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Statistical data shows that single-vehicle crashes account for half of all traffic crashes on expressways in China, and previous research has indicated that main contributing factors were related to whether and how the inside shoulder was paved. The inside shoulder provides space for drivers to make evasive maneuvers and accommodate driver errors. However, lower-cost construction solutions in China have resulted in the design of numerous urban expressway segments that lack inside shoulders. This paper has two objectives. The first is to reveal the safety impacts of inside shoulders on urban expressways by driving simulator experiment. The second objective is to propose optimal range and recommended value of inside shoulder width for designing inside shoulders of urban expressways. The empirical data, including subjects' eye movement data, heart rate (HR) and the lateral position of vehicles, were collected in a driving simulator. The data were analyzed to evaluate the safety impacts of the inside shoulder. The results have revealed that the inside shoulder has an impact on drivers' visual perception, behaviors, and psychology; in particular, it has a significant effect on vehicle operations. In addition, this paper recommends the desired and optimal inside shoulder widths for eight-lane, two-way divided expressways., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cooperative Vehicular Platooning (Co-VP) is a prime example of Cooperative Cyber-Physical Systems (Co-CPS), offering great potential for enhancing road safety by reducing human involvement in driving. However, this domain presents significant challenges, incorporating control theory, communications, vehicle dynamics, security, and traffic engineering. This survey explores recent advancements in Co-VP, covering control strategies, communication infrastructures, and cybersecurity. It also examines testing and validation methods, such as simulation tools, hardware-in-the-loop setups, and vehicular testbeds. Lastly, it outlines open challenges within the Co-VP field. This comprehensive overview serves as a guide for further developments in this complex and critical area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Level 3 automated driving systems could introduce challenges to traffic systems as they require a specific lead time in their procedures to ensure the safe return of vehicle control to the driver. These processes, called 'transitions of control', may particularly pose complications in accelerating traffic flows when regulations mandate control transitions due to an operational speed limitation of 60 km/h as established in recent certification processes based on UNECE regulations from 2021. To investigate these concerns, we conducted a comprehensive simulation study to examine potential safety implications arising from control transitions within mixed-autonomy traffic. The simulation results indicate adverse safety impacts due to increased safety-relevant interactions between vehicles caused by transitions of control in dynamic traffic flow conditions. Our findings also reveal that those effects could become stronger once string unstable ACC controllers are deployed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data mining techniques, specifically spatial clustering methods, are used to analyse crash data and find their spatial patterns. In the present study, a grid and density-based clustering algorithm called GriDBSCAN was utilised for injury crash data. Other clustering methods such as nearest neighbour hierarchical and kernel density estimation were also applied to validate the results of the GriDBSCAN algorithm. Crash points recorded for Gebze and Izmit (in Turkey) were clustered through these methods. The findings revealed that GriDBSCAN had the highest value for hit rate. In addition, the GriDBSCAN algorithm placed data points into a grid mesh to decrease the runtime and could estimate the clusters with a higher accuracy due to the recognition of the noise points. Furthermore, the proposed approach allowed the detection of unique crash factors for both cities. The factors contributing to injury crashes in both cities included collision and junction types, along with speed limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monocycles have become a means of micromobility and an environmentally friendly alternative in urban environments, but their design and operation challenge traditional traffic rules intended for conventional vehicles. There is a need for clear and adapted traffic regulations in the modern landscape of transport systems that consider the unique characteristics of unicycles. The research aims to explore the specifics and justify the importance of establishing road safety rules specifically for monowheels based on a comparative analysis of the laws and best practices of the United States, the European Union and Ukraine. The necessity of creating comprehensive guidelines that would consider the presence of monowheels on roads, bicycle paths and sidewalks is discussed in the article. The absence of special rules creating safety problems for both monowheel users and pedestrians is noted. The problems are identified, and potential solutions are proposed. The crucial role of adapted traffic rules in promoting safe and efficient coexistence in the modern transport ecosystem is emphasised. The author analyses the regulatory documents of the USA, the European Union and Ukraine regarding the legality of using electric unicycles and the responsibility of their owners and compares them. The problems encountered by monowheel users and other road users are identified and their comprehensive solution is proposed. The author highlights the areas which can be influenced to improve road safety for monowheel users in Ukraine and also suggests specific options for possibly borrowing of practical experience of the USA and the European Union countries regarding the traffic rules for monowheel users. The practical significance of the article lies in promoting the safe and informed use of electric unicycles by streamlining the legislative framework, establishing clear rules of operation, and conducting fiscal discussions and educational activities. The study can be a valuable asset for owners and users of electric unicycles, as well as for government agencies and legislators [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety of student pedestrians on suburban roads is an issue that is mainly overlooked. Numerous studies have been carried out on pedestrian crossing safety in developing countries. However, a study to identify factors that affect the gap acceptance behaviour of student pedestrians on suburban roads is still lacking. Consequently, it is crucial to understand how factors influence pedestrians' decisions. This motivated an investigation into student pedestrian crossing behaviour at a crosswalk near a university campus located on suburban roads in Babol city, Iran. A video recording of the case study was conducted to provide a database for the analysis. Following data extraction, a logistic regression method was used to examine gap acceptance behaviour based on influential variables. Results indicated that waiting for time, the mean speed of the flow, headway between vehicles, available gap size and the type and speed of the approaching vehicle were significant. In addition, the gender and age of pedestrians did not significantly affect gap acceptance behaviour. Generally, traffic-related variables were observed as significantly influencing gap selection behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this paper are to better understand the design and impact of left turn lane offset and provide state transportation agencies recommendations on best practices and alternative design options to address left turn sight line obstruction issues. Research studies and existing guidelines on left turn lane offset were reviewed and summarized to offer insights in driver sight distance and behavior, intersection safety and operations, as well as design elements related to left turn lane offset. Studies showed that at both unsignalized intersections and signalized intersections with permitted left turns, obstructed sight line could cause higher possibilities of collisions between left turning vehicles and oncoming vehicles from the opposing direction. Existing evaluations of left turn lane offset, with data from multiple states in the United States, reported that positive left turn lane offsets were beneficial in terms of safety and operations. Most agency guidelines provided very limited discussions about left turn lane offset. This review demonstrated that positive left turn lane offsets are beneficial to intersection safety and operations. Based on the review of research and guidelines, recommendations were provided for transportation agencies for left turn lane offset implementation. A discussion on new left turn design concepts was also included to point out directions for future research and practice.

