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• We identify co-occurrence patterns of attributes related to crashes and interventions • Latent Dirichlet allocation was applied to analyse the topics of RSI reports • Results reveal associations among conditions that have previously gone unreported • Results aid to determine if road authorities can implement compliance with standards Under the Safe System framework, Road Authorities have a responsibility to deliver inherently safe roads and streets. Addressing this problem depends on knowledge of the road network safety conditions and the number of funds available for new road safety interventions. It also requires the prioritisation of the various interventions that may generate benefits, increasing safety, while ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to remedy the deficiencies detected within a reasonable timeframe. In this context, Road Safety Inspections (RSI) are a proactive tool for identifying safety issues, consisting of a regular, systematic, on-site inspection of existing roads, covering the whole road network, carried out by trained safety expert teams. This paper aims to describe how topic modelling can be effectively used to identify co-occurrence patterns of attributes related to the run-off-road crashes, as well as the corresponding patterns of road safety interventions, as described in the RSI reports. We apply latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), a widespread method for fitting a topic model, to analyse the topics mentioned in RSI reports, divided into two groups: problems found; and proposed solutions. For this study, 54 RSI gathered over six years (2012–2017) were analysed, covering 4011 km of Irish roads. The results indicate that important keywords relating to the "forgiving roadside" and "clear zone" concepts, as well as the relevant European technical standards (CEN-EN1317 and EN 12,767), are absent from the extracted latent topics. We also found that the frequency of topics related to roadside safety is higher in the problems record set than in the solutions record set, meaning that problems are more easily identified and related to the roadside area than interventions may be. This paper presents methodological empirical evidence that the LDA is appropriate for identifying the co-occurrence patterns of attributes related to the ROR crashes in road safety inspections' reports, as well as the interventions' patterns associated with these crashes. Also, it provides valuable information aimed to determine the extent to which national road authorities in Europe and their contractors are currently capable of implementing and maintaining compliance with roadside standards and guidelines throughout the life cycle of roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of fatal train accident rates and trends on Europe''s main line railways from 1980 to 2009. The paper uses a new set of data for the European Union together with Norway and Switzerland, assembled partly under the auspices of the European Railway Agency and partly on the author''s own account. The estimated overall trend in the number of fatal train collisions and derailments per train-kilometre is −6.3% per year from 1990 to 2009, with a 95% confidence interval of −8.7% to −3.9%. The estimated accident rate in 2009 is 1.35 fatal collisions or derailments per billion train-kilometres, giving an estimated mean number of fatal accidents in 2009 of 6.0. The overall number of fatalities per fatal accident in 1990–2009 is 4.10, with no apparent long term change over time, giving an estimated mean of 24.6 fatalities per year in train collisions and derailments in 2009. There are statistically significant differences in the fatal train accident rates and trends between the different European countries, although the estimates of the rates and trends for many individual countries have wide confidence limits. The distribution of broad causes of accidents appears to have remained unchanged over the long term, so that safety improvements appear to have been across the board, and not focused on any specific cause. The most frequent cause of fatal train collisions and derailments is signals passed at danger. In contrast to fatal train collisions and derailments, the rate per train-kilometre of serious accidents at level crossings remained unchanged in 1990–2009. The immediate causes of most of the serious level crossing accidents are errors or violations by road users. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to discuss the following questions: Do concurrent organizational changes have a direct impact on aviation maintenance and safety, if so, how can this be measured? These questions were part of the investigation carried out by the Accident Investigation Board, Norway (AIBN). The AIBN investigated whether Norwegian aviation safety had been affected due to major organizational changes between 2000 and 2004. The main concern was the reduction in safety margins and its consequences. This paper presents a summary of the techniques used and explains how they were applied in three airlines and by two offshore helicopter operators. The paper also discusses the development of safety related indicators in the aviation industry. In addition, there is a summary of the lessons learned and safety recommendations. The Norwegian Ministry of Transport has required all players in the aviation industry to follow up the findings and recommendations of the AIBN study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Fatal train accidents per train-kilometre in Europe fell at the rate of 6% per year from 1990 until 2019. • There were 0.85 fatal accidents per billion train-kilometres in 2019. • There was a mean of 4.2 fatalities per fatal accident in 1990–2019. • the proportion of accidents caused by signals passed at danger fell from 40 % in the 1990s to 21 % in the 2010s. This may be due to the increasing deployment of train protection systems. This paper presents an analysis of fatal train accident rates and trends on Europe's main line railways from 1990–2019. It is a sequel to the paper Fatal train accidents on Europe's railways: 1980–2009 (Evans (2011), which covers the three decades 1980–2009. The present paper discards the data for the 1980s, but adds the data for 2010−2019. The data cover the 28 countries of the European Union as in 2019, together with Norway and Switzerland. The source of the recent data is largely the European Union Agency for Railways. The estimated overall trend in the number of fatal train collisions and derailments per train-kilometre was –5.6 % per year from 1990–2019, with a 95 % confidence interval of –7.1 % to -4.2 %. The estimated accident rate in 2019 was 0.85 fatal collisions or derailments per billion train-kilometres, which represents a fall of 78 % since 1990. This gives an estimated mean number of fatal accidents in Europe in 2019 of 3.89. The data and results for 2010−2019 closely match the extrapolation of the results for 1990−2009, so that in 2009 extrapolation would have given a good forward projection for 2019. By the same argument this paper gives a forward projection of the mean number of accidents in 2029 of 2.12, assuming no change in train-kilometres, or pro-rata changes with changes in train-kilometres. The paper investigates the causes of accidents. A notable finding is that the proportion of accidents caused by signals passed at danger (SPADs) fell from 40 % in 1990−1999 to 21 % in 2010−2019. This is probably due to the increasing deployment of train protection systems. The number of fatalities in individual accidents has a skew distribution: most accidents have a small number of fatalities, but a few have a large number. The overall observed number of fatalities per accident is 4.23, and there is no indication that this mean changes with time. This implies that the mean number of fatalities per year has the same downward trend of 5.6 % per year as the mean number of accidents per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a need to develop a comprehensive framework for the safety assessment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This framework should: (1) cover all three dimensions of road safety—exposure, crash risk and consequence, (2) cover, in addition to the engineering effect, also the effects due to behavioural adaptation and (3) be compatible with the other aspects of state of the art road safety theories. A framework based on nine ITS safety mechanisms is proposed and discussed with regard to the requirements set to the framework. In order to illustrate the application of the framework in practice, the paper presents a method based on the framework and the results from applying that method for twelve intelligent vehicle systems in Europe. The framework is also compared to two recent frameworks applied in the safety assessment of intelligent vehicle safety systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]