360 Soziale Probleme und Sozialdienste; Verbände
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.
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.
Do learner gain sufficient braking capabilities at the end of education for collision avoidance?
(2013)
The paper describes a test design to evaluate the braking behaviour in the course of the driver education. The results show that the braking capabilities increased during the driver education and the learning effects are the same for males and females. The evaluation limit is set to 6 m/s-². At the beginning of education, 50% of the drivers do not reach this limit, although the driver education car is equipped with an emergency brake assist, which is regularly installed in all vehicles since 2009. After the education, 100% of the drivers can reach the limit. The results are mapped to a collision avoidance scenario.
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.
A concept for Safe-Driving-Trainings with a focus on risky behavior and safety related attitudes has been evaluated. 519 participants have been tested before and after the training by means of a questionnaire with the topics: technical driving competence, awareness of risks, and propensity for anticipation. A control group (131 subjects) was used to check for the possibility of response artifacts. Three months later, 92 members of the treatment group and 25 members of the control group have been tested again. The results show significant positive changes in driving competence, risk awareness, and safety related attitudes, especially anticipation, due to the training. Compared to the control group the participants have become more risk aware and they regard of risk avoiding behavior as more important. The results show that this concept for Safe-Driving-Trainings has not only short-term but, more importantly, long-term positive effects on the safety-relevant attitudes and cognitions of young drivers.
The paper aims to study the injury risk and kinematics of pedestrians involved in different passenger vehicle collisions. Furthermore, the difference of pedestrian kinematics in the accidents involved minivan and sedan was analyzed. The 18 sample cases of passenger car to pedestrian collisions were selected from the database of In-depth Investigation of Vehicle Accident in Changsha of China (IVAC),of which the 12 pedestrian accidents involved in a minivan impact for each case, and the 6 accidents in a sedan impact for each. The selected cases were reconstructed by using mathematical models of pedestrians and accident vehicles in a multi-body dynamic code MADYMO environment. The logistic regression models of the risks for pedestrian AIS 3+ injuries and fatalities were developed in terms of vehicle impact speed by analyzing the minivan-pedestrian and sedan-pedestrian accidents. The difference of pedestrian kinematics was identified by comparing the results from reconstructed pedestrian accidents between the minivans and sedans collisions. The result shows that there is a significant correlation among the impact speed and the severity of pedestrian injuries. The minivan poses greater risk to pedestrian than sedan at the same impact speed. The kinematics of pedestrian was greatly influenced by vehicle front shape.
This study analyses no.39 cases in which n.41 motorcyclists were fatally injured, or 36% of total motorcycle fatalities in Northern Ireland between 2004 and 2010 (n.114). There were n.17 cases (43.6%) where the actions of another vehicle driver caused the collision, in thirteen of these cases the motorcycles had their lights switched on. The remaining n.22 collisions (56.4%) were due to the actions of the motorcyclist. In the approach to the collision scene, there were n.13 cases (31.7%) in which the approach was a right hand bend and in n.8 (19.5%) cases, the approach was a left hand bend. In the remaining n.18 (43.9%) cases, the approach was a straight road. Of the n.17 (41.4%) motorcycles that slid after falling, n.10 (24.4%) fell onto their right side and the remaining n.7 (17.1%) fell onto their left side. The information from this study identifies primary and contributory causes of motorcycle collisions.
Supervision of the safety performance in public transport is one of the main tasks of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) in Switzerland. Recently a three level system of safety indicators has been defined to cover all means of Swiss public transport. The safety indicators are fed by the FOT incident database since the year 2000. In cooperation with the Institute for Traffic Safety and Automation Engineering (iVA) at TU Braunschweig, Germany, FOT is developing a suitable methodology for the definition and evaluation of the safety targets in Swiss public transport. The methodology is applied for evaluation of safety indicators on a country level and for single transport companies. In a new approach the abovementioned methodology is applied to car incident data to develop an indicator based cross-modal safety measure.
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.
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.