The European Union has an ambition to achieve zero road deaths by 2050. It is an ambitious target, but not an unachievable one. The installation of a front brake light, which provides information to other road users that the vehicle is braking, can help to achieve this goal. Today, this information is available to road users who can see the rear of the vehicle. Because the brake lights are located at the rear of the vehicle. The information that the vehicle is braking is also important when looking at the front of the vehicle. Whether it is other drivers or other road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. The aim of this paper is to conduct a research among professional road transport drivers on what their opinion about the front brake light is. From their opinion, we will conclude whether such light has the potential to improve road safety or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surrogate safety measures have been recognised as suitable tools for a warning strategy. As one such measure, the time to collision (TTC) is the time remaining to a collision if the collision course and speed remain unaltered. To apply the TTC in discriminating dangerous situations, a critical threshold (TTC*) must be determined. However, a method for calculating this threshold is yet to be presented. Previously, the critical threshold has been considered as a constant value, but the value of TTC* changes the calculated probability for a crash at each time instant. In this work, a method was developed for calculating TTC* based on driver characteristics, environmental conditions, the type of preceding object and the microscopic traffic parameters of the subject vehicle based on an adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system and motion mechanics. For this purpose, data were first collected from a driving simulator. Then, to compare the collision probability calculated based on a dynamic TTC* (DTTC*) and a static TTC* (STTC*), microscopic traffic data were obtained from Modares highway in Tehran, Iran. Assessments indicated that, statistically, there is a significant difference between DTTC* and STTC* results. This finding might help to enhance the capability of in-vehicle collision-avoidance systems to prevent rear-end collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates a driving behavior referred to as the cooperative safety concept that assumes for strings of conventional vehicles traveling in nighttime or conditions with reduced visibility during a stable flow condition, the leading vehicles would bear much of the navigational challenges and risks while the following vehicles enjoy reduced driving workload and improved navigation safety. The study includes a comprehensive investigation of the safety risk levels and driver behaviors at intersections and freeway ramp locations in an attempt to verify this phenomenon using data from the large-scale Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) naturalistic driving study database. Overall, the driver behavior analysis showed that drivers following other vehicles tended to travel at lower speeds but with more acceleration activities than other vehicles. In addition, lighting during nighttime appeared to help alleviate the behavioral differences between the two types of travelers and resulted in more dispersed merging, diverging, and lane-changing behaviors. The safety event data analysis showed that higher traffic levels tended to correlate with more safety events in general but significantly fewer single-vehicle events. In addition, higher traffic levels correlated with a significantly lower likelihood of crashes in general when a safety event occurred. In the SHRP 2 data, safety events included crashes, near crashes, and statistically selected baseline events recorded during the data collection. The findings of this study, including in particular the event analysis, indicated that vehicles following other vehicles in a free-flow condition tended to drive slower and have lower safety risks in terms of crashes in general and single-vehicle crashes in particular. This knowledge can have significant implications for applications such as advanced lighting systems, cooperative vehicle features, and smart traffic control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian injury has become a national traffic-safety concern as the share of pedestrian fatality continues to increase in the last decade. Pedestrian injury severities are influenced by many factors that include driver, pedestrian, vehicle, roadway, temporal, and environmental characteristics. Results indicate that some of the factors affecting pedestrian injury severity at intersection and non-intersection locations are statistically different and using the same model to perform the estimate at both locations may result in biased results. However, few studies have been conducted to explore different contributing factors at such locations. Mixed logit models are developed to independently identify the contributing factors to pedestrian injury severity resulting from crashes at intersections and non-intersections. The estimation shows factors such as male driver, alcohol, pedestrian above 65, truck, and higher speed limit significantly increase the probability of pedestrian serious injury severities in both locations. However, the impacts tend to be more severe at intersections. Urban and wet road surfaces decrease the likelihood of suffering fatal injury at intersections. Furthermore, crash time only has impacts at intersections, while traffic control, severe weather, and day-of-week only have impacts at non-intersections. The results provide insights on developing more effective countermeasures to promote pedestrian safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The autonomous vehicles emergence is a significant step forward in the development of safe and dependable intelligent transportation systems. In vehicular automation, digital connectivity has been one of the most critical specifications. In this paper, we focus on the autonomous train, which is one of the most rapidly growing applications of autonomous vehicles. In this context, we address the issue of safety by the proposition of Enhanced Train-centric Communication-Based Train Control (ETcCBTC), which provides efficient control of rail traffic. To ensure the operation's safety, we've implemented a new safety-checking approach based on process algebra, which aims to track and correct in real time the train behavior. The proposed ETcCBTC system's performance is tested using extensive simulations and compared to CBTC and TcCBTC. In terms of checking success, transmission load, and response time, the obtained results demonstrate that ETcCBTC outperforms the concurrent systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a fast Developing Country in the World. During Construction or development of Road Projects occurs a Accidents for Labours, Traffic Vehicles in sometime Environmental problems are created due to Unscientific or Unsafe Highway Construction Management Technique's. In the Highway Construction involves Physical, Chemical, Electrical, and Machineries Hazardous to the labours or Workers in Road Construction Site. And also includes Risky Operations and Occupational Unhealthy Operation, Unskilled labours Causes Deaths, Minor or Major Health issues, Accidents, delay of work, Cost affect to Contractors, losses of Construction Company Reputation. For the most important the Ergonomic injuries due to the High or Low illumination of light, High levels of Sound (db) Toxic Substances are causes the Accidents are occurred from the Ergonomic factors, Such as Exertion, Physical Contact with Pressure, Exposure to vibrating Machineries, Expose the body to Extreme Heat or Cold Environment have create major problems on Work and Safety of the Road Construction. Mainly the workers or Labors Suffering from the Muscular Skeletal Disorders, Strain & Stress Due to the hard work, Collision with Equipment, Vehicle related Accidents. Mainly the Labours and workers behavior Plays a very important role in the Road or Highway Construction Site. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970) defines Protect the Employers, have a legal obligation provide with a Safe Environment with Safety Precautionary Measurements in Highway Construction. The main agenda of this Paper is to Educate and Awareness for the labors, how and why to use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Highway Construction Site, Safety Regulations, Traffic Control Systems, Safety Culture adopted in Highway Construction, Identifying the Hazard Materials, First Aid Treatment, Causes of Accidents and Hazards, Environmental Awareness and Health Awareness Programs, Covid-19 Pandemic's etc. And Mainly the Paper Concluded that Create a Awareness among Highway Construction Workers and Educate to Adopt the Various Safety Related Equipments, Measurements, and Protection in Highway Construction Site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the traffic management plan during the execution of works from the aspect of traffic safety. All necessary elements that need to be done in the form of study documentation will be presented, which will include elements of public traffic regulation during the works, elements of movement within the construction site, elements of access to the construction site, and procedures and checklists for daily verification of all plan elements traffic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drones are entering the maritime sector and have successfully increased safety and security. They can effectively replace humans, and where life and health are at risk during operations such as tank or hull inspections, they can be used in a fully remote capacity. They are used to transport spare parts, documents, medicine, etc. between land and ships at sea or on the roadstead, which may increase safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drones can control traffic and the emission of pollutants from ships, detect pirates, monitor areas, and support operations. They are used in search and rescue missions and also provide modern technologies like 5G and others. Drones are reliable and effective, and their use minimizes costs and reduces time. This paper presents a current review of the state of knowledge on the use of drones in the maritime sector. It takes into consideration the opportunities of their utilisation and presents possibilities and examples of successful drone exploitation by various entities such as classification societies, shipyards, search and rescue (SAR) missions, and others. The benefits and limitations and a roadmap for drones in shipping are also analysed. An application forecast for the Polish maritime sector in the West Pomeranian and Pomeranian Regions is also delivered in the paper. Desk research methodology was used to review the literature to identify the set goals by analysing literature reports, articles, and materials published by beneficiaries using drones successfully, as well as inquiries and market offers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enforcement of traffic rules and regulations involves a wide range of complex tasks, many of which demand the use of modern technologies. variable speed limits (VSL) control is to change the current speed limit according to the current traffic situation based on the observed traffic conditions. The aim of this study is to provide a simulation-based methodological framework to evaluate (VSL) as an effective Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) enforcement system. The focus of the study is on measuring the effectiveness of the dynamic traffic control strategy on traffic performance and safety consideringvariousperformanceindicatorssuchastotaltraveltime, averagedelay, and average number of stops. United Arab Emirates (UAE) was selected as a case study to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. A micro simulation software package VISSIM with add-on module VisVAP is used to evaluate the impacts of VSL. It has been observed that VSL control strategy reduced the average delay time per vehicle to around 7%, travel time by 3.2%, and number of stops by 48.5%. Dynamic traffic control strategies also alleviated congestion by increasing the capacity of the bottleneck section and improving safety. Results of this study would act as a guidance for engineers and decision makers to new traffic control system implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the safety of the intersection after lane reduction based on the two-way-left-turn lane, the conflict characteristics of the intersection after lane reduction were analyzed and the conflict evaluation model was established. Based on the simulation before and after lane reduction, the conflict indicators were analyzed by the conflict evaluation model(Surrogate Safety Assessment Model, SSAM). Meanwhile the changes in conflict time, encounter time, initial deceleration, maximum speed and relative speed before and after lane reduction were studied. The research results showed that the number of conflict points at unsignalized intersections did not change much, only the location of the conflict points was changed, and the impact to the vehicle operation was not obvious. For the signalized intersection, the number of conflict points was decline significantly. Further more, the maximum speed of the vehicle operation increased by 44.8%, and the relative speed increased by 64.6%. The above results showed that the use of lane reduction design based on narrow road concept at signalized intersections can effectively improve the operating efficiency of signalized intersections and ensure the safety of vehicles passing through the intersections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differential per-lane speed limit (DPLSL) is a type of speed control for freeway traffic management in some countries. However, there is no unified standard for the maximum and minimum speed limits for individual lanes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the optimal DPLSL combination scheme on freeways considering safety and efficiency. We simplified the traffic composition to fast and slow vehicles. The slow-start rule was introduced based on the Nagel-Schreckenberg (NaSch) rule and considered the relative speed of adjacent vehicles, acceptable gap, and safety distance to establish lane-changing rules. To reflect the driver's lane change differences, the lane-changing probability of different types of drivers was calibrated by UC-win/road software and driving simulator. In the numerical simulation, six different DPLSL combination schemes were established, and the effects of each speed limit scheme on different traffic flows and different proportions of slow vehicles were separately analysed. The defined safety performance and operation efficiency of traffic flow via the entropy weight method (EWM) were adopted to determine the weight of each index to comprehensively consider various safety and efficiency indexes. The optimal DPLSL combination scheme was obtained through evaluation of the comprehensive indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As mobile device location data become increasingly available, new analyses are revealing the