makes such investigations since 1992 without interruption. The corresponding database contains more than 1200 accident case studies. Currently, in-depth accident investigation is one of the best ways to determine the speed or cars involved in accidents. This paper first presents the methods used for accident investigation and for accident kinematic reconstruction. Then, in order to illustrate the interest and possible applications of such accident data, it shows some results from a recent study based on the IFSTTAR in-depth accident study programme (IDAS) and dealing with the link between travelling speed and accident risk.
This paper gives an overview of the in-depth crash investigation activity conducted by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) at the University of Adelaide, in South Australia. Recent changes in method include: an expansion in on-call hours for the crash investigation team, providing the option of a phone interview for crash participants to discuss the crash, and downloading objective crash data from vehicle airbag control modules. These changes have resulted in: increased representativeness of crashes by hour of day; a decrease in the over-representation of fatal crashes in our sample; an increase in the proportion of crashes that involved a pedestrian, bicycle or scooter (moped); an increase in the proportion of crash participants consenting to an interview; and an increase in the objective data available, through airbag control module downloads. Our in-depth crash investigations enabled research into road departures that found barriers were a more feasible solution than clear zones for eliminating serious and fatal injury resulting from run off road crashes.
Car occupants have a high level of mortality in road accidents, since passenger cars are the prevalent mode of transport. In 2013, car occupant fatalities accounted for 45% of all road accident fatalities in the EU. The objective of this research is the analysis of basic road safety parameters related to car occupants in the European countries over a period of 10 years (2004-2013), through the exploitation of the EU CARE database with disaggregate data on road accidents. Data from the EU Injury Database for the period 2005 - 2008 are used to identify injury patterns, and additional insight into accident causation for car occupants is offered through the use of in-depth accident data from the EC SafetyNet project Accident Causation System (SNACS). The results of the analysis allow for a better understanding of the car occupants' safety situation in Europe, thus providing useful support to decision makers working for the improvement of road safety level in Europe.
To elucidate the risk of pedestrians, bicycle and motorbike users, data of two accident research units from 1999 to 2014 were analysed in regard to demographic data, collision details, preclinical and clinical data using SPSS. 14.295 injured vulnerable road users were included. 92 out of 3610 pedestrians ("P", 2.5%), 90 out of 8307 bicyclists ("B", 1.1%) and 115 out of 4094 motorcycle users ("M", 2.8%) were diagnosed with spinal fractures. Thoracic fractures were most frequent ahead of lumbar and cervical fractures. Car collisions were most frequent mechanism (68, 62 and 36%). MAIS was 3.8, 2.8 and 3.2 for P, B and A with ISS 32, 16 and 23. AIS-head was 2.2, 1.3 and 1.5). Vulnerable road users are at significant risk for spine fractures. These are often associated with severe additional injuries, e.g. the head and a very high overall trauma severity (polytrauma).
Although road infrastructure is developed extensively Brazil is still one of the countries with the most dangerous roads in the world. In order to stop the increasing trend of traffic fatalities of the last few years and to improve traffic safety on Brazilian roads a pilot study on behalf of SAE Brazil started in March 2016 with the goal to lay the foundations for a long-term research activity. Piloting for an in-depth accident investigation the city of Campinas, roughly 100 km north of São Paulo was chosen. The pilot project was carried out with the local partner, the Empresa Municipal de Desenvolvimento de Campinas (EMDEC). The paper reports on the initial training of evidence based accident data collection on-spot, the implementation of the new digital database, the data collection and the first results. An outlook on the planned long-term accident investigations is given.
Bus or heavy vehicle passenger accidents are rare events, compared with car accidents, but sometimes leads to a large number of victims especially in rollover crash scenarios. Two accidents occurred in Portugal in 2007 and 2013 in which 28 people died and more than 50 are injured, shown the importance of the investigation of such accidents. For the investigation of these accidents multidisciplinary teams are constituted with engineers and police officers. All the factors involved are taken into consideration including road design, traffic signs, maintenance and hardware, human factors, and vehicle factors. In this work a methodology to an accurate collection of the data is proposed. From the information collected the accident is reconstructed using the PC-CrashTM software. From this all the contribution factors are determined and recommendations to mitigate these crashes are listed. These two accidents are rollover accidents and the analysis of the injuries and its correlation with the use of retention systems is very important. From the medical data and with the dynamics of the accident determined simulations of the occupants with biomechanical models are carried out in order to evaluate the effect of the retention systems in the injuries. This analysis is based on injury criteria (such as Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS) or Injury Severity Scale (ISS)). With this it is possible to determine if the seat belt was worn or not.
The objectives of this paper are the analysis of the accident risk of drivers brain pathologies (Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer- disease, and Parkinson- disease), and the investigation of the impact of driver distraction on the accident risk of patients with brain pathologies, through a driving simulator experiment. The three groups of patients are compared to a healthy group of similar demographics, with no brain pathology. In particular, 125 drivers of more than 55 years old (34 "controls"" and 91 "patients") went through a large driving simulator experimental process, in which incidents were scheduled to occur. They drove in rural and urban areas, in low and high traffic volumes and in three distraction conditions (undistracted driving, conversation with a passenger and conversation through a mobile phone). The statistical analyses indicated several interesting findings; brain pathologies affect significantly accident risk and distraction affects more the groups of patients than the control one.
Motorcycle crashes in Austria: Analysis of causes and contributing factors based on in-depth data
(2017)
From CEDATU, the in-depth accident database run by the Vehicle Safety Institute at Graz University of Technology, a representative sample of 101 crashes involving at least one motorcycle was selected. The analysis focused on causes for crashes as well as on contributing factors, but also included parameters of road, riders and vehicles. Own riding speed and "unexpectable action by another road user" were the most frequent causes for accidents. Inappropriate safety distance or delayed reaction were frequent, both as causation factors and as contributing factors. Infrastructure issues never cause an accident, but they are very frequent as contributing factors; road geometry and road guidance are by far most frequent among these. This paper also discusses accidents by type and other parameters (e.g. injury severity by body region, collision speed, age and others), and compares accident causes to previous studies as well as the police reported accident statistics.
This work describes the results of the experimental activity, illustrating the driving behavior observed in different conditions, relating them to the different methods of ADAS intervention and comparing the driver behavior without ADAS. In the present study, driver behavior was studied in road accidents involving elderly pedestrians, with different ADAS HMIs, as a base to develop a driver model in near missing pedestrian accidents. A literature research was conducted with the aim of finding out the main influencing factors, including environment, boundary conditions, configuration of impact, pedestrian and driver information, when pedestrian fatalities occur and an analysis of frequent road accidents was conducted to get more detailed information about the driver- behavior. In order to obtain more detailed information about pedestrian accidents, real road accidents were reconstructed with multibody simulations on PC-Crash and, by the comparison between literature findings and reconstructions, a generic accident scenario was defined. The generic accident scenario was implemented on the full scale dynamic driving simulator in use at the Laboratory for Safety and Traffic Accident Analysis (LaSIS, University of Florence, Italy) in order to analyse the driving behaviors of volunteers, also considering the influence of ADAS devices. Forty-five young volunteers were enrolled for this study, resulting in forty valid tests on different testing scenarios. Two different scenarios consisted in driving with or without ADAS in the vehicle. Different kinds of ADAS, acoustic and optical, with different time of intervention were tested in order to study the different reactions of the driver. The tests showed some interesting differences between driver's behavior when approaching the critical situation. Drivers with ADAS reacted earlier, but more slowly, depending also on the type of alarm, and often with double reaction when braking. In fact, the results of the activity showed that with ADAS intervention the time to collision (TTC) increases, but the reaction time and braking modality change: a) there is a sort of "latency" time between the accelerator pedal release and the brake pressure; b) the brake pressure is initially less intense. So the driver only partially takes advance from the TTC increase. These differences were valued not only qualitatively, but quantitatively as well. This work revealed to be useful to improve the knowledge of drivers" behavior, in order to realize a driver model that can be implemented to help attaining and assessing higher levels of automation through new technology.
Injury severity of e.g. pedestrians or bikers after crashes with cars that are reversing is almost unknown. However, crash victims of these injuries can frequently be seen in emergency departments and account for a large amount of patients every year. The objective of this study is to analyze injury severity of patients that were crashed into by reversing cars. The Hannover Medical School local accident research unit prospectively documented 43,000 road traffic accidents including 234 crashes involving reversing cars. Injury severity including the abbreviated injury scale (AIS) and the maximum abbreviated injury scale (MAIS) was analyzed as well as the location of the accident. As a result 234 accidents were included into this study. Pedestrians were injured in 141 crashes followed by 70 accidents involving bikers. The mean age of all crash victims was 57 -± 23 years. Most injuries took place on straight stretches (n = 81) as well as parking areas (n = 59), entries (n = 36) or crossroads (n = 24). The AIS of the lower extremities was highest followed by the upper extremities. The AIS of the neck was lowest. The mean MAIS was 1.3 -± 0.6. The paper concludes that the lower extremities show the highest risk to become injured during accidents with reversing cars. However, the risk of severe injuries is likely low.