The European CASPER (Child Advanced Safety Project for European Roads) project studying car child safety includes a sociological approach in order to have a better understanding of the behaviour of parents driving children under 12 years old. A questionnaire was distributed via the internet in Europe with 998 parents (representing 1638 children) from 22 European countries responding. The results inform on the way parents secure their children during a car trip. Many parents did not control how their children were installed in the child restraint system (CRS). A toddler was more likely to travel into a child seat than an older child was. Regarding misuse situations, an important part of the participants did not think that they could make mistakes when fixing the child seat to the car (26%) or when placing the child into the seat (39%). This leaves an important field of action especially by communication via different media and in the CRS sale outlets.
The number of injured car occupants decreases constantly. Nevertheless, they account for nearly 50% of all fatalities and about 44% of all seriously injured persons in German traffic accidents. Further reductions of casualties require multiple efforts in all parts of traffic safety. In this paper a detailed analysis of the important pre-hospital rescue phase was done. The basis for future improvements is the knowledge about injury causation of car occupants in combination with other corresponding influence factors. For that reason more than 1.200 severe (AIS3+) injuries of frontal car occupants were analyzed. For the most relevant injuries of car occupants multivariate analysis models were created to predict the probability of these injuries in a real crash scenario. In addition to the collision severity different influence factors like impact direction, seat belt usage, age of the occupant, and gender were analyzed. Furthermore, the models were checked regarding the goodness of fit and all results all results were checked concerning their robustness. The prediction models were created on the basis of 5.000 car accidents. Afterwards, the models were validated using 4.000 different car accidents. The prediction of the probability of severe injuries could be used for different applications in the field of traffic safety. One possibility is the implementation of the models in a tool for the on-the-spot diagnosis. The background for the development of such applications is the fact, that there are only limited diagnostic possibilities available at the accident scene. Nevertheless, the rescue forces have to make essential decisions like the alerting of the necessary medical experts, appropriate treatment, the type of transportation and the choice of an adequate hospital. These decisions quite often decide between life and death or influence the long-term effects of injured persons. At this point, indications of expectable injuries could help enormously. To enable even persons with limited technical knowledge to use the tool, a procedure was developed that facilitates the assumption of the given crash severity. Another important possibility for the application of the prediction models is the use for the qualification of information sent by e-call systems.
Introduction: Spine injuries pose a considerable risk to life and quality of life. The total number of road deaths in developed countries has markedly decreased, e.g. in Germany from over 20000 in 1970 to less than 4000 in 2010, but little is known how this is reflected in the burden of spine fractures of motor vehicle users. In this study, we aimed to show the actual incidence of spine injuries among drivers and front passengers and elucidate possible dependencies between crash mechanisms and types of injuries.
The objective of the study is to measure the risk of pedestrian and bicyclist in urban traffic through an analysis of real-world accident data. The kinematics and injury mechanisms for both pedestrian and bicyclists are investigated to find the correlation of injury risks with injury related parameters. For this purpose, firstly 338 cases are selected as a sample from an IVAC accident database based on the In-depth Investigation of Vehicle Accident in Changsha of China. A statistic measurement of the fatality and serious injury risks with respect to impact speed was carried out by logistic regression analysis. Secondly, 12 pedestrian and 12 bicyclist accidents were further selected for reconstruction with MADYMO program. A comparative analysis was conducted based on the results from accident analysis and computer reconstructions for the injury risk, head impact conditions and dynamic response of pedestrians and bicyclists. The results indicate that bicyclists suffered lower risks of severe injuries and fatalities compared with pedestrians. The risks of AIS 3+ injury and fatality are 50% for pedestrians at impact speeds of 53.2 km/h and 63.3 km/h, respectively, while that for bicyclists at 62.5 km/h and 71.1 km/h, respectively. The findings could have a contribution to get a better understanding of pedestrians" and bicyclists" exposures in urban traffic in China, and provide background knowledge to generate strategies for pedestrian protection.
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.
In 2012 the fifth ESAR conference (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was held in Hannover. ESAR is an international convention of experts, who analyze traffic accidents all over the world and discuss their results in this context, conducted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover every 2 years. It connected representatives of public authorities, engineers in automotive development and scientists and offers a forum with particular emphasis on In-Depth-Analyses of accident statistics and accident analyses. Special focus is placed on research on the basis of so-called "In-Depth-Accident-Investigations" [data collections at the sites of the accidents], which are characterized by extensive documentations of the sites of the accidents, of the vehicles as well as of the injuries, encompassing several scientific fields. ESAR aims at a multi-disciplinary compilation of scientific results and at discussing them on an international, scientific level. It is thus a scientific colloquium and a platform for exchanging information for all accident researchers. Experiences in accident prevention as well as in the complex field of accident reconstruction are stated and new research fields are added. Existing results of long-term research work in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan include different infrastructural correlations and give findings on population, vehicle population and driver characteristics, which offer a basis for recommendations to be derived and measures for increasing road safety.