significant changes of mobility pattern when an unplanned event happened. With different control policies from local and state government, the COVID-19 outbreak has dramatically changed mobility behavior in affected cities. This study has been investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the number of people involved in crashes accounting for the intensity of different control measures using Negative Binomial (NB) method. Based on a comprehensive dataset of people involved in crashes aggregated in New York City during January 1, 2020 to May 24, 2020, people involved in crashes with respect to travel behavior, traffic characteristics and socio-demographic characteristics are found. The results show that the average person miles traveled on the main traffic mode per person per day, percentage of work trip have positive effect on person involved in crashes. On the contrary, unemployment rate and inflation rate have negative effects on person involved in crashes. Interestingly, different level of control policies during COVID-19 outbreak are closely associated with safety awareness, driving and travel behavior, and thus has an indirect influence on the frequency of crashes. Comparing to other three control policies including emergence declare, limits on mass gatherings, and ban on all nonessential gathering, the negative relationship between stay-at-home policy implemented in New York City from March 20, 2020 and the number of people involved crashes is found in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclist injury severity in bicycle-vehicle crashes is influenced by numerous factors that are related to driver, vehicle, cyclist, crash, roadway, temporal, and environmental characteristics. Results indicate that differences remain between cyclist injury severities sustained in crashes occurred at different locations (intersections and nonintersection locations). However, few research efforts have been made to examine and compare different contributing factors to cyclist injury severity at such locations. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the impact of various factors on cyclist injury severity at intersection and nonintersection locations. Police-reported data from 2007 to 2014 in North Carolina are used in this study. Three mixed-logit models are developed based on the preestimated multinomial logit models. Market segmentation is conducted to analyze cyclist injury severity at separate locations. An ordered probit model is also developed and compared with the mixed-logit model at both locations. Furthermore, cyclists drinking alcohol; driving van, bus, or single-unit truck; motorists' fault; inclement weather; dusk or dawn are found to have a significant impact on cyclist injury severity at intersections. Cyclist gender, drivers drinking alcohol, vehicle speed, speeding, rural or urban areas, traffic control, curved road are found to have a significant impact at nonintersection locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using official national data for each country, this article calculates trends in walking and cycling fatalities per capita and per km in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. From 1990 to 2018, pedestrian fatalities per capita fell by 23% in the USA vs. 66%–80% in the other countries; cyclist fatalities per capita fell by 22% in the USA vs. 55%–68% in the other countries. In 2018, pedestrian fatality rates per km in the USA were 5–10 times higher than in the other four countries; cyclist fatality rates per km in the USA were 4–7 times higher. The gap in walking and cycling fatality rates between the USA and the other countries increased over the entire 28-year period, but especially from 2010 to 2018. Over that 8-year period, per-capita fatality rates in the USA rose by 19% for pedestrians and 11% for cyclists; per-km fatality rates rose by 17% for pedestrians and 33% for cyclists. By comparison, fatality rates either fell or remained stable in the four European countries. We reviewed the relevant literature to identify factors that might help explain the much lower walking and cycling fatality rates in Europe compared to the USA. Possible explanatory factors include better walking and cycling infrastructure; lower urban speed limits; fewer vehicle km travelled; smaller and less powerful personal motor vehicles; and better traffic training, testing, and enforcement of traffic regulations. We recommend that the USA consider implementing an integrated package of mutually reinforcing safety measures such as those that have been successfully implemented in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany to reduce pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rapid increase in the vehicular traffic, pedestrians in urban cities need to look for space for movement on roads, particularly while crossing at midblocks. While accepting the gap, pedestrians have to adjust their crossing speed and behavior that can be influenced by numerous factors in their surroundings while crossing. Generally, in developing countries like India, pedestrians as well as drivers do not follow the traffic regulation, thus, there is a chance of conflict between pedestrians and vehicles due to limited available space on road. The intensity of these conflicts depends on prevailing traffic volume on road, either motorized traffic or nonmotorized, like pedestrians and other surrounding variables. Present study is focused on demonstrating a detailed methodology adopted for data collection at midblock sections of urban roads first, under prevailing crossing patterns observed at nine study sections, and then further describing results pertaining to analysis of patterns emerging out of pedestrian crossing behavior. Different parameters describing pedestrian characteristics like age, gender, crossing times, waiting times and crossing speed of pedestrians, safety margin, type of movement, crossing stage, and approaching vehicle speed have been considered for the analysis. In addition to this, it is proven that safety margin value is significantly lower in oblique crossing (non/partial compliance) pattern than perpendicular (full-compliance) crossing. Study results show that the stages and type of movement/pattern, while crossing, that is, perpendicular or oblique is an important parameter in analyzing behavior of the crossing at midblock in developing countries like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roundabouts are a form of circular intersections adopted to secure road safety of the vehicles. However, collisions are not prevented entirely even when using roundabouts, since accidents may happen at specific intersection points leading to either traffic congestions or serious accidents. In this paper, a visible light communication (VLC)-based collision avoidance scheme is proposed to coordinate autonomous vehicles in traversing roundabouts, which has high effectiveness in vehicular environments. In particular, roadside units (RSUs) are deployed at the roundabout entrances to coordinate the vehicles in a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) mode. By adopting the synchronization approach, vehicles can pass the roundabout simultaneously if their paths are concurrent with each other. Otherwise, vehicles are prioritized according to their arrival time and reasonable decelerations are applied to waive potential conflicts. Simulation results showed that our proposed approach satisfies the roundabout traffic demands in terms of concurrency, safety, and time utilization as vehicles are strongly recommended to decelerate in only 22% of the cases studied in different scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Internet of vehicles (IoV) has become an indispensable part of wireless communication. To protect users' privacy and communication security, an increasing number of scholars have focused on studying the safety of the IoV. However, due to the characteristics of the IoV, the problem of privacy protection and communication security has not been sufficiently studied and remains open in the IoV; thus, it is worthwhile for us to further explore