This work aimed for getting the main features of accidents involving Light Goods Vehicles (LGV), using accident cases collected in the In-Depth Accidents Studies built up at IFSTTAR-LMA (France), in order to analyse thoroughly the proceedings of these accidents and identify the major factors for the different types of LGV. This work was based on the analysis of 88 accident cases involving LGV with a Maximum Authorised Mass inferior to 3.5 tonnes. In particular kinematics reconstruction of these accidents were performed to calculate the average impact speeds and to better understand the compatibility problems between LGV and antagonist vehicles. Specific features have been reviewed to pick up problems concerning safety, maintenance, loading, LGV design: general conditions of the accident, vehicle features, and passive safety. The main results of this study are presented in this paper.
While it is important to track trends in the number of road accidents in different countries using national statistics, there is a need for data with more detailed information, so called in-depth accident data. For this reason, several accident data projects emerged worldwide in recent years. However, also different data standards were established and so comparative analysis of international in-depth data has been very hard to conduct, so far. This is why the project iGLAD (Initiative for the Global Harmonization of Accident Data) was established and created the prerequisites for building up a standardized dataset out of the common denominator of different in-depth accident databases from Europe, USA and Asia. In the first phase, the project received funding from ACEA to compile an initial database. To accomplish this, a suitable data scheme has been defined, a pilot study has been conducted as proof of concept and the recoding of the first common data base has been initiated. Also, to prepare the project for its self-supporting continuation in the next years, a business model has been developed. This paper reports the history and status of the project, the current challenges and the creation of a capable consortium to maintain the data. In mid-2014, the initial database containing 1550 cases from 10 different countries will be completed and a first detailed view on this data will be possible.
Introduction: The method of causation analysis applied under the German accident survey GIDAS, which is based on Accident Causation Analysis System (ACAS) focuses on an on-scene data collection of predominantly directly event-related causation factors which were crucial in the accident emergence as situational resulting events and influences. The paradigm underlying this method refers to the findings of the psychological traffic accident research that most causally relevant features of the system components human, infrastructure and vehicle technology are found directly in the situation shortly before the accident. This justifies the survey method which is conducted directly at the accident (on-scene), shortly after the accident occurrence (in-time) with the detection of human-related causes (in-depth). Human aspects of the situation analysis that interact and influence the risk situations shortly before the collision are reported as errors, lapses, mistakes and failures in ACAS in specific categories and subcategories. Thus methodically ACAS is designed primarily for the collection of accident features on the level of operational action, which certainly leads to valid findings and behavioral causes of accidents. The enhancement by means of Moderating Conditions concerns the pre-crash phase in different levels: strategical, tactical and operational.
Road accidents are typically analyzed to address influences of human, vehicle, and environmental (primarily infrastructure) factors. A new methodology, based on a "Venn diagram" analysis, gives a broader perspective on the probable factors, and combinations of factors, contributing both to the occurrence of a crash and to sustaining injuries in that crash. The methodology was applied to 214 accidents on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Factors contributing to accidents and injuries were addressed. The major human factors influencing accidents on this roadway were speeding (30%) and falling asleep (29%), while injuries were primarily due to lack of seat belt use (46%). The leading infrastructure factor for injuries was impact with a roadside manmade structure (28%), and the main vehicle factor for injuries was passenger compartment intrusion (73%). This methodology can help identify effective vehicle and infrastructure-related solutions for preventing accidents and mitigating injuries in India.
This study aimed at prediction of long bone fractures and assessment of lower extremity injury mechanisms in real world passenger car to pedestrian collision. For this purpose, two pedestrian accident cases with detail recorded lower limb injuries were reconstructed via combining MBS (Multi-body system) and FE (Finite element) methods. The code of PC Crash was used to determine the boundary conditions before collision, and then MBS models were used to reproduce the pedestrian kinematics and injuries during crash. Furthermore, a validated lower limb FE model was chosen to conduct reconstruction of injuries and prediction of long bone fracture via physical parameters of von Mises stress and bending moment. The injury outcomes from simulations were compared with hospital recorded injury data and the same long bone fracture patterns and positions can be observed. Moreover, the calculated long bone fracture tolerance corresponded to the outcome from cadaver tests. The result shows that FE model is capable to reproduce the dynamic injury process and is an effective tool to predict the risk of long bone fractures.
This study aimed at comparing head Wrap Around Distance (WAD) of Vulnerable Road User (VRU) obtained from the German in-depth Accident Database (GIDAS), the China in-depth Accident Database (CIDAS) and the Japanese in-depth Accident Database (ITARDA micro). Cumulative distribution of WAD of pedestrian and cyclist were obtained for each database (AIS2+) showing that WAD of cyclists were larger than the ones of pedestrians. Comparing three regions, the 50%tile WAD of GIDAS was larger than that of both Asian accident databases. Using linear regression that might predict WAD of pedestrians and cyclists from Impact speed and VRU height, WADs were calculated to be 206cm/219cm (Pedestrian/Cyclist) for GIDAS, 170cm/192cm for CIDAS and 211cm/235cm for ITARDA. In addition, this study may be helpful for reconsideration of WAD measurement alignment between accident reconstruction and test procedures.
The declining trend since 1991 in the number of killed people was broken in 2011 when overall 4 009 people died in traffic accidents in Germany. The question arises if there is a stagnating trend of fatalities in Germany in future? By breaking down the accidents with casualties towards a monthly view one can see a decreasing trend of fatalities in the warmer months especially since 2009. When comparing against winter months higher deviations are observed. In December 2011 an increase of 191 traffic deaths were registered (181 in 2010 compared to 372 in 2011). Further analyses of different accident influences were evaluated and their possibility of drastic change from one year to the other was determined. As seen weather- and environmental conditions are one of the major contributing factors and are one of the causes for the increased number of fatalities. To support the underlying assumption a model had been created to calculate the number of traffic deaths on a daily basis approach. As an input, road conditions projected through weather parameters and also different driving behaviors on weekdays or holidays were used. As a result, estimates of daily fatality with up to 75% precision can be achieved out of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 data. Further on it shows that weather and street conditions have a high influence on the overall resulting number of traffic accidents with casualties, and especially to the number of fatalities. Hence it is estimated that approximately 3 300 people were killed in traffic accidents in Germany in 2013 which would be again a reduction of another 13% compared to 2012. Therefore an answer to the question will be that the decreasing trend in traffic fatalities in Germany somehow is not broken when environmental conditions are included in national statistics. Their effects will become more visible in future accident statistics and it is estimated variances of 5% to 8% of the annual number of traffic fatalities in Germany will be seen.
The changed focus in vehicle safety technology from secondary to primary safety systems need to evolve new methods to investigate accidents, high critical, critical and normal driving situations. Current Naturalistic Driving Studies mostly use vehicles that are highly equipped with additional measuring devices, video cameras, recording technology, and sensors. These equipped fleets are very expensive regarding the setup and administration of the study. Due to the great rarity of crashes it is additionally necessary to have a high distribution and a homogeneous distribution of subject groups. At the end all these facts are leading to a very expensive study with a manageable number of data. Smartphones are becoming more and more popular not only for younger people. Contrary to traditional mobile phones they are mostly equipped with sensors for acceleration and yaw rates, GPS modules as well as cameras in high definition resolution. Additionally they have high-performance processors that enable the execution of CPU-intensive tools directly on the phone. The wide distribution of these smartphones enables researchers to get high numbers of users for such studies. The paper shows and demonstrates a software app for smartphones that is able to record different driving situations up to crashes. Therefore all relevant parameter from the sensors, camera and GPS device are saved for a given duration if the event was triggered. The complete configuration is independently adjustable to the relevant driver and all events were sent automatically to the research institute for a further process. Direct after the event, interviews with the driver can be done and important data regarding the event itself are documented. The presentation shows the methodology and gives a demonstration of the working progress as well as first results and examples of the current study. In the discussion the advantages of this method will be discussed and compared with the disadvantages. The paper shows an alternative method to investigate real accident and incident data. This method is thereby highly cost efficient and comparable with existing methods for benefit estimation.