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.
Cycle helmets have continued to increase in popularity since their introduction half a century ago. Many studies indicate that overall, head injury can be significantly reduced by wearing them. This study was conducted using two distinct sets of real-world cycling collision data from Ireland, namely cases involving police collision reports and cases involving admission to a hospital emergency department. The analyses sought to simulate and analyse the protective performance of cycle helmets in such collision scenarios, by comparing the Head Injury Criterion score and peak head accelerations, both linear and angular. Cycle collisions were simulated using the specialised commercial software MADYMO. From the simulation results, these key metrics were compared between the same-scenario helmeted and unhelmeted cyclist models. Results showed that the inclusion of bicycle helmets reduced linear accelerations very significantly, but also increased angular accelerations significantly compared to unhelmeted situations. Given the modest protective performance of cycle helmets against angular accelerations, it is recommended that cycle helmet manufacturers and international test standards need to pay more attention to head angular accelerations.
Im Jahr 2004 fand an der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover die erste ESAR-Konferenz (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) statt. Die Idee einer internationalen Konferenz war aus der Notwendigkeit entstanden, diejenigen Experten zusammen zu bringen, die weltweit tätig sind und Verkehrsunfälle wissenschaftlich analysieren, um ihre Ergebnisse gemeinsam zu diskutieren und einem Zielpublikum von Behördenvertretern, Entwicklungsingenieuren der Automobilindustrie und anderen Wissenschaftlern darzubringen. Die durch Professor Otte initiierte und nun zum vierten Male organisierte Konferenz fand eine breite Akzeptanz und ist mittlerweile Bestandteil einer Konferenzlandschaft mit Zielvorträgen von der Fahrzeugsicherheit bis hin zur Verletzungsanalyse und den Unfallursachen. ESAR kann als wissenschaftliches Kolloquium und Plattform für einen Informationsaustausch der Unfallforscher angesehen werden, die sich speziell mit Methoden der Unfalluntersuchung, mit Verletzungsmechanismen und der Bewertung von Verletzungen, Unfallursachen und anderen Bereichen der statistischen Unfalldatenanalyse befassen. Experten aus den Bereichen der Medizin, der Verkehrspsychologie und der Technik sowie Vertreter zuständiger Behörden kommen hier zusammen, um die Erfahrungen in der Unfallprävention und der Unfallrekonstruktion zu diskutieren und um der Forschung neue Felder zu eröffnen. Neben den Belangen der Europäischen Gemeinschaft werden auch die weltweit zu registrierenden hohen Verletztenzahlen berücksichtigt. Wissenschaftliche Vorträge aus aller Welt tragen dazu bei, geeignete Maßnahmen und Methoden zur Analyse und drastischen Verringerung der Zahl der bei Verkehrsunfällen Getöteten zu entwickeln. Die Zusammensetzung des Teilnehmerkreises dieser wie früherer ESAR-Konferenzen hat längst eine über Europa hinausgreifende Internationalitaet erreicht und bietet daher einen aufschlussreichen Überblick über die verschiedenen Standards bestehender Verkehrssicherheit und unterschiedlichen Unfallszenarien und über die Anforderungen an die Unfallanalysen. Die Ergebnisse langjähriger Forschungsarbeiten in Europa, USA, Australien und asiatischen Ländern beinhalten unterschiedliche infrastrukturelle Zusammenhänge und geben Erkenntnisse über Population, Fahrzeugbestand und Fahrereigenschaften. Derartige Informationen bilden eine exzellente Basis für abzuleitende Empfehlungen und Maßnahmen für die Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit international.