and study the precise and dynamic safety certification in high-speed driving environments. In our study, we divide the IoV into several fogs to reduce the burden on the traffic control center and propose a new security authentication scheme with the vehicle's identity based on the security elliptic curve. The fog-based identity authentication (FBIA) scheme consists of two layers: the security authentication layer for vehicles outside the fog and the security monitoring layer for the rest of the vehicles. We propose two-way authentication based on the vehicle's identity in the security authentication layer and a deep learning scheme in the security monitoring layer to conduct real-time security in the IoV. Finally, we compare and analyze our FBIA scheme with related approaches, and the results show that the FBIA scheme has higher authentication accuracy and better adaptability to a high-speed mobile network environment in the IoV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, a lot of people lose their lives and health on Polish roads, which at best ends up damaging the car. Resultantly, the high rate of accidents prompted this study in conjunction with the Poviat Police Headquarters in Piła to analyse road traffic safety in the Piła poviat. To this end, road events occurring in Poland and in the Piła poviat were analysed. In addition, the most common types of road incidents were identified alongside the main reasons for their occurrence. By analysing traffic incidents, a map of the most dangerous streets in Piła was created. A survey was conducted to verify the statistical data presented on the state of safety in the Piła poviat. The survey on road safety in the Piła poviat was created in cooperation with the Poviat Police Headquarters in Piła and was conducted among the residents of the Piła poviat. Inhabitants of the Piła poviat feel safe on the roads along the roads of their poviat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of roundabouts is well recognized for sustaining an efficient and safe intersection. However, the safety results may vary based on the prevailing conditions. Therefore, this study assesses the safety performance of roundabouts in Jordan. This study developed a predictive model by collecting and analyzing all accident records of 12 major urban roundabouts in the country over 3 years. For developing the model, this study employed an accident frequency analysis. The model calculated the rate of accidents and incorporated the geometric and operational characteristics of roundabouts. This was followed by ranking the safety performance of the roundabouts. It was concluded that driver behavior of violating the traffic rules, lack of clear lane markings in the circulating area and inadequate signage at the roundabouts entries are the main causes of roundabout accidents. The research recommends including the developed predictive model in future traffic control and planning studies, for identifying hazardous locations, or for prioritizing roundabout improvements based on safety performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research into road safety in Europe has focused chiefly on public action, without closely examining the role of car manufacturers or their coordination with public initiatives. This article explores how manufacturers transitioned from a fragmented conception of road safety in the 1970s—with vehicles being the responsibility of manufacturers, and prevention and roads that of institutions—to an increasingly integrated approach in the twenty-first century. The study uses industry archives to present manufacturer strategies from 1972 onward, which at first exclusively focused on vehicle safety standards. After 1986, the European Year of Road Safety, manufacturers' official discourse increasingly stressed user education, as opposed to technical improvements to the product. Th is article will use the French case, as well as a more European approach to the automobile lobby in Brussels, to chart the gradual emergence of an integrated approach to safety combining the vehicle, infrastructure, and user behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Importance of vehicular trajectory for sensing naturalistic instincts of the vehicles. • Instantaneous Perception Time is coined for quantifying vehicle attentiveness. • Safety thresholds for measuring the risk of rear-end collision. • Real time monitoring to check the performance of traffic stream. The present research work is initiated, probing for safety levels, evolving as an outcome of analysis of micro-level interactions due to naturalistic vehicular movements on Indian expressways. The research work reported here, devised a micro-level parameter, namely instant perception time (IPT) as a safety measure, which is a function of vehicular interactions. As a step towards deriving IPT, video-graphic surveys were conducted and traffic data was collected on two intercity Indian expressways. As a part of this work, first microscopic trajectory data was developed for capturing naturalistic driving behavior under heterogeneous traffic environment. Thereafter, hysteresis plots were developed between leader-follower pairs using relative speed and spacing between the vehicles. By means of the developed hysteresis plots, a novel approach for identification and quantifying chances of rear-end crashes using follower's Instantaneous perception time (IPT), is proposed in the present study. To study the IPT approach under different flow conditions, well-calibrated and validated simulation model is also developed using real trajectory data collected for the prevailing traffic conditions observed on the study sections. From the obtained IPTs using simulation model, three cluster ranges are delineated pertaining to different levels of risks of crashes. The cluster-analysis suggests that the least values of space-headway (m) and IPT (s) (space headway < 10.91 m, IPT < 5.61 s) at a given location shows most severe chances of rear-end collision. While, lower to moderate values indicate (with thresholds: space headway in the range 10.91–18.5 m; IPT 5.61–11.91 s), whereas higher values of IPT (more than 12 s) suggest the least chances of rear-end collision. The methodological approach, results and findings thus developed under naturalistic driving environment, presented here can be very useful in understanding the operational deficiencies of traffic streams, road geometry, coupled with safety assessment of traffic streams on uninterrupted roadway facilities. Furthermore, traffic control or geometry improvement related decisions can also be taken at different unsafe locations using IPT as a risk measure to enhance safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety condition of vehicles passing on long-span bridges has attracted more and more attention in recent years. Many research studies have been done to find convenience and efficiency measures. A vehicle safety evaluation model passing on a long-span bridge is presented in this paper based on fully connected neural network (FCN). The first step is to investigate the long-span bridge responses with wind excitation by using the wind tunnel test and finite element model. Subsequently, typical vehicle models are given and a vehicle-bridge system is established by considering weather conditions. Accident types of vehicles with severe weather are estimated. In particular, the input and output variables of the vehicle safety evaluation model are determined, and simultaneously training, validation, and testing data are achieved. Twenty-nine models have been compared and analyzed by using hidden layer, initial learning rate, batch size, activation function, and optimization method. It is found that the 4-15-15-4 model occupies a preferable prediction performance, and it can provide a kind of utility for traffic control and reduce the probability of vehicle accidents on the bridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road traffic crash is a global concern and Nigeria is not left behind. In 2016, 387 Road Traffic Crashes were recorded in Ogun State out of which 279 persons were