Traffic safety culture of drivers in Canada: Implications for new traffic law implementation to enhance traffic safety

This study investigates Canada's traffic safety culture (TSC) as part of a global research project. The TSC survey data collected by an online survey is used to predict drivers' perception of changes in traffic problems in the past 3 years, driver's support, opposition towards enforcement of additional traffic laws, and drivers' perceived threat towards risky driving behaviors. A two-step procedure is followed to build models. The first step includes feature selection using the chi-square test of independence. The second step comprises building classification models using the Random Forest technique. Results suggest that drivers' personal attributes like the number of accident records, driving frequency, geographic region of nationality, and religion are top predictor variables for drivers' perception towards changes in traffic problems. In addition, compared to others most drivers perceive distracted driving as a major traffic problem today. There is strong disapproval of drivers against the following driving behaviors and strong support to implement laws against it: speeding in school zones, talking on a hand-held cell phone, tying text messages or e-mails, drowsy driving, driving without wearing their seatbelt, drive with passengers not wearing seatbelts, running through red lights, and impaired driving. In contrast, following risky driving behaviors is less of a perceived threat: speeding over limit on a freeway, on a residential street, and in an urban area and talking on a hands-free cell phone while driving. In addition, a driver's accident record is a significant indicator for a perceived threat towards risky driving behaviors followed by age and accumulated demerit points. The results from this study can be used to guide educational campaigns to transform the traffic safety culture of target groups and make more informed policy decisions.     

Comparing the self-assessed and examiner-assessed driving skills of Japanese driving school students

Previous research about subjective driving skills has revealed that drivers, especially younger males, tend to rate their driving skills more highly than those of the average driver. This study examines the accuracy of Japanese novice drivers' self-evaluation of their driving skills by comparing their self-assessments with assessments made by a driving examiner. We also examined the effects of gender and age on the accuracy of driver self-evaluation of their skills.     

困境区域引起的无意闯红灯违规分析

本文分析了车辆在交叉口由于车辆的行驶速度较高或野蛮驾驶造成的闯红灯行为,其中除了应当给予惩处的驾驶员的故意行为以外,也包括无意闯红灯行为。无意闯红灯的原因和特点同城市交叉口的宽度、理想速度、车辆动力学特点、交通信号灯的黄灯间隔时间以及困境区域有关。本文给出了由困境区域引起的无意闯红灯违规的数学描述, 建立了用于城市道路交叉口闯红灯违规的模型,利用该模型对西安部分地区的数据进行仿真和评价。     

信控交叉口多绿尾相位切换模式下驾驶行为的对比研究

针对中国城市道路交叉口控制实践中,绿灯信号相位多种切换方式同时存在而未有详细优劣对比的现状开展研究.设计1组驾驶模拟器实验,对绿灯闪烁(GSF)与绿灯倒计时(GSC)2种典型的相位切换模式下的驾驶行为进行对比观测和分析,建立驾驶员在2种切换模式下的"通过/停止"决策行为模型.研究结果表明,驾驶员在不同模式相位切换期间的驾驶行为具有一定复杂性,与驾驶环境(如车速、黄灯启亮时与停车线的距离)和个体特征(如性别、年龄、驾龄)等密切相关.驾驶环境方面,GSC模式对驾驶员有较为强烈的催促作用,驾驶员在GSC模式下的平均通过率提高了10% ~20%,且陷入两难区的概率比GSF模式下提高了7.2%.黄灯通过率和黄灯启亮时车辆与停车线的距离呈负相关关系,且与黄灯启亮时的车速在不同相位切换模式下表现出相反的趋势:在GSC模式下呈现正相关关系,而在GSF模式下呈现负相关关系.驾驶员个体特征方面,男性、20~30岁、3~4年驾龄的驾驶员通过率明显高于其它分组.      