Entgegen populären Meinungen, welche älteren Kraftfahrern ein generelles Gefahrenpotenzial für die allgemeine Verkehrssicherheit zuschreiben, weisen die Unfallstatistiken eher auf eine besondere Gefährdung dieser Gruppe von Verkehrsteilnehmern hin, woraus sich Forderungen nach einer zielgruppenspezifischen Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit begründen. Kompetentes und damit sicheres Verhalten kann als Ergebnis der Passung zwischen den individuell verfügbaren Ressourcen und den Anforderungen der Umwelt betrachtet werden. Überschreiten die Umweltanforderungen die Verhaltenspotenziale des Individuums, kann es zu Überforderung kommen. Verdeutlichen lässt sich diese Perspektive durch genaue Betrachtung von Verkehrsunfällen unter Beteiligung älterer Kraftfahrer: So spiegeln die aktuellen Unfallstatistiken aus 2008 wider, dass ein großer Teil der Unfälle von Kraftfahrern im Alter über 65 Jahren auf sogenanntes Fehlverhalten in Knoten, wie z.B. Fehler beim Abbiegen, Ein- und Ausfahren in Kreuzungen und Vorfahrtbeachtung, zurückzuführen sind. Diese im Vergleich zu jüngeren Fahrern häufigere Verwicklung Älterer in Unfälle dieser Art legt nahe, dass es in genau diesen Situationen zu einem Ungleichgewicht zwischen individuell verfügbaren Ressourcen und den Anforderungen der Verkehrsumwelt kommt. Beispielsweise könnten in diesen Situationen Beeinträchtigungen der visuellen Wahrnehmungsfähigkeit, verlangsamte Reaktionszeiten oder auch Einschränkungen der Bewegungsausführung zu einer zu langsamen oder auch falschen Entscheidungsfindung oder Handlungsausführung im Straßenverkehr führen. Dieser Perspektive folgend können Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit älterer Kraftfahrer zum einen auf Seiten des Individuums ansetzen und dazu beitragen, die Kompetenzen des älteren Kraftfahrers zu erhöhen, zum anderen Bezug auf den Kontext nehmen, indem durch Anpassungen der Bedingungen der Verkehrsumwelt zur Sicherheit " nicht nur " älterer Kraftfahrer beigetragen wird. Personenzentrierte Ansätze zielen dabei auf die Ausschöpfung der individuellen Potenziale zur Aufrechterhaltung, Verbesserung oder auch Wiederherstellung einer sicheren Verkehrsteilnahme bis ins hohe Lebensalter. Diese Ansätze umfassen Trainings- und Rehabilitationsprogramme der Fahrkompetenz gleichermaßen wie verkehrspädagogische Programme, mediale Informationskampagnen oder auch Beratungsmaßnahmen und Screening-Tests. Eine Schlüsselposition kann in diesem Kontext dem (Haus)-Arzt als Experten hinsichtlich Konstitution und Lebensverhältnissen seines Patienten und Vertrauensperson zukommen. In der Regel passen ältere Kraftfahrer ihr Fahrverhalten ihren individuell verfügbaren Kompetenzen an. Auf diese Weise können altersbegleitende oder auch mit Erkrankungen oder Medikamenteneinnahmen einhergehende Veränderungen der körperlichen oder geistigen Leistungsfähigkeit zumeist erfolgreich kompensiert werden. Personenzentrierten Ansätzen kommt jedoch eine besondere Relevanz für den kleinen Anteil älterer Fahrer zu, welche keine oder nur unzureichende Kompensation aufweisen. Kontextorientierte Ansätze beziehen sich auf Maßnahmen, welche eine möglichst optimale Gestaltung der Bedingungen der Verkehrsumwelt auf die Bedürfnisse und Anforderungen älterer Kraftfahrer herbeiführen sollen. Maßnahmen dieser Art zielen zum Beispiel auf eine Entschleunigung des Straßenverkehrs durch Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen oder auch bauliche Maßnahmen. Auch die Potenziale moderner Fahrzeugtechnik werden unter dieser Perspektive zur Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit älterer Fahrer nutzbar. So können Fahrerassistenz- oder Fahrerinformationssysteme den älteren Fahrer in komplexen Situationen unterstützen. Dabei ist der Nutzen für die Verkehrssicherheit jedoch stark von der Handhabbarkeit und Bedienqualität der technischen Hilfsmittel abhängig. Technologien, welche die Komplexität der Fahrzeugbedienung erheblich erhöhen oder die Aufmerksamkeit vom Straßenverkehr ablenken, können ggf. auch zu einer weiteren Diskrepanz zwischen Anforderungssituation und verfügbaren Kompetenzen beitragen. Neben diesen eher auf die individuelle Verkehrsteilnahme als Autofahrer bezogenen Maßnahmen sind weitere wichtige kontextorientierte Ansatzpunkte in alternativen Mobilitätsvarianten zum Auto, wie in der Verbesserung der Attraktivität von Angeboten des ÖPNV oder auch den Bedingungen für Fußgänger und Radfahrer, zu finden. In diesem Sinne erscheint ein mehrdimensionaler Ansatz für die Gestaltung von Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit älterer Kraftfahrer am erfolgversprechendsten. Interventionsansätze sollten sich gegenseitig ergänzen und möglichst sowohl die Ressourcen auf Seiten des älteren Menschen selbst als auch der Umwelt umfassen.