killed and 1366 were injured The aim of the study is to develop a model for describing road traffic crash countermeasures in Ogun State. Questionnaire on existing safety measures which involved 8 questions were administered to 240 respondents drawn from six of the twenty LGAs of Ogun State. A multivariate regression model was developed for describing road traffic crash countermeasures. The model revealed that all the countermeasures contributed positively to the overall level of road traffic crash control. Maintenance of road network with positive regression parameter of 1.0610 contributed most to the overall reduction in road traffic crash in the study area. It is therefore concluded that more attention should be channeled towards road maintenance and rehabilitation in Ogun State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: This manuscript demonstrates the feasibility of using a quasi-static approach in assessing the risk level of operating a vehicle in a strong side wind. The proposed quasi-static model can be applied to the risk evaluation of wind-prone highways and to the establishment of traffic control strategies against side-wind hazards. This study is an examination into the feasibility of a quasi-static approach to evaluating the reaction forces that impact tires. This information could lend valuable insight into efforts to limit overturning and side-slip accidents of vehicles exposed to strong side winds. The performance of the quasi-static approach was evaluated by comparing the calculated tire forces with those created using TruckSim, which is a dynamic vehicle analysis software. Governing equations were formulated for two types of vehicles that are susceptible to the force of wind, vans, and trailers, by considering a force equilibrium, a compatibility condition, and several assumptions. The quasi-static approach for trailers is a novel expansion of the conventional approach to a two-axle vehicle. Proposed enhancements to the quasi-static approach reflect the additional rolling moment of a trailer. The curvature and the cant of a curved road were accounted for via centrifugal forces. Both uniform and turbulent wind conditions were considered in questioning the feasibility of this novel approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) promise to change the transportation landscape with safer, faster and more energy-efficient mobility. However 100% CAV penetration may never be achieved, raising the question of how to ensure a productive co-existence of CAVs with conventional vehicles. In this paper, we address the problem of optimally controlling CAVs under mixed traffic conditions where both CAVs and human-driven vehicles (non-CAVs) travel on the roads. We specifically consider problems with such mixed traffic crossing an intersection without using explicit traffic signaling, the objective being to minimize energy consumption subject to a throughput maximization requirement while guaranteeing safety constraints. The impact of CAVs on overall energy consumption is investigated under different traffic scenarios as a function of the CAV penetration rate (i.e., the fraction of CAVs relative to all vehicles). Performance under traffic light control is used as a baseline for this study. Results are validated through simulation using MATLAB and VISSIM. The results indicate that the energy efficiency improvement becomes more significant as the CAV penetration rate increases, while the significance diminishes as traffic becomes heavier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitude on prevention of traffic collision among college students. Method: A Quantitative approach with descriptive survey design was used in the study. The sample of 200 students from a selected degree college were selected by using purposive sampling technique. A structured knowledge questionnaire and attitude scale was used to collect the data from the subjects after obtaining informed consent. Results: Among 200 respondents, 50% of the respondents possess moderate knowledge, 48% respondents possess inadequate knowledge and remaining 2% possess adequate knowledge on traffic collisions and its prevention. Also the majority (63%) of subjects was having favorable attitude, 34% was having a moderate favorable attitude and 3% were having an unfavorable attitude regarding traffic rules and regulation and use of safety measures. The overall mean knowledge and attitude scores of respondents regarding traffic collision and its prevention was 14.65 and 30.36 respectively. Conclusion: This study found that only 2% of the respondents are having adequate knowledge, even though 63% demonstrates a favorable attitude. Thus, it can be concluded that the attitude and knowledge may not be positively correlated and even if the knowledge level is low, people tend to have attitude variations due to their experience. It’s very important to understanding their level of knowledge, to help in planning effective technology for preventing traffic collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a utility-based behavioral model of bicycle speed choice. A mathematical framework is developed with travel time, energy expenditure, and control factors. Observational speed data are used to calibrate the model and estimate marginal rates of substitution between energy expenditure and travel time. The model is validated by applying it to predict speed changes on pedal-assist electric bicycles. This paper lays a foundation for further development of operational active travel speed and joint speed-route choice models, which can lead to more sensitive and behaviorally-grounded operations, microsimulation, and mode choice models. In addition, the findings have implications for modeling the effects of emerging bicycle technologies. Further research is needed to calibrate the model for a broad population of travelers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rapid urbanization and high traffic accident frequency have received many researchers’ attention. It is important to reveal how urban infrastructures and other risk factors affects the traffic accident frequency. A growing amount of research has examined the local risk factors impact on traffic accident frequency at certain time. Some studies considered these spatial influences but overlooked the temporal correlation/heterogeneity of traffic accidents and related risk factors. This study explores risk factors’ influence on urban traffic accidents frequency while considering both the spatial and temporal correlation/heterogeneity of traffic accidents. The study area is split into 100 equally sized rectangle traffic analysis zones (TAZs), and the urban traffic accident frequency and attributes in each TAZ are extracted. The linear regression model, spatial lag model (SLM), spatial error model (SEM) and time-fixed effects error model (T-FEEM) are established and compared respectively. The proposed methodologies are illustrated using ten-month traffic accident data from the urban area of Guiyang City, China. The results reveal that the time-fixed effects error model, which considers both spatial and temporal correlation/heterogeneity of traffic accidents, is superior to other models. More traffic accidents will happen in those TAZs that have more hospitals or schools. Moreover, hospitals have a greater influence on traffic accidents than schools. Because of the location in the margin of the city, those TAZs that have passenger stations have more traffic accidents. This study provides policy makers with more detailed characterization about the impact of related risk factors on traffic accident frequencies, and it is suggested that not only the spatial correlation/heterogeneity but also the temporal correlation/heterogeneity should be taken into account in guiding traffic accident control of urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major international automakers have considered the deployment of the 5.9 GHz dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) on their vehicle fleets for wireless connectivity. DSRC-enabled vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication through broadcast of basic safety messages enables safety applications for crash warning and avoidance. However, in dense traffic conditions as the V2V deployment scales up, the resultant channel load increases and leads to channel congestion and may adversely affect the performance of the safety applications. The Society of Automotive Engineers J2945/1 standard that builds atop Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11p and IEEE 1609 standards provides the minimum performance requirements for V2V safety communications. Specifically, it provides a congestion control protocol for transmission rate and power adaptations to achieve robust performance in dense vehicular networks. The primary contribution of this paper is that using a congestion generation testbed that emulates channel congestion including a large number of remote vehicles, we can validate and test any V2V equipped vehicle for compliance with the J2945/1 standard. Our paper also demonstrates that under heavy congestion, even with 600 ms of inter-transmit time, a moving vehicle can be tracked to a lane-level accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In many developing countries there is paucity of evidence regarding the epidemiology of road traffic accidents (RTAs). The study determines the rates of injuries and fatalities associated with RTAs in Ethiopia based on the data of a recent national survey. Methods: The study is based on the secondary data of the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2016. The survey collected information about occurrence injuries and accidents including RTAs in the past 12 months among 75,271 members of 16,650 households. Households were selected from nine regions and two city administrations of Ethiopia using stratified cluster sampling procedure. Results: Of the 75,271 household members enumerated, 123 encountered RTAs in the reference period and rate of RTA-related injury was 163 (95% confidence interval (CI): 136–195) per 100,000 population. Of the 123 causalities, 28 were fatal, making the fatality rate 37 (95% CI: 25–54) per 100,000 population. The RTA-related injuries and fatalities per 100,000 motor vehicles were estimated as 21,681 (95% CI: 18,090–25,938) and 4,922 (95% CI: 3325–7183), respectively. Next to accidental falls, RTAs were the second most common form of accidents and injuries accounting for 22.8% of all such incidents. RTAs contributed to 43.8% of all fatalities secondary to accidents and injuries. Among RTA causalities, 21.9% were drivers, 35.0% were passenger vehicle occupants and 36.0% were vulnerable road users including: motorcyclists (21.0%), pedestrians (12.1%) and cyclists (2.9%). Approximately half (47.1%) of the causalities were between 15–29 years of age and 15.3% were either minors younger than 15 years or seniors older than 64 years of age. Nearly two-thirds (65.0%) of the victims were males. Conclusion: RTA-related causalities are extremely high in Ethiopia. Male young adults and vulnerable road users are at increased risk of RTAs. There is a urgent need for bringing road safety to the country's public health agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road traffic accidents are the major cause of mortality among people aged 15–29 years in Africa. World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank launched a Decade of Action for Road Safety in 2011 with the goal of halving the number of injuries and deaths on the roads. No progress has been reported in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) and the number of deaths remains very high. To reach the target set, there is a need for interventions in several areas. This scoping review proposes to produce a synthesis by identifying the kinds of interventions and outcomes which have been carried out on the African continent. Using the scoping studies method, 23 articles were selected and analysed. The study shows that interventions were developed in four fields: road safety policy, health education, safety equipment and data collection. It shows also that there were records of interventions in only twelve countries, mostly in Eastern and Southern Africa. The main conclusion of this study reveals both a lack of road safety interventions and shortcomings in the assessment of those performed and selected for our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traffic crashes are a major cause of global morbidity and mortality disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Motorcycle taxi (boda boda) drivers are particularly vulnerable because they are exposed to traffic risks with limited safety equipment. This study aims to characterize injury prevalence and safety habits among boda boda drivers, as well as ways to improve road traffic safety in LMICs. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed methods study was conducted with 300 boda boda drivers between 24 March and 3 April 2014 in urban Moshi, Tanzania. A convenience sample of participants was drawn from 25 of 58 registered boda boda stands and 2 of 31 unregistered stands. Data were analyzed using R, and content thematic analysis was performed and agreed upon by three investigators. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between boda boda characteristics and injury risk. Results: In total, 300 drivers participated, of whom 148 (49.3%) had experienced a crash during their lifetime, and 114 (77.0%) sustained at least one injury. Only 27 of those injured (23.4%) were hospitalized. Of all participants, 220 (73.3%) reported consistent helmet usage, despite 285 participants (95.0%) agreeing that helmet usage reduces injury severity. From the 280 helmets observed, 231 (82.5%) were either damaged or fit improperly. Having a cracked helmet was associated with higher risk of being involved in a traffic crash. Owning a helmet with a proper fit was associated with reduced risk for a traffic crash (OR = 0.06) and road traffic injuries (OR = 0.07). A thematic analysis of boda boda drivers’ suggestions to increase road safety identified four intervention areas: 1) roadway infrastructure and traffic regulation, 2) road user attitudes and safe driving behaviors, 3) education and training, and 4) law enforcement. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates boda boda drivers’ safety behaviors and identifies four intervention areas that can be leveraged to increase overall road traffic safety. Unfortunately, while boda boda drivers are aware of ways to improve safety, adherence to safety habits remains low. Successful multi-sectoral interventions are needed to improve road safety for boda boda drivers in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrow seat aisle is an important part of vehicle car interior, and previous studies on pedestrian dynamics in such area is still insufficient. To improve this situation, experiments of individual and single-file pedestrian movement were performed. Discussions were carried out from the aspect of walking speed, headways distance, and fundamental diagram. It is shown that walking speed of individual pedestrian grows exponentially fast to an asymptotic value as aisle width increases, and the width of 0.40 m is wide enough to allow a smooth walking. In the single-file movement, pedestrian walking speed can also be affected by headways distance and the predecessors. Also, existence of inactive pedestrian interferes the pedestrian flow, slowing down the flow rate or even causing a jam. Moreover, linear fitting models introduced in this paper, which link the motion of individual and single-file pedestrian, are able to well predict the movement speeds. This study will provides reference for the safety design of similar seat area in vehicle cars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every participant in the road traffic can contribute at the same time in improving and endangering the safety of the road traffic, which means its responsibility, is double. The way and the efficiency of the social reaction against the traffic crime, which is a result of the irresponsible behavior of the man, depend on the level of the social consciousness. Regarding the