Impact of driving style,behaviour and anger on crash involvement among Iranian intercity bus drivers

In developing countries such as Iran, due to the inadequate infrastructure for rail and air transportation facilities, intercity buses are the most common type of transportation for long distances. Because of the long hours of driving, bus driving is considered a challenging job. Moreover, given the high capacity of these vehicles, a small error from the driver could endanger many passengers' health. So, studying drivers' behaviours can be a key factor in decreasing the risk factors of crash involvement in these drivers. However, few studies have focused on intercity bus drivers' behaviours. This research uses a sample of 254 professional drivers that answered a self-report questionnaire on driving style (MDSI), driving behaviour (DBQ), and driving anger (DAS). A structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to investigate the psychometric properties of these questionnaires. The results show a positive correlation between maladaptive driving styles and driving behaviour, and a negative correlation between adaptive styles and driving behaviour. Significant differences are observed among drivers with and without crash history on their maladaptive driving styles and their driving anger scale. A binary logistic regression model is also developed to predict traffic crashes as a function of driving misbehaviour. The results suggest that factors related to driving anger are the main factors that increase the probability of misbehaviour and traffic crashes. The results also suggest that driving style and driving behaviour significantly predict crash risk among bus drivers. Aggressive driving is associated with an increased probability of crash involvement among intercity bus drivers. The findings can be used to inform the health promotion policies and provide regular interventions designed to improve driving safety among intercity bus drivers.     

On-road assessment of in-vehicle driving workload for older drivers: Design guidelines for intelligent vehicles

There has been recent interest in intelligent vehicle technologies, such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs) or in-vehicle information systems (IVISs), that offer a significant enhancement of safety and convenience to drivers and passengers. However, the use of ADAS- and IVIS-based information devices may increase driver distraction and workload, which in turn can increase the chance of traffic accidents. The number of traffic accidents involving older drivers that are due to distraction, misjudgment, and delayed detection of danger, all of which are related to the drivers’ declining physical and cognitive capabilities, has increased. Because the death rate in traffic accidents is higher when older drivers are involved, finding ways to reduce the distraction and workload of older drivers is important. This paper generalizes driver information device operations and assesses the workload while driving by means of experiments involving 40 drivers in real cars under actual road conditions. Five driving tasks (manual only, manual primarily, visual only, visual primarily, and visual-manual) and three age groups (younger (20–29 years of age), middle-aged (40–49 years of age), and older (60–69 years of age)) were considered in investigating the effect of age-related workload difference. Data were collected from 40 drivers who drove in a real car under actual road conditions. The experimental results showed that age influences driver workload while performing in-vehicle tasks.     

Investigating characteristics of cellphone distraction with significance tests and association rule mining

Due to the escalating usage of cellphones, cellphone distracted driving remains one of the fastest-growing traffic safety problems. Two basic types of cellphone distractions are – talking (handheld or hands-free) and manipulating (texting, internet browsing, using apps for social networking, navigation, entertainment, etc.). To explore the association between the cellphone distraction type and characteristics of a driver, roadway, and vehicle, we used Fisher's exact test and association rule mining to analyze the data from ten different hour-long observation sessions performed both at intersections and on straight continuous segments. Among 3727 drivers observed, 22.1% were found distracted by cellphones. More drivers were involved in manipulating (12.8%) than talking on the phone (9.3%). The Fisher's exact test results show that intersections and the presence of passengers may be significantly associated with driver distraction type. This study makes a novel attempt to utilize association rule mining in cellphone distraction observation. A set of generated rules and their network visualization demonstrated how a specific group of characteristics can be related to cellphone conversation or manipulation through the measures of support, confidence, and lift. 'Peak hour', 'Absence of passengers', and 'Urban setting' are more likely to be associated with distracted driving than other characteristics. The results from association rules revealed that male drivers were found to be predominantly involved in cellphone manipulation during peak hours on urban segments than female drivers, and they were also largely involved in cellphone conversation during peak hours on the rural segment. Female drivers engaged in manipulating cellphones at the urban intersection during both peak and off-peak hours. In the rural area during peak hours, female drivers were manipulating at the intersection and were talking while driving on the continuous segment. Drivers aged '30–60 years' were found to be more associated with cellphone use compared to '<30 years' and '>60 years' age group. 'Passenger car drivers during peak hours' were more associated with manipulating cellphones than expected compared to any other collective group, whereas 'female passenger car drivers driving on continuous segment' were strongly associated with cellphone conversation. The detailed discussion of the findings from association rule mining will be useful for targeting a specific group of relevant characteristics in potential cellphone distraction reduction strategies.     