Mobil sein zählt zu den Grundbedürfnissen und im Rahmen des westlichen Wertesystems zu den Grundrechten von Menschen. Dies gilt umso mehr, je mobiler die Gesamtgesellschaft wird und je mehr Menschen im Zuge der demographischen Entwicklung zum Kreis der "älteren Menschen" zählen. Dementsprechend wertet der dritte Bericht zur Lage der älteren Generation in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland den Erhalt der Mobilität im Alter als Basis für die "Erschließbarkeit der verschiedensten Ressourcen der Außenwelt" und als "entscheidenden Faktor von Lebensqualität im Alter", d.h. Aufrechterhaltung der Unabhängigkeit der Lebensführung durch Bewahrung von Fertigkeiten inkl. der Ermutigung zur Mobilität spielt für Ältere eine besonders wichtige Rolle. Die Entwicklung von Interventionsansätzen zur Förderung einer lebenslangen, sicheren Mobilität älterer Menschen stellt eine gesamtgesellschaftliche Herausforderung dar. Dementsprechend lebendig ist die Diskussion über Möglichkeiten ältere Verkehrsteilnehmer/innen in der Erhaltung ihrer Mobilität zu unterstützen und die Forschungsaktivität auf diesem Gebiet. Im Vortrag werden u. a. folgende Bereiche thematisiert: - Senioren stellen keine homogene Gruppe dar; dieses gut erforschte Faktum gilt auch für ihr Mobilitätsverhalten, aber auch für das Risikoverhalten. Ältere Menschen sind durch ausgesprochene Vielfalt mobilitätsbezogener Erwartungen, Verhaltensmuster und Lebensstile charakterisiert. - Die gegenwärtig durchaus wachsende positive Bewertung und Einstellung gegenüber Alter und Altern muss bei der Entwicklung neuer Sicherheitsmodelle berücksichtigt werden, gar Vorteil sollte daraus gezogen werden. - Um höhere Straßenverkehrssicherheit - nicht nur für Ältere - zu erreichen, ist eine stärkere Orientierung auf schwache, ungeschützte, vulnerable Verkehrsteilnehmer notwendig. - Teilnahme am Straßenverkehr ist Ergebnis eines lebenslangen Lernprozesses. Mobilitätsgewohnheiten, die während des Lebenslaufes erworben wurden, werden auch im Alter (unter Einsatz diverser Kompensationsstrategien) zum Großteil beibehalten. - Technologische Systeme (z.B. Telematik) können Mobilitätsplanung erleichtern und (bis zu einem gewissen Grad) Verluste in Fertigkeiten und Fähigkeiten zur Verkehrsteilnahme kompensieren und auf diese Weise zur Unfallreduktion beitragen. Die Alterssensitivität der Systeme muss ein zentraler Entwicklungsbereich sein. - Es sollte eine sehr viel stärkere Beteiligung der Älteren an der Entwicklung, Einführung und Implementation von verkehrsbezogenen Sicherheitsmaßnahmen und neuen Technologien ermöglicht werden. - Augenmerk sollte auch auf "alternative" Mobilitätsformen gelenkt werden: Smart Modes (zu Fuß gehen, Radfahren). Auch die Nutzung des ÖPNV sollte dadurch erleichtert werden, dass er so "benutzerfreundlich" wie nur möglich wird. - Ältere haben weiterhin ein hohes Interesse an und eine positive Einstellung zu Lernen, Übung und Training. Dies gilt auch für technischen Fortschritt und moderne Entwicklungen bezüglich der Straßenverkehrssicherheit. - Wenn Verkehrssicherheitsmaßnahmen implementiert werden, sollten die Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten dergestalt genutzt werden, dass sie für die verschiedenen Lebenssituationen und Lebensstile der Älteren angemessen sind. "Neue" Medien können dabei durchaus in Betracht gezogen werden. Fachdisziplinen wie Politikwissenschaft, Verkehrswesen, Ingenieurwissenschaften, Raumplanung, Architektur, Soziologie, Medizin, Psychologie, Pädagogik, Rechtswissenschaften, Ökonomie und Ökologie müssen künftig kooperieren, um einen Synergie-Effekt im Bereich der Mobilitätsförderung und der Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit für ältere Verkehrsteilnehmer und Verkehrsteilnehmerinnen zu erzielen. Dabei ist eine enge, interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit notwendig - ebenso wie ein vorurteilsfreier Umgang der Menschen miteinander in unserer Gesellschaft.