Pedestrians represent about 20% of the overall fatalities in Europe- road traffic accidents. In this paper a methodology is proposed to understand why the numbers are so high, especially in the south of Europe and particularly in Portugal, . First a detailed statistical analysis using Ordinal Logistic Regression model (OLR) was applied to the gathered data from all Portuguese accidents with victims in the period 2010-2012. In a second stage accident reconstruction computational techniques using pedestrian biomechanical models are used to evaluate the accident conditions that lead to the injuries, such as the speed and the impact location. For biomechanical injury criterions, the AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale), the HIC (Head Injury Criterion) and other injury criterions based on the resulting accelerations in the pedestrian's body are used. The statistical model reported that there were several predictors that significantly influenced the pedestrian injury severity in the event of a road accident, such as Pedestrian's age, Pedestrian's gender, Vehicle Design/Category or Driver's gender. The use of injury scales and biomechanical criterions in in-depth investigation of road accidents, such as AIS, can significantly improve the quality of the reconstruction process.
The paper gives an overview of the recent (mostly 2012) figures of killed bus/coach occupants (drivers and passengers) in 27 Member States of the European Union as reported by CARE. The Evolution of the figures of bus/coach occupants killed in road accidents urban, rural without motorway and on motorways from 1991 to 2010 in 15 Member States of the EU supplements this information. More detailed are the figures reported for Germany by the Federal Statistics. The paper displays long-term evaluations (1957 to 2012) for killed, seriously and slightly injured occupants in all kinds of buses/coaches. Midterm evaluations (1995 to 2012) of the figures of fatalities and casualties are displayed for different busses according to their identification of road using as coaches, urban buses, school buses, trolley buses and "other buses". To be able to compare the evolutions of the safety of vehicle occupants it is customary to use different risk indicators. Calculations and illustrations for three often used indicators with their development over time are given: fatalities, seriously injured and slightly injured per 100,000 vehicles registered, per 1 billion (109) vehicle-kilometres travelled and per 1 billion (109) person-kilometres. These indicators are shown for occupants of cars, goods vehicles and buses/coaches. For the period from 1957 until 2012 it is obvious, that for all three vehicle categories analysed there was a clear long-term trend towards more occupant safety in terms of casualties per vehicles registered and per vehicle mileage. This was most significant for car occupants but it can be seen for bus/coach occupants and goodsvehicle occupants as well. Figures of killed occupants and of casualties related to person-kilometres are calculated and displayed for the shorter period 1995 to 2012. Here it becomes obvious that the bus/coach is still the safest mode of transport for the occupants of road vehicles. Graphs for the casualty risk indices still show significantly higher risks for car occupants despite the corresponding curve moved sustainable downwards. It is remarkable, that the risks of being killed or injured for the occupants of urban buses is growing whereas the corresponding risk for the occupants of coaches in line traffic tends downwards. The article ends with a short comparison and discussion of the risk indicators which are actually published for the occupants (driver and passengers) of cars and the passengers of buses/coaches, railroads, trams and airplanes. The interpretation of such information depends on the perception and it seems that for a complete view not only one indicator should be used and the evolutions of the indicator values during longer periods (as displayed with examples in the paper) should also be taken into account.
Within the COST Action TU1101 the working group WG 1 is dealing with acceptance criteria and problems in helmet use while bicycling concerning conspicuity, thermal stress, ventilation deficits and other potential confounding. To analyze the helmet usage practice of bicyclists in Europe a questionnaire was developed in the scope of working group 1 to collect relevant information by means of a field study. The questionnaire consists of some 66 questions covering the fields of personal data of the cyclist, riding und helmet usage habits, information concerning the helmet model and the sensation of the helmet, as well as information on previous bicycle accidents. A second complementary study is conducted to analyze if the use of a bicycle helmet influences the seating geometry and the posture of cyclists when riding a bicycle and if the if the helmet vertically limits the vision. For this purpose cyclists with and without helmets were photographed in real world situations and relevant geometrical values such as the decline of the torso, the head posture of the upper vertical vision limit due to the helmet were established from the photos. The interim results of the field studies which were conducted in Germany by the Hannover Medical School are presented in this study. Some 227 questionnaires were filled out, of which 67 participants had used a helmet and 42 of the 227 participants have had a bicycle accident before. For the analysis of the riding position and posture of the cyclist over 40 pictures of riders with a helmet and over 240 pictures of riders without a helmet were measured concerning the seating geometry to describe the influence of using a bicycle helmet. Some results in summary: From the riders interviewed with the questionnaire only 11% of the city bike riders and 12% of the mountain bike riders always used the helmet, while 38% of the racing bike riders and 88% of the e-bike-riders always used the helmet. The helmet use seems not to change the sensation of safety of cycling compared to the use of a car. The arguments for not wearing a helmet are mostly stated to be the short distance of a trip, high temperatures or carelessness and waste of time. The reasons for using a helmet are stated to be the feeling of safety and being used to using a helmet. Being a role model for others was also stated to be a reason for helmet use. Concerning the sensation of the helmet 9% of the riders reported problems with the field of vision when using a helmet, 57% saw the problem of sweating too much, and 10% reported headaches or other unpleasant symptoms like pressure on the forehead when using the helmet. The analysis of the seating posture from the pictures taken of cyclists revealed that older cyclists generally have a riding position where the handle bar is higher than the seat (0-° to 10-° incline from seat to handlebar), while younger riders had a higher variance (between -10-° decline and 20-° incline). Further, elderly riders and riders with helmets seem to have a more upright position of the upper body when cycling. The vertical vision limit due to the helmet is determined by the front rim of the helmet (mostly the sun shade). Typical values here range from 0-° (horizontal line from the eye to the sun shade) to 75-° upwards, in which elderly riders tend to have a slightly higher vertical vision limit possibly due to the helmet being worn more towards the face.
Although the annual traffic accident statistics published by the national police is available in public, the detailed traffic accident data has not been released in Korea. Recently the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recognized the importance of in-depth accident data to enhance road traffic safety and initiated a research project to establish a collection of the detailed accident data. The main objective of the project is a feasibility study to establish KIDAS (Korea In-Depth Accident Study). Within this project, three university hospitals which are located in mid-size cities have been selected to collect accident data. Annually, more than 500 cases of accidents have been collected from the in-patient's interviews and diagnosis. Unlike GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study), currently on-site investigation can"t be performed by the Korean police. The only available data is patient medical records, patient's description of accident circumstances and the damaged vehicle. Occasionally the police provide the accident investigation reports containing very brief information on accident causation and vehicle safety. In a first step, the concept of KIDAS is to adopt the format of iGLAD (Initiative for the Global Harmonization of Accident Data) for harmonization. Since the currently collected accident information is extremely limited compared with GIDAS, the other sources of data and calculations such as KNCAP vehicle data, pc-crash simulations, vehicle registration information, insurance company data are utilized to complete the iGLAD template. Results from KIDAS_iGLAD and the cases of assessment of active safety devices such as AEBS, ESC, and LDWS will be evaluated.
The main focus of the benefit estimation of advanced safety systems with a warning interface by simulation is on the driver. The driver is the only link between the algorithm of the safety system and the vehicle, which makes the setup of a driver model for such simulations very important. This paper describes an approach for the use of a statistical driver model in simulation. It also gives an outlook on further work on this topic. The build-up process of the model suffices with a distribution of reaction times and a distribution of reaction intensities. Both were combined in different scenarios for every driver. Each scenario has then a specific probability to occur. To use the statistical driver model, every accident scene has to be simulated with each driver scenario (combinations of reaction times and intensities). The results of the simulations are then combined regarding the probabilities to occur, which leads to an overall estimated benefit of the specific system. The model works with one or more equipped participants and delivers a range for the benefit of advanced safety systems with warning interfaces.
The study aimed at estimating the impact of pedelecs (with an assumed higher speed than bicycles) on the traffic accident severity in Germany for different penetration rates. The analysis shows that in many real situations (68%) an electrical support of bicycles has no influence on the sequence of accident events. Taking into account a number of unreported "single bicycle accidents", the adoption of similar traffic behavior and similar age distribution, the authors determined a shift of 400 former slightly to seriously injured cyclists in Germany per year. Overall this would be an increase of approximately 2.3% in case of 10% of pedelec penetration with the pessimistic assumption of 10 km/h speed increase although first natural driving studies predict a much lower average speed increase of pedelecs. The hypothesis verbalized in the initial question whether a higher distribution of pedelecs will result in more severe accidents in Germany is not verified. The study shows that electrical support didn"t result in higher collision speed in general. In many accident situations, the speed of pedelecs has only a minor influence on the accident severity. Further research focusing on a possible change of driver behavior especially in new target groups (elderly people) will be needed.