Factors affecting lane change crashes

This study aims to investigate the contributing factors affecting the occurrence of crashes while lane-changing maneuvers of drivers. Two different data sets were used from the same drivers' population. The first data set was collected from the traffic police crash reports and the second data set was collected through a questionnaire survey that was conducted among 429 drivers. Two different logistic regression models were developed by employing the two sets of the collected data. The results of the crash occurrence model showed that the drivers' factors (gender, nationality and years of experience in driving), location and surrounding condition factors (non-junction locations, light and road surface conditions) and roads feature (road type, number of lanes and speed limit value) are the significant variables that affected the occurrence of lane-change crashes. About 57.2% of the survey responders committed that different sources of distractions were the main reason for their sudden or unsafe lane change including 21.2% was due to mobile usage. The drivers' behavior model results showed that drivers who did sudden lane change are more likely to be involved in traffic crashes with 2.53 times than others. The drivers who look towards the side mirrors and who look out the windows before lane-change intention have less probability to be involved in crashes by 4.61 and 3.85 times than others, respectively. Another interesting finding is that drivers who reported that they received enough training about safe lane change maneuvering during issuing the driving licenses are less likely to be involved in crashes by 2.06 times than other drivers.     

Role of steering wheel feedback on driver performance: driving simulator and modeling analysis

When driving in curves, how do drivers use the force appearing on the steering wheel? As it carries information related to lateral acceleration, this force could be necessary for drivers to tune their internal model of vehicle dynamics; alternatively, being opposed to the drivers' efforts, it could just help them stabilize the steering wheel position. To assess these two hypotheses, we designed an experiment on a motion-based driving simulator. The steering characteristics of the vehicle were modified in the course of driving, unknown to drivers. Results obtained with standard drivers showed a surprisingly wide range of adaptation, except for exaggerated modifications of the steering force feedback. A two-level driver model, combining a preview of vehicle dynamics and a neuromuscular steering control, reproduces these experimental results qualitatively and indicates that adaptation occurs at the haptic level rather than in the internal model of vehicle dynamics. This effect is related to other theories on the manual control of dynamics systems, wherein force feedback characteristics are abstracted at the position control level. This research also illustrates the use of driving simulation for the study of driver behavior and future intelligent steering assistance systems.     

Self- and peer-assessments of ambulance drivers' driving performance

The aim of the present study was to develop and examine the quality of the Ambulance Driver Self-assessment Questionnaire (ADSQ) and the Ambulance Driver Peer-assessment Questionnaire (ADPQ) measuring aspects of, driving performance, driving style and driving competence. In addition the ADSQ measures self-reflection and safety-attitudes. The aim of the study was also to examine ambulance drivers' self- and peer-assessments as well as to examine the accuracy of self-assessments by comparing self-assessed and peer-assessed driving performance, driving style and competence. 76 ambulance drivers employed at two ambulance stations in northern Sweden completed ADSQ and ADPQ. Item analyses were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the items, and based on the results some revisions were made to improve the questionnaires. The revised questionnaires were functioning rather well, although some subscale demonstrated low internal consistency. Subscale inter-correlations provided support for construct validity. Self- and peer-assessments indicated safe driving performance and good driver competence, which is positive from a traffic safety perspective. A comparison of mean self- and peer-assessment ratings, controlling for age, gender and driving experience showed no significant differences, except for the subscale overtaking. This indicates that ambulance drivers' self-assessments are realistic in most areas.     