negative traffic phenomena, it still can be noticed insufficient social and individual awareness of the magnitude of the danger and the damage that the modern traffic brings with it. The responsibility of the participants for the road traffic safety can be in the form of moral (ethical) and legal responsibility that is prescribed by law or other regulations and may be material, misdemeanor, and criminal-legal. The moral responsibility of the participants in the road traffic, which is the subject of interest of this paper, is related to the consciousness, morality, ethics and ethical behavior, as well as the culture. The value of the participants in the road correspondence is evaluated according to the degree of their morale on the road. The traffic morale is a conscious struggle of the traffic users that serves the entire society in order to reduce the great human and material losses on the roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crash data in the USA show that approximately 47 percent of fatal crashes occur at night. Sight distance is severely reduced at nighttime as it compares to that in the day often resulting in problematic situations. Horizontal alignment can compound this issue, since most drivers would not be able to see far in advance to recognize the sharpness of the curve and adjust their speed accordingly: a process that they can complete at daylight conditions. This study attempts to understand the influence of roadway geometry and especially curvature on nighttime crashes and presents a preliminary analysis of this issue aiming to identify the magnitude of the problem and provide some guidance for future research. The findings indicate that there is indeed an increased crash occurrence at night and this is related to the curve radius. Sharper curves, i.e., curves with small radii, showed an increase in crashes and crash rate when they were compared to their corresponding daytime crashes. Design consistency was also examined by considering the radii of successive curves. The data again points to the differences in crash experience when considering the relation between two successive curves. Additional work is needed to further explore these issues and develop more statistically robust models for refining the nomographs developed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has seen a worldwide exponential increase in the use of mobile information systems, especially smartphones. This trend covers all areas of life, and also seems to include phone use while driving. In order to assess the scope of secondary task occupation, especially smartphone use while driving, observation studies from outside the car have been established as an efficient and valid method. A review of international studies using traffic observation was done finding 51 publications with a total of 117 observation studies with more than 1,800,000 single observations at more than 17,500 sites from nine different countries. The review describes the relevant aspects of the observation methods and gives an overview about the trends found in the data. As the methods differ widely over the years as well as between the countries and studies, an integration of the results is not possible. However, from all studies it is very clear that smartphone use has increased including not only phoning while driving but also, more important to traffic safety, using apps and texting on the smartphone. Additional observable secondary tasks were only rarely examined. Thus, further research using observational studies is strongly recommended. Suggestions are given with regard to the methodology which can contribute to get comparable and valid results across countries and studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic congestion in freeway network is a prevalent transportation problem and leads to a strong degradation of freeway network facilities. This paper proposes a new coordinated optimization approach for freeway network, aiming to relieve the traffic congestion in freeway network equipped with the coordinated traffic controllers. The challenge is how to solve the problem between the traffic control goals of each path and those of the network. In this paper, the bi-level programming theory is used to address this problem. More exactly, in the path level, the optimal control model is designed to relieve congestion in each path of the test network. Furthermore, in the network level, the optimal model considers the traffic equilibrium and cost optimization. The efficiency of the proposed approach is tested on a well-known traffic network calibrated by the field test data of freeway network. The results show that the proposed approach has positive effects in balancing traffic load and improving the service level of freeway networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) - Connected Vehicle technology in the USA - where vehicle and roadside infrastructure communicates to deliver more intelligent traffic management, is one of a range of ITS technologies emerging as a key component in pursuit of the wider objectives of improved urban mobility. This paper presents the Compass4D project, which deployed a C-ITS system in seven European cities and coordinated the common evaluation of the technology for three services focusing specifically on safety and environmental objectives under real-world driving conditions. The significance of the Compass4D deployments and results provides some of the first evidence of the effectiveness of C-ITS in real world conditions. Both light and heavy vehicles showed efficiency savings of 2–6%. Equipped buses exhibited a variety of results with one pilot site showing a reduction of greater than 200gCO 2 per bus route per trip whilst other buses showed an increase in total emissions. The paper presents results from both field trials and microscopic simulation studies (to understand the network- or city-wide impacts of the technology). It discusses the results in detail before outlining the potential for further deployment in terms of the impact on energy efficiency and environmental objectives. Government and road operators will benefit from the results to gain an understanding of the potential impact of services given specific deployment characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aims of this study were to extend the current literature on school climate that is focused on understanding how teacher, administrator, and student perceptions about driving-focused aspects of the social, educational, and institutional climate of schools can affect students' achievement, behavior, and adjustment toward the development of the concept of a school safe driving climate (SSDC) and initiate the development of tools and processes for assessing SSDC.Methods: A mixed methods approach was used to develop an initial version of a survey-based measure of SSDC that involved self-report surveys (students) and in-depth interviews (teachers). Exploratory factor analytic procedures identified SSDC constructs and a regression framework was used to examine associations among SSDC constructs and self-reported driving behaviors. Qualitative data were subjected to inductive analysis, with a goal of elucidating teachers' perspectives on SSDC and an SSDC intervention.Results: The study sample consisted of 947 adolescents (48% male) from one large high school and 44 teacher advisors. Participants were recruited from a school participating in a state-wide effort to promote transportation safety through peer-led programming. Two SSDC factors were identified-Administrative contributions to school safety and value of school safety-that were associated with adolescents' perceptions of their driving behaviors. Adolescents perceived that the intervention affected administrative safety. Teacher interviews contextualized these results and provided guidance on program revisions.Conclusions: Safe driving climate may be an important, modifiable, and measurable aspect of school climate. Additional research is needed to refine the assessment tool and to use it in longitudinal and experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]