Before 2002, France was in the queue of Europeans countries in terms of road safety results because of the low density of population and the faulty behaviour of French due itself to a very low level of traffic law enforcement Even if there were signs of the change of mind in France towards road safety before, the turning point was in summer 2002, when the President declared road safety as a priority work during his mandate. The more symbolic measure was the decision to settle an automatic speed control system (700 fixed and 300 mobile). Over three years, the average speed on French roads decreased by 5 km/h and the number of fatalities on road turned down from an average of 8000 deaths per year to 5 300, which represents a decrease of more than 34 %. For the next months, we anticipate that, as many drivers have kept loosing points on their driving licence through light speed violations, this will lead drivers to check their speed and the speed limits more systematically as loosing points on one's driving license has longer time effects than paying a fine. Consequently, we expect a decrease of 10 % to 15% of fatalities in 2006, which is a very good result if we compare with the trend of the last twenty five years (about 2,3 %). The reverse effect of this system that lies on the changes of behaviour of the majority is that, there is more and more discontent against the system taking into account that automatic speed control system allows only a minor tolerance above limits and that local speed limits are not always adapted to local infrastructure and traffic conditions. Another weakness of the system is that motorcyclists are too rarely caught by the system; the system is being gradually improved by placing the new speed cameras in position of taking photographs of the back of the vehicle. But this would not be sufficient to reduce the speed of motorcyclists that are a very high risk group (16% of fatalities for 0,8 % of traffic) For alcohol, there is no easy route for progress: all what is done nowadays is toward festive impaired driving (through designating sober drivers or mass alcohol preventive screenings) although there is not enough done towards chronic alcoholic driving.
A total survey of road traffic accidents involving most severely injured, defined as sustaining a polytrauma or severe monotrauma (ISS > 15) or being killed, was conducted over 14 months in a large study region in Germany. Data on injuries, pre-clinical and clinical care, crash circumstances and vehicle damage were obtained both prospectively and retrospectively from trauma centers, dispatch centers, police and fire departments. 149 patients with a polytrauma and eight with a severe monotrauma were recorded altogether. 22 patients died in hospital. Another 76 victims had deceased at the accident scene. In 2008, 49 % of patients treated with life-threatening injuries were car or van occupants, 21 % motorcyclists, 18 % cyclists and 10 % pedestrians. Among fatalities at the scene, vehicle occupants constituted an even larger portion. The number of road users with life-threatening trauma in the region was extrapolated to the German situation. It suggests that 10 % among the "seriously injured" as defined in national accident statistics are surviving accident victims with a polytrauma or severe monotrauma.
The share of high-tensile steel in car bodies has increased over the last years. While occupant safety has generally benefited from this measure, there is a potential risk that, as a result, rescue time may increase considerably. In more than 60% of all car occupant fatalities a technical rescue has been necessary. These are in particular those cases where occupants die immediately at the accident scene. Therefore, in these cases "rescue time" is a very sensitive parameter. In addition to the general analysis of the need of technical rescue and the actual rescue time depending on model years, the injury pattern of occupants requiring technical rescue will be analysed to provide advice for rescue teams. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of rescue measures for the most popular car models depending on the safety cell design is given.