无信号控制交叉口老年驾驶人转向行为图谱研究

考虑到老年驾驶人存在的视觉弱化、反应能力下降等问题,有必要分析其转向行为特征。基于此,本文分析了在无信号控制交叉口情景下老年驾驶人的转向行为特征,并绘制图谱描述行为特征的时序变化。基于无信号控制交叉口的现实场景调查,搭建了具备常见冲突类型的虚拟仿真驾驶场景（包含6个无信号控制交叉口）,招募符合要求的老年驾驶人与中青年驾驶人进行驾驶模拟实验,分别采集车辆行驶数据（驾驶模拟器）、眼动数据和生理心理数据分析老年驾驶人与中青年驾驶人在不同转向场景下的行为特征差异,应用图谱理论构建驾驶人转向行为图谱描述老年驾驶人与中青年驾驶人的转向行为特征时序变化。实验结果表明:老年驾驶人的速度均值为20.4 km/h、注视持续时间均值为289.47 ms、扫视幅度均值为3.51°;中青年驾驶人的速度均值为35.79 km/h、注视持续时间均值为247.94 ms、扫视幅度均值为4.56°。老年驾驶人的心率变异性时域指标（SDNN和RMSSD）与频域指标（LF/HF和TP）的值更低,表明老年驾驶人在转向过程中更加紧张。图谱显示老年驾驶人的紧张持续时间更长,并在信息获取广度上弱于中青年驾驶人。结合图谱时空差异性指标发现,这2类驾驶人的驾驶行为在左转向场景下存在显著性差异,老年驾驶人驾驶操作的稳定性与安全性较低。      

两难区安全改善问题的感应控制方法研究

在信号控制交叉口处,黄灯时间的正确设置能理论上消除两难区,但由于驾驶行为等因素的影响,实际中两难危险区域并不能完全消除。从信号控制角度解决两难区引发的交通安全问题,基于理论消除两难区的研究基础,提出了以降低危险概率和提高安全保障为目标的相位切换的逻辑判断,采取感应控制策略从信号控制角度改善信号控制交叉口两难区的交通安全问题,并通过微观仿真建模分析,从而验证了感应控制的改善效果。     

有无倒计时条件下黄灯第二类困境区域分布

为进一步论证倒计时对黄灯第二类困境区域分布的影响,以有无倒计时信号交叉口为研究对象,利用视频观测法,采集黄灯启亮时首停车和末行车至停车线的距离和速度,分析有无倒计时条件下驾驶员行驶行为决策,应用二元 Logit 回归分析方法,构建有无倒计时条件下停车概率模型,确定第二类困境区域上下边界,并探讨有无倒计时条件下第二类困境区域分布.结果显示,黄灯启亮时车辆至停车线距离和倒计时增大停车概率,但黄灯启亮时车辆速度减小停车概率;倒计时条件下第二类困境区域移向停车线,但其长度仍为24.1 m.因此,倒计时不能缩小黄灯第二类困境区域.然而,确定第二类困境区域边界过程中未考虑倒计时与其他变量之间的相互作用,这可能导致低估倒计时的效果,后续研究将予以改进.      

Investigating fatal and injury crash patterns of teen drivers with unsupervised learning algorithms

Teenagers have been emphasized as a critical driver population class because of their overrepresentation in fatal and injury crashes. The conventional parametric approaches rest on few predefined assumptions, which might not always be valid considering the complicated nature of teen drivers' crash characteristics that are reflected by multidimensional crash datasets. Also, individual attributes may be more speculative when combined with other factors. This research employed joint correspondence analysis (JCA) and association rule mining (ARM) to investigate the fatal and injury crash patterns of at-fault teen drivers (aged 15 to 19 years) in Louisiana. The unsupervised learning algorithms can explore meaningful associations among crash categories