The evaluation of the expected benefit of active safety systems or even ideas of future systems is challenging because this has to be done prospectively. Beside acceptance, the predicted real-world benefit of active safety systems is one of the most important and interesting measures. Therefore, appropriate methods should be used that meet the requirements concerning representativeness, robustness and accuracy. The paper presents the development of a methodology for the assessment of current and future vehicle safety systems. The variety of systems requires several tools and methods and thus, a common tool box was created. This toolbox consists of different levels, regarding different aspects like data sources, scenarios, representativeness, measures like pre-crash-simulations, automated crash computation, single-case-analyses or driving simulator studies. Finally, the benefit of the system(s) is calculated, e.g. by using injury risk functions; giving the number of avoided/mitigated accidents, the reduction of injured or killed persons or the decrease of economic costs.
Accident simulation and reconstruction for enhancing pedestrian safety: issues and challenges
(2015)
The enhancement of pedestrian safety represents a major challenge in traffic accidents. This study allows a better understanding of the issues in pedestrian protection. It highlights the potential of in-depth studies in identifying relevant crash parameters interfering in the pedestrian safety. A computational simulation tool was developed to reconstruct pedestrian real-world crashes. A sample of 100 in-depth accident cases was reconstructed from two sources: 40 crashes provided by IFSTTAR-LMA and 60 crashes from CASR. To exemplify the methodology, two accident cases from each database were illustrated. A description of the sample of crashes was presented including the travel and impact speed of the vehicle, the driver reaction, the pedestrian walking speed, the scene configuration with the eventual obstacles, etc. This detailed description is pointing to the major factors affecting the limits of pedestrian safety systems.
Cycling supports the independence and health of the aging population. However, elderly cyclists have an increased injury risk. The majority of injured cyclists is victim of a single-sided accident, an accident in which there is no other party involved. The aim of the project "Safe and Aware on the bicycle" is to develop guidelines for an advisory system that is useful in preventing single-sided accidents. This system is able to support the elderly cyclist; enabling the cyclist to timely adapt his cycling behaviour and improve cycling safety and comfort. For the development of such advisory system the causes of singles accidents and the wishes of the elderly cyclist must be known. First step to obtain this insight was a literature survey and an GIDAS research. Unfortunately accidentology research with GIDAS did not give the full understanding of the pre-crash situations and (especially the behaviour related) factors leading to the accident. The second step was consultation of elderly cyclist through a questionnaire (n=800), in-depth interviews (n=12) and focus group sessions (n=15). This offered complementary information and a much better understanding of the behavioural aspects. Results concern the behaviour in traffic and identify specific physical (i.e. problems looking backwards over the shoulder) and mental issues. Furthermore, the needs and wishes for support in specific cycling situations were identified. In conclusion; The GIDAS results together with the information obtained contacting the elderly cyclists enabled setting up requirements for an advisory system, which is useful in preventing single-sided accidents.
Analysis of pedestrian leg contacts and distribution of contact points across the vehicle front
(2015)
Determining the risk to pedestrians that are impacted by areas of the front bumper not currently regulated in type-approval testing requires an understanding of the target population and the injury risk posed by the edges of the bumper. National statistics show that approximately 10% of all accident casualties are pedestrians, with 20% to 30% of these pedestrian casualties being killed or seriously injured. However, the contact position across the front of the bumper is not recorded in national statistics and so in-depth accident databases (OTS, UK and GIDAS, Germany) were used to examine injury risk in greater detail. The results showed that some injury types and severities of injuries appear to peak around the bumper edges. Although there are sometimes inconsistencies in the data, generally there is no evidence to suggest that the edges of the bumper are less likely to be contacted or cause injury.
Trauma management (TM) covers two types of medical treatment: the initial one provided by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and a further one provided by permanent medical facilities. There is a consensus in the professional literature that to reduce the severity and the number of road crash victims, the TM system should provide rapid and adequate initial care of injury, combined with sufficient further treatment at a hospital or trauma centre. Recognizing the important role of TM for reducing road crash injury outcome, it was decided, within the EU funded SafetyNet project, to develop road safety performance indicators (SPIs) which would characterize the level of TM systems" performance in European countries and enable country comparisons. The concept of TM SPIs was developed based on a literature study of performance indicators in TM, a survey of available practices in Europe and data availability examinations. A set of TM SPIs was introduced including 14 indicators which characterize five issues such as: availability of EMS stations; availability and composition of EMS medical staff; availability and composition of EMS transportation units; characteristics of the EMS response time, and availability of trauma beds in permanent medical facilities. Basic information on the TM systems was collected in close cooperation with the national expert group. A dataset with TM SPIs for 21 countries was created. It was demonstrated that the countries can be compared using selected TM SPIs. Moreover, a more general comparison of the TM systems' performance in the countries is possible, using multiple ranking and statistical weighting techniques. By both methods, final estimates were received enabling the recognition of groups of countries with similar levels of the TM system's performance. The results of various trials were consistent as to the recognition of countries with high or low level of the TM systems" performance, where in grouping countries with intermediate levels of the TM system's performance some differences were observed. The SafetyNet project's practice demonstrated that data collection for estimating TM SPIs is not an easy task but is realizable for the majority of countries. The TM SPIs" message is currently limited to the availability of trauma care services. Further development of the TM SPIs should focus on characteristics of actual treatment supplied, based on combined police and medical road crash related databases.
Die Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) hat 2009 eine Pilotstudie initiiert, an der sich vier Autobahnmeistereien aus Niedersachsen und Nordrhein-Westfalen beteiligt haben und deren Schlussbericht nun vorliegt. Grund dafür waren die immer stärker spürbaren psychischen Belastungen, die sich aus der gefährlichen und stressreichen Arbeit ergeben, die die Frauen und Männer in der orangefarbenen Arbeitskleidung auf der Straße verrichten. Bundesweit kommen nach Angaben des Bundesverbandes Deutscher Straßenwärter jedes Jahr acht bis zehn Straßenwärter ums Leben. Die Zahl der Verletzten ist hoch. Zu der Arbeit in unmittelbarer Nähe des fließenden Verkehrs auf der Fahrbahn oder im direkt angrenzenden Seitenbereich von Straßen und Autobahnen kommen Belastungen durch die immer knapper werdende Personalausstattung der Meistereien und den daraus resultierenden Überstunden hinzu, besonders im Winter. Diese ziehen oft gesundheitliche Einschränkungen und persönliche Krisen nach sich. Probleme, mit denen sich viele Kollegen allein gelassen fühlen. Der "Burn-out" ist praktisch schon vorprogrammiert. Das Ergebnis der Studie muss realistisch betrachtet werden. Die angebotenen Trainingseinheiten können die Belastungen der Straßenwärter, denen sie Tag für Tag ausgesetzt sind, zwar nicht weiter senken, aber sie können lernen, mit den daraus resultierenden Beanspruchungen deutlich besser fertig zu werden. Vor allem, indem sie miteinander und mit ihren Vorgesetzten sprechen und die Last des Einzelnen nötigenfalls auf mehrere Schultern verteilen.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Informal Group on GTR No. 7 Phase 2 are working to define a build level for the BioRID II rear impact (whiplash) crash test dummy that ensures repeatable and reproducible performance in a test procedure that has been proposed for future legislation. This includes the specification of dummy hardware, as well as the development of comprehensive certification procedures for the dummy. This study evaluated whether the dummy build level and certification procedures deliver the desired level of repeatability and reproducibility. A custom-designed laboratory seat was made using the seat base, back, and head restraint from a production car seat to ensure a representative interface with the dummy. The seat back was reinforced for use in multiple tests and the recliner mechanism was replaced by an external spring-damper mechanism. A total of 65 tests were performed with 6 BioRID IIg dummies using the draft GTR No.7 sled pulse and seating procedure. All dummies were subject to the build, maintenance, and certification procedures defined by the Informal Group. The test condition was highly repeatable, with a very repeatable pulse, a well-controlled seat back response, and minimal observed degradation of seat foams. The results showed qualitatively reasonable repeatability and reproducibility for the upper torso and head accelerations, as well as for T1 Fx and upper neck Fx. However, reproducibility was not acceptable for T1 and upper neck Fz or for T1 and upper neck My. The Informal Group has not selected injury or seat assessment criteria for use with BioRID II, so it is not known whether these channels would be used in the regulation. However, the ramping-up behavior of the dummy showed poor reproducibility, which would be expected to affect the reproducibility of dummy measurements in general. Pelvis and spine characteristics were found to significantly influence the dummy measurements for which poor reproducibility was observed. It was also observed that the primary neck response in these tests was flexion, not extension. This correlates well with recent findings from Japan and the United States showing a correlation between neck flexion and injury in accident replication simulations and postmortem human subjects (PMHS) studies, respectively. The present certification tests may not adequately control front cervical spine bumper characteristics, which are important for neck flexion response. The certification sled test also does not include the pelvis and so cannot be used to control pelvis response and does not substantially load the lumbar bumpers and so does not control these parts of the dummy. The stiffness of all spine bumpers and of the pelvis flesh should be much more tightly controlled. It is recommended that a method for certifying the front cervical bumpers should be developed. Recommendations are also made for tighter tolerance on the input parameters for the existing certification tests.
Immediate user self-evacuation is crucial in case of fire in road tunnels. This study investigated the effects of information with or without additional virtual reality (VR) behavioural training on self-evacuation during a simulated emergency situation in a road tunnel. Forty-three participants were randomly assigned to three groups with accumulating preventive training: The control group only filled in questionnaires, the informed group additionally read an information brochure on tunnel safety, and the VR training group received an additional behavioural training in a VR tunnel scenario. One week later, during the test session, all participants conducted a drive through a real road tunnel in which they were confronted with a collision of two vehicles and intense smoke. The informed and the behaviourally trained participants evacuated themselves more reliably from the tunnel than participants of the control group. Trained participants showed better and faster behavioural responses than informed only participants. Interestingly, the few participants in the control group who reacted adequately to the scenario were all female. A 1 year follow-up online questionnaire showed a decrease of safety knowledge, but still the trained group had somewhat more safety relevant knowledge than the two other groups. Information and especially VR behavioural training both seem promising to foster adequate self-evacuation during crisis situations in tunnels, although long term beneficial behavioural effects have to be demonstrated. Measures aiming to improve users/ behaviour should take individual difference such as gender into account.
Die Bewertung von Projekten im Rahmen von Kosten-Nutzen-Analysen erfordert quantitative Input-Informationen zu den Kosten von Verkehrsunfällen. In der deutschen Bewertungspraxis werden bislang ausschließlich die mittel- und unmittelbar anfallenden monetären Folgen von Verkehrsunfällen quantitativ berücksichtigt, während die immateriellen Folgen wie Schmerz, Leid, Verlust an Lebensqualität bzw. die Zahlungsbereitschaft der Bevölkerung zur Verringerung/Vermeidung dieser Folgen unberücksichtigt bleiben. Die hier vorgelegte Vorstudie fasst den heutigen Stand der Forschung zur Quantifizierung von Zahlungsbereitschaften für die Verkehrssicherheit durch eine umfassende und systematische Übersicht der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zusammen. Die fünf Verfahren hedonische Preisbildung, kontingente Bewertungsmethode, Risiko-Risiko-Analyse, Standardlotteriemethode und Stated-Choice (SC) werden hinsichtlich ihrer theoretischen Fundierung, der verwendeten methodischen Ansätze (Art der Befragung, Modellierung etc.) und den Anwendungserfahrungen untersucht. Unter den verfügbaren Verfahren stellen die SC-Methoden den heutigen State-of-the-Art in der Forschung zur Ermittlung der Zahlungsbereitschaft der Bevölkerung für nicht marktfähige Güter dar. Allerdings liegen die meisten Anwendungserfahrungen mit SC-Ansätzen bislang für die Bewertung der Reisezeit und der Zuverlässigkeit vor. Zusammenfassend ist festzustellen, dass im Laufe der letzten Jahre eine Lücke zwischen dem Stand der Forschung (SC-Methoden) und dem Stand der Praxis (andere Methoden) entstanden ist, die mit Anwendungserfahrungen gefüllt werden sollte. Insbesondere für Deutschland liegt ein wesentlicher Forschungsbedarf vor. Basierend auf diesem Überblick werden daher Vorschläge für die weitere Forschung entwickelt.
Die vorliegende Literaturdurchsicht gibt einen Überblick über (inter-)nationale Befunde zum Zusammenhang zwischen dem Verkehrsunfallrisiko und dem ökonomischen, sozialen und kulturellen Hintergrund der Verkehrsteilnehmer. Dabei werden schwer erreichbare oder sozial schwache Personen als Zielgruppen fokussiert. Personen können entweder organisatorisch schwer erreichbar sein (Identifikation; Ansprechbarkeit), oder die Verkehrssicherheitsangebote erreichen ihr Zielpublikum nicht (Akzeptanz; kognitive Ebene) bzw. werden nicht verhaltensrelevant (Compliance; Verhaltensebene). Sozial Schwache werden auf ökonomischen, sozialen und kulturellen Dimensionen von besser Gestellten unterschieden. Parallelen in der Zielgruppenansprache und Ansatzpunkte für Kooperationsmöglichkeiten werden explizit bei Akteuren der Gesundheitsförderung gesehen. Deren Strategie der Verknüpfung verhaltenspräventiver mit verhältnispräventiven Maßnahmen in einem Setting-Ansatz wird vorgestellt. Das Setting Stadtteil/ Quartier erscheint für Interventionen besonders Erfolg versprechend. Zur Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit anschlussfähige Programme der Gesundheitsförderung werden vorgestellt. Der Bericht zeigt die Anknüpfungspunkte der Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit für eine Kooperation im Programm "Soziale Stadt" auf. Ein solches Vorgehen eröffnet für die Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit neue Potenziale zur Ansprache schwer erreichbarer oder sozial schwacher Zielgruppen. Als konkrete Beispiele für eine verhaltens- und verhältnispräventive Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit im Setting Schule wird auf Ansätze der personalen Kommunikation im Setting beruflicher Schulen sowie ein sich gegenüber dem lokalen Umfeld öffnendes Mobilitätsmanagement von Schulen verwiesen. Ein Pilotprojekt zur Kooperation mit anderen Partnern in einem Setting-Ansatz wird ebenso empfohlen wie die Dokumentation vorhandener Maßnahmeansätze für schwer erreichbare Zielgruppen in einer Online-Datenbank oder die Nutzung des Internets zur Zielgruppenansprache.
To determine whether the model "Accompanied driving from age 17" (AD17) contributes to improvement of young drivers' road safety, two large random samples of novice drivers drawn from the Central Register of Driving Licences (ZFER) held at the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) were compared in terms of the rates of accident involvement and traffic offences at the start of their solo driving career. The samples comprised former participants in the AD17 model and novice drivers of the same age who had obtained a driving licence in the conventional manner immediately after their 18th birthday. Both analysis groups were contacted by post and asked to complete an online questionnaire. In response, 19,000 drivers reported on their first year of solo driving and on the occurrence of any accidents or traffic offences during this period. The analyses were repeated with two "silent" analysis groups comprising a total of 75,000 drivers, for whom any records of traffic offences were retrieved from the Central Register of Traffic Offenders (VZR), with a distinction being made between offences in connection with an accident and other offences. The AD17 model was introduced in all 16 German federal states between April 2004 and January 2008. By the end of 2009, almost one million novice drivers had participated in the model, and almost three-quarters of the target group - so-called "early beginners" who wished to commence solo driving immediately after reaching the age of 18 years - opted for the AD17 model. The phase of introduction of the model was associated with a temporary increase of around five per cent in the demand for driving licences from persons under 19 years of age. During the first year of solo driving, the rate of accident involvement for AD17 participants was 19 per cent lower and the rate of traffic offences 18 per cent lower than for drivers of the same age who had obtained their driving licence in the conventional manner. After adjustment for confounds (e.g. gender and vehicle availability), a reduction in accidents by 17 per cent and in traffic offences by 15 per cent remained as an effect attributable to the model. A comparison on the basis of the distances driven indicated 22 per cent fewer accidents and 20 per cent fewer traffic offences. The results are statistically significant and apply to both male and female drivers. The findings were confirmed in the replication study based on VZR data, with one exception: For female AD17 drivers, and here only for VZR-recorded offences excluding accidents, no significant reduction was found. On the other hand, the rate for female drivers is already lower than that of their male counterparts by three-quarters. Approximately 1,700 injury accidents were prevented by implementation of the model in 2009.
From literature well-known analyzes on risks, hazards and causes of accidents of older drivers are amended by the present study in which a comparison of the specific features of accident causes of older car drivers (older than 60 years) and of younger car drivers (under 25 years) is conducted. Mainly the question is pursued if specific errors, mistakes and lapses are predominant in the two different age groups. The analysis system ACAS (Accident Causation Analysis System) used hereby consists of a sequential system of accident causation factors from the human, the technical and the infrastructural field, whereupon for this study the influence of the human features on the accident development in two different age groups is of interest. ACAS is both an accident model and an analysis and classification system, which describes the human participation factors of an accident and their causes in the temporal sequence (from the perceptibility to concrete action errors) taking into consideration the logical sequence of individual basic functions. In five steps (categories) of a logical and temporal sequence the hierarchical system makes human functions and processes as determinants of accident causes identifiable. The methodology specifically focuses on the use in so-called "In-Depth" and "On-Scene" investigation studies. With the help of the system for each accident participant one or more of five hypotheses of human cause factors are formed and then specified by appropriate verification criteria. These hypotheses in turn are further specified by indicators in such manner that the coding of the causation factors by a code system meets the needs of database processing and are accessible to a quantitative data analysis. The first results of the descriptive comparison of the two age groups concern mainly differences in the functional levels "information admission/perception" (where the elderly drivers have more difficulties than the young ones) and "information processing/evaluation" (where the younger drivers show more problems). Concerning the cognitive function of "planning" the group of younger drivers seems to be more often involved in an accident because of excessive speed.
While accident statistics on a national level are provided by many countries, there is a need for international data that includes more detailed information about the accident, so called in-depth data. As a consequence, accident data projects have been emerging in different regions of the world. This creates a need for comparable and mergeable data from different countries, enabling the use of already existing accident data resources and helping to expedite the improvement of global road safety. While existing approaches focus that mostly on building a comprehensive accident database from scratch, the iGLAD project (Initiative for the Global Harmonization of Accident Data) attempts a more pragmatic approach by building on top of the work already accomplished in this area and complementing it. The target of iGLAD is to help setting up an additional dataset as a compatibility layer between already existing world wide data sets and integrating the structure of these by defining a common data scheme. This dataset is limited to the common denominator between the existing data sets and is inherently rather small and simple. Eventually, an individual converter for each participating accident investigation group will be built that enables pooling all data sets in a common repository. This not only saves costs and time, and hence makes such a target more feasible, but also creates data that is usable right from the start. This paper gives an overview of the current status of iGLAD and first steps taken. Additionally, some methodological aspects are discussed, next to a glance at other projects working currently on related issues, providing additional input for iGLAD. Finally, an overview of next steps and intended future work is given.
Injuries in motorbike accidents in correlation with protective clothes and mechanism of the accident
(2013)
This study deals with a possible connection between safety clothing / accident mechanism and injury severity in a state-wide traffic accident investigation with focus on light and small motorbike-involvement for accidents in the area of the Saarland in which the persons riding the bike have been injured or killed. An interdisciplinary team of medical scientists and engineers collected the medical and technical data as well as all the relevant traces of the accident on scene and in time. During twenty months of data collection a total of 401 cases could be gathered. Grave injuries were more common for the group of heavier motorcycles (>125 ccm). Motorcyclists had been polytraumatized only in the group where the accident was connected with a collision. Significant correlation between protective clothes and injury severity could only be found for protective gloves and protective trousers. The knowledge about mechanism of the accident, protective clothes and severity of injuries can be helpful for the improvement of road and motorcyclists' safety.
The effect of fatigue on driving has been compared to the effect of alcohol impairment in both driver performance and crash studies. However are crash characteristics and causation mechanisms similar in crashes involving fatigue to those involving alcohol when studied in the real world? This has been explored by examining data held in the EC project SafetyNet Accident Causation Database. Causation data was recorded using the SafetyNet Accident Causation System (SNACS). The focus was on Cars/MPV crashes and drivers assigned the SNACS code Alcohol or Fatigue. The Alcohol group included 44 drivers and the Fatigue group included 47. "Incorrect direction" was a frequently occurring critical event in both the Alcohol and Fatigue groups. The Alcohol group had more contributory factors related to decision making and the Fatigue group had more contributory factors relating to incorrect observations. This analysis does not allow for generalised statements about the significance of the similarities and differences between crashes involving alcohol and fatigue, however the observed differences do suggest that attempts to quantify the effect of fatigue by using levels of alcohol impairment as a benchmark should be done with care.
Analysis of the accident scenario of powered two-wheelers on the basis of real-world accidents
(2013)
For the first time since 20 years the German national statistics of traffic accidents revealed an increasing number of fatalities and seriously injured persons in 2011. This negative development was especially caused by increasing numbers in all groups of vulnerable road users (VRU). Furthermore, the comparison of fatality reduction rates between several categories of road users shows that persons on motorcycles show the worst performance over years. Although every second fatality in German traffic accidents is still a car occupant, users of PTW make up more than 20% in the meantime. Assuming further improvements in the field of occupant protection this trend will continue. For that reason, a study on the basis of real-world accidents was conducted to describe the accident scenario involving motorcycles and to identify the reasons of the above-described fact. Approximately 1.800 motorcycle accidents out of GIDAS database were used for the analyses. The first part of the study deals with the question how representative the GIDAS database is for the German motorcycle accident scenario. Afterwards, detailed descriptive statistics on motorcycle accidents were presented considering numerous parameters about the accident scene, environmental influences, vehicle information, individual characteristics, interview data, injury severity and injury causation. One important point is the identification of the most frequent critical situations that are typical for motorcycle accidents. Furthermore, a special focus was on accident causation. Finally, conspicuous facts out of the analysis are emphasized. All in all, the study gives a comprehensive overview about the German motorcycle accident scenario. One the one hand, the use of weighted GIDAS data allows representative and robust statements on the basis of large case numbers; on the other hand highly detailed conclusions can be drawn. The results of the study help to understand the particularities of motorcycle accidents and provide approaches for further improvements in the field of PTW safety.
The increasing economics in India has an enormous growth of its road traffic. As observed from official Indian accident statistics the number of road fatalities are one of the highest worldwide. In contrast to most industrialized nations they have an rapidly increasing trend. To come along with this trend it becomes more than essential to understand the traffic accident situation. The official Indian accident statistics gives a glimpse of only basic information. Therefore more detailed data is needed. By using In-depth accident data and officially representative statistics the current accident situation can be evaluated in India, if a suitable weighting methodology is considered. Hence in 2009/2010 a pilot study with the collaboration partner JP-Research India pvt. Ldt. was gathered in Tamil Nadu in south of India. In-depth accident investigations were done around the Coimbatore area on four highways. At first, the collected data is evaluated. Due to consequent and continuous further development based on the first approach a methodology similar to NASS/CDS/GES in the US and GIDAS in Germany was developed. Of course all relevant accident related parameters including pictures and severity information were collected. As a matter of fact based on scaled sketches and reconstruction benefit analyses can be done in order to analyze the accident scenery in India. As a first outcome influence from infrastructure, missing education and vehicle safety were identified as key parameters in order to reduce the number of accidents and casualties. To compare the accident situation against international standards an accident classification for left hand traffic was developed based on the German Insurance classification system. Looking into detail additional accident types were identified and added to create an Indian accident type catalogue. The positive results encouraged several OEMs to participate in this investigation and together with BOSCH a consortium was established in 2010/11. Within one year from beginning in May 2011 about 200 highway accidents were collected, reported and reconstructed using the new standard. Hence a first good overview of the accident situation is available for the Coimbatore Tamil Nadu area. The major target for establishing accident investigations is the extension towards other states of India and urban areas to achieve a better overview of the accident scenery. Therefore local and national authorities have to be embedded in order to strengthen the awareness against traffic safety.
With an ever rising human life expectancy the share of elderly people in society is constantly rising. This leads to the fact that at the same rate the share of people with age related diseases such as dementia and poor eyesight taking part in traffic will rise and therefore traffic accidents caused by this group of people due to the disease will play an ever greater role. This Situation will be among the future challenges of road safety work. At present this study displays specific characteristics of accidents caused by elderly car drivers (aged 65 or higher) based on the analysis of the German In-Depth Accident Study GIDAS. Herein almost 1000 elderly car drivers were identified as accident participants in the years 2008 to 2011. The focus of this study lies on identifying special types of accidents which are caused by elderly drivers and on characterizing these types with the information gathered on scene and by interviewing the participants. The main evidence analyzed is the knowledge about the accident locality, the trajectories of the participants as well as the reasons for the occurrence of the accidents. Furthermore personal information such as the personal condition before the accident and driving purposes is used to identify patterns of contributing circumstances for accidents caused by elderly traffic participants.
Die Ermittlung von Grundunfallkostenraten und Quantifizierung von Zuschlägen für Landstraßenquerschnitte sind Ziel dieses Forschungsvorhabens. Die Ergebnisse sollen eine Bewertungsgrundlage im Handbuch für die Verkehrssicherheit von Straßen (HVS) darstellen. 3.600 km Landstraße aus sechs Bundesländern liegen dem Untersuchungskollektiv zu Grunde. Neben dem mehrjährigen Unfallgeschehen bilden Daten der SIB und Erhebungen aus Streckenbefahrungen die Datengrundlage der Untersuchungen. Die Zuordnung der Streckenabschnitte erfolgte in Anlehnung an den Entwurf der Richtlinie für die Anlage von Landstraßen (RAL) in fünf verschiedene (Regel-) Querschnittsgruppen. Multivariate Modelle zur Beschreibung der Unfallhäufigkeit bilden die mathematische Grundlage der Analyse. Gegenüber monokausalen Betrachtungen weisen sie den Vorteil auf, eine Vielzahl von Einflussgrößen zu erfassen sowie mögliche Abhängigkeiten zwischen verschiedenen Variablen zu berücksichtigen. Für die verschiedenen Straßenquerschnitte und Einmündungen mit Vorfahrtregelung durch Verkehrszeichen wurden jeweils drei Modelle nach Unfallschwere erstellt. Zu Grunde liegende Merkmale wurden auf ihren signifikanten Erklärungsanteil zur Beschreibung der Unfallhäufigkeit geprüft und entsprechend im Modell als Zuschlag berücksichtigt. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse wurden Funktionen zum Verlauf der Unfallrate und Unfallkostenrate erzeugt. Grundunfallkostenraten beschreiben das fahrleistungsbezogene Unfallkostenniveau eines Netzelements, welches bei regelkonformem Ausbau der Strecke erreicht werden kann. Da in den Modellen auch Merkmale berücksichtigt sind, die kein Defizit im eigentlichen Sinne darstellen, entspricht die Höhe der UKR ohne jegliche Zuschläge einem Grundniveau. Diesem sind Zuschläge, unterteilt in Defizite und die Streckencharakteristik beschreibende Eigenschaften, zuzuordnen. Anhand der Modelle kann nachgewiesen werden, dass verschiedene Straßenquerschnitte ein unterschiedliches Grundsicherheitsniveau aufweisen. Zwischen Unfallhäufigkeit und DTV besteht ein nichtlinearer Zusammenhang. Die Unfallrate bzw. Unfallkostenrate stellt somit eine vom DTV abhängige Kenngröße dar. In Abhängigkeit des Querschnitts besitzen verschiedene Merkmale einen Einfluss auf die Verkehrssicherheit. Die Größenordnung der Zuschläge kann als Anteil am Grundniveau der UKR beschrieben werden. Die ermittelten Zuschläge wurden ggf. vergleichend betrachtet und im Rahmen einer plausibilisierten Bewertung der Querschnitte angepasst. In Anlehnung an das HVS erfolgt die Darstellung der Berechnung für Grundunfallkostenraten und deren Zuschläge für Landstraßenquerschnitte. Dabei werden zwei verschiedene Ansätze vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse für Einmündungen mit Vorfahrtregelung durch Verkehrszeichen besitzen empfehlenden Charakter.
Since 2008, the authors inspected fatal traffic accidents on the spot every year, with the cooperation of Toyota police station in Aichi pref. In the jurisdiction, numbers of fatal accidents were 18 in 2008, 12 in 2009, 14 accidents in 2010, and 16 in 2011. We here report the results of our analysis of information obtained by detailed inspection for those that occurred from 2008 to 2010. We focused on vehicle-to-pedestrian accidents, which accounted for about 45% of all accidents in 2008. Because many accidents occurred on residential roads not far from pedestrians" homes, it was revealed that the decrease of the collision speed by traffic calming such as humps and zone speed management, was highly effective. On the other hand, pedestrian detection technologies seemed to be also effective as a countermeasure on vehicle side. Every pedestrian position against a vehicle was clarified and TTC (Time to Collision) was calculated provisionally. Pedestrian accidents in intersections were also examined. Among the intersection pedestrian accidents within the jurisdiction, compared with the national average in Japan, the ratio of intersections without a signal and the ratio without a pedestrian crossing were high. According to the comparison of the Japanese traffic accident patterns between 2001 and 2008, pedestrian accidents during turning right and turning left did not decrease much. For elderly drivers, these accidents occurred very often. Finally, single vehicle accidents were analysed with the accident pattern analysis methods used above. There were high numbers of single vehicle accidents against object on single roads. Although fatal accidents against guardrails decreased, the numbers of fatal accidents against a utility pole and a sign pole were nearly constant. As for the impact with narrow width objects such as utility poles, the fatality rate was very high, and countermeasures of both road infrastructure and vehicles seem to be effective.
Police records about traffic accidents like used by IRTAD (International Road Traffic and Accident Database) and CARE (Community Road Accident Database) do not represent all road injuries. For instance, road accidents of bicyclists without a counterpart are usually not reported. Furthermore, IRTAD-like data contains hardly any information on injury outcome and accident circumstances. This information gap leads to an under-representation of the safety concerns of the most vulnerable road users like children and the elderly both in accident research and safety promotion. Injury registration for the European Injury Database (IDB), in turn, combines details of accident causation with diagnostic information that can be used to assess injury severity and long term consequences. The IDB is collecting data from hospital emergency department patients and is being implemented in a growing number of countries. In this article IDB results on mode of transport and injury outcome are presented from a sample of nine EU member states.
Die steigende Lebenserwartung sowie die geringe Geburtenrate führen zu einer Alterung der Gesellschaft, die sich schon heute bemerkbar macht und sich in den nächsten Jahrzehnten noch verstärkt auswirken wird. Damit verbunden ist eine relative Zunahme von Auto fahrenden Senioren. Immer mehr ältere Menschen orientieren sich an einem aktiven Lebens- und Freizeitstil. Dabei spielt der Pkw eine herausragende Rolle - ermöglicht er doch oft erst die Aufrechterhaltung von Mobilität und Unabhängigkeit. Gleichzeitig kann es jedoch mit fortschreitendem Alter zu verschiedenen körperlichen oder geistigen Leistungseinbußen kommen, die möglicherweise die Fahrleistung beeinflussen. Vor diesem Hintergrund rückt die Frage nach den Unfallrisiken älterer Kraftfahrer weiter in den Mittelpunkt des Interesses. Das von der Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen geförderte Projekt PROSA (Profile von Senioren mit Autounfällen) setzte sich zum Ziel, den Einfluss altersbedingter Leistungseinbußen auf das Unfallrisiko differenzierter zu betrachten. Am Zentrum für Alternskulturen der Universität Bonn wurden Profile von Senioren untersucht, die in einen Autounfall verwickelt waren, und es wurde der Frage nachgegangen, welche Bedeutung diese für die Ableitung von Interventionsmaßnahmen haben. Im Großraum Bonn wurden dazu 180 Senioren mit einem Mindestalter von 65 Jahren interviewt, die in den letzten fünf Jahren als Fahrer eines Pkws in einen Unfall verwickelt waren. Die Teilnehmer wurden zu individuellen Leistungsbeeinträchtigungen und Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen sowie zu ihrer Fahrbiographie und Unfallgeschichte befragt. Darüber hinaus wurde eine Teilstichprobe von 50 Teilnehmern einer internistisch-verkehrspsychologischen Untersuchung sowie einer Fahrverhaltensprobe unterzogen. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass das Alter allein kein Prädiktor für individuelle Leistungsfähigkeit und Unfallrisiko darstellt. Vielmehr scheinen spezifische Kombinationen aus alterskorrelierten Einbußen und Krankheit zu einem erhöhten Risiko zu führen. Diese Heterogenität sollte vor allem bei interventiven Maßnahmen und bei künftigen Forschungen berücksichtigt werden.
Für einige fahrfremde Tätigkeiten ist durch Labor- und Feldstudien gut belegt, dass diese das Fahren beeinträchtigen können. Weitgehend unbekannt ist aber, wie häufig und bei welchen Gelegenheiten diese Tätigkeiten während des Fahrens durchgeführt werden. Erst aus der Integration von Auftretenshäufigkeit und Gefährlichkeit einer fahrfremden Tätigkeit lässt sich abschätzen, inwieweit sie das Unfallrisiko erhöht. Im Wesentlichen eignen sich vier Studientypen zur Untersuchung von Häufigkeit und Gefährlichkeit fahrfremder Tätigkeiten. Die Frage nach der Gefährlichkeit lässt sich effektiv im Simulatorexperiment beantworten, allerdings ist hier die Übertragbarkeit auf reales Fahren problematisch. Mit Naturalistic Driving Studies können sowohl Häufigkeit als auch Gefährlichkeit fahrfremder Tätigkeiten im Realverkehr untersucht werden. Ergebnisse solcher Studien haben die beste Gültigkeit. Demgegenüber steht ein extrem hoher finanzieller und zeitlicher Aufwand. Informationen über die Häufigkeit fahrfremder Tätigkeiten können alternativ durch Befragungsstudien erfasst werden. Dabei können zum einen Fahrer direkt nach einer Fahrt aufgesucht und mit Face-to-Face-Interviews befragt werden. Zum anderen kann eine repräsentative Auswahl von Fahrern gebeten werden, an einem Tag ein Fahrttagebuch zu führen, in dem fahrfremde Tätigkeiten registriert werden. Beides ermöglicht einen effektiven Zugang zu einer repräsentativen Stichprobe. Zentrales Problem beider Studientypen ist die Frage, inwieweit fahrfremde Tätigkeiten überhaupt berichtbar sind und auch tatsächlich berichtet werden. Alle Ansätze setzen voraus, dass eine umfassende, eindeutige Definition fahrfremder Tätigkeiten vorliegt. Mit Hilfe einer Literaturstudie wurde ein Katalog relevanter fahrfremder Tätigkeiten entwickelt. In der untersuchten Literatur fanden sich zwei unterschiedliche Arten von Studien: Die erste Gruppe von Studien basiert auf Unfallstatistiken und -datenbanken aus verschiedenen Ländern. Die zweite Gruppe von Studien sind Beobachtungen der Fahrer während der Fahrt. Fasst man die Unfallstudien zusammen, so erscheint eine Häufigkeit zwischen 10% und 30% fahrfremder Tätigkeiten bei allen Unfällen als wahrscheinlich. Für die Beobachtungsstudien bei unfallfreien Fahrten findet sich insgesamt ein Anteil von ca. 30% der Fahrzeit, die mit fahrfremden Tätigkeiten verbracht wird. Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass nicht jede fahrfremde Tätigkeit das Unfallrisiko erhöht, aber dass sich für bestimmte fahrfremde Tätigkeiten unter bestimmten Umständen sehr deutliche Erhöhungen des Unfallrisikos zeigen lassen. Allerdings sind die vorliegenden Ergebnisse sehr heterogen und fehlen für Deutschland weitgehend. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde mit einer Machbarkeitsstudie mit knapp 300 Fahrern untersucht, inwieweit ein Face-to-Face-Interview geeignet ist, um die Häufigkeit fahrfremder Tätigkeiten durch eine Befragung direkt nach der Fahrt in Deutschland zu erfassen. Die dabei befragten fünf Fahrergruppen unterscheiden sich in einer Reihe von Merkmalen, die wiederum die Häufigkeit fahrfremder Tätigkeiten beeinflussen können. Insgesamt gaben 80% der befragten Fahrer an, dass sie zwischen einer und drei fahrfremde Tätigkeiten in der letzten halben Stunde ausgeführt haben. Den zeitlich größten Teil der fahrfremden Tätigkeiten machen die Interaktionen mit Beifahrern und die Bedienung fahrzeugfremder Geräte aus. Den Fahrern ist zwar prinzipiell bewusst, dass fahrfremde Tätigkeiten gefährlich sein könnten, für die von ihnen durchgeführten Tätigkeiten sind sie aber der Meinung, dass diese eher nicht gefährlich oder ablenkend gewesen sind. Damit wird deutlich, warum die Fahrer so häufig und über so einen langen Zeitraum fahrfremde Tätigkeiten ausführen. Sie sind offensichtlich davon überzeugt, dass dies zwar prinzipiell gefährlich sein kann, dies aber in der speziellen Situation für sie nicht zutrifft. Unter methodischen Gesichtspunkten hat sich dieser Zugang bewährt. Mit Hilfe von Face-to-Face- Interviews direkt nach der Fahrt sind mit einem sehr überschaubaren Aufwand Schätzungen der Häufigkeit und Dauer fahrfremder Tätigkeiten innerhalb der letzten halben Stunde der Fahrt zu erhalten. Die hohe Teilnahmequote und die Auskunftsfreudigkeit der Teilnehmer sprechen dafür, dass diese die von ihnen durchgeführten fahrfremden Tätigkeiten ehrlich und vollständig berichten. Es zeigt sich, dass fahrfremde Tätigkeiten sowohl in der Häufigkeit also auch in ihrer Dauer auch in Deutschland ein großes Problemfeld darstellen. Allerdings sollten diese Befunde mit größeren Stichproben repliziert werden, bei denen der Anteil anderer Fahrten (nachts, andere Jahreszeiten, andere Fahrziele) und Fahrer (Lkw-Fahrer in der Stadt) zu erhöhen wäre. Mit der beschriebenen Art des Vorgehens wäre dies mit einem begrenzten Aufwand gut möglich.
Ziel des Forschungsprojektes war die quantitative Vorausschätzung des Straßenverkehrsunfallgeschehens der Jahre 2015 und 2020 in Deutschland mit Hilfe eines eigens entwickelten Prognoseverfahrens. Das Verfahren sollte eine größtmögliche Differenzierung des zukünftigen Unfallgeschehens nach Schweregrad, Art der Verkehrsbeteiligung und Alter der Verkehrsteilnehmer erlauben. Das Modell sollte grundsätzlich in der Lage sein, Ursache - Wirkungszusammenhänge differenzierter als in herkömmlichen Ansätzen der Zeitreihenanalyse und deren Trendfortschreibung abzubilden. Den Prognosehorizont bilden die Jahre 2015 und 2020. Im Rahmen des vorliegenden Projekts erfolgte für Deutschland erstmals eine Prognose der Unfall- und Verunglücktenzahlen über eine Risikoanalyse maßgebender Unfallkonstellationen. Dabei wurde sowohl nach Ortslagen, Unfallbeteiligten und Alter der Verkehrsteilnehmer unterschieden. Mit Hilfe des vorgestellten Prognosemodells lässt sich der künftige Grad der Straßenverkehrssicherheit differenziert beurteilen. Auswirkungen der sich ändernden Rahmenbedingungen auf das Unfallgeschehen werden sowohl auf der Ebene der Unfallentstehung als auch auf der Ebene der Unfallschwere berücksichtigt. Dabei kann insbesondere der Einfluss aus Demografie und sich verändernder Zugangsvoraussetzungen zu Verkehrsmitteln auf das Unfallgeschehen abgebildet werden. Der vorgestellte erste Entwicklungsstand des Modells bietet daher bereits sehr gute Möglichkeiten, Wirkungsanalysen bei veränderten Einflussgrößen durchzuführen. Das Unfallprognosemodell wurde modular aufgebaut. Dadurch konnte eine logische und hierarchische Modellstruktur realisiert werden. In der Folge werden die einzelnen Module im Gesamtmodell sequentiell durchlaufen, sind in sich geschlossen und folgen eigenen Berechnungsvorschriften. Eine Umsetzung des Modells erfolgte auf Basis verknüpfter Excel-Dateien mit Hilfe von VBA-Makros. Hierbei wurde auf eine stark getrennte Struktur der einzelnen Berechnungsschritte Wert gelegt, um die einzelnen Dateien übersichtlich und nachvollziehbar zu gestalten. Gleichzeitig erfüllt das Modell die Forderung einer größtmöglichen Variabilität. So können sowohl geänderte Eingangsdaten zugrundegelegt werden als auch die Auswahl der differenzierten Trendberechnung beliebig getroffen werden. Im Ergebnis ist auf Basis der getroffenen Annahmen, der historischen Entwicklung und der konstellationenfeinen Fortschreibung der Risikofaktoren ein deutlicher Rückgang der Unfall- und Verunglücktenzahlen in Deutschland für den Prognosezeitraum gegenüber 2006 zu erwarten. Bei den Unfällen mit Personenschaden ist bis 2020 mit einer Abnahme um nahezu 30 % zu rechnen, bei den Verunglückten kann von einer Reduzierung um 13 % ausgegangen werden. Die Zahl getöteter Personen sinkt dabei voraussichtlich von ca. 5.100 Personen (2006) auf 2.700 Personen (2020). In Bezug auf die Schwerverletzten ist im gleichen Zeitraum mit einem Rückgang um ca. 33.000 Personen zu rechnen (2006: 74.500 Personen). Ebenso sinkt gegenüber dem Analysejahr 2006 die Anzahl Leichtverletzter um etwa 6 % auf etwa 326.000 Personen. Die Rückgänge der Verunglücktenzahlen liegen zwischen 2006 und 2015 sowie zwischen 2015 und 2020 zahlenmäßig auf einem vergleichbaren Niveau (55.000 bzw. 58.000 V). Somit wird etwa die Hälfte der Gesamtrückgänge im Prognosezeitraum allein in den letzten fünf Jahren der insgesamt fünfzehnjährigen Zeitspanne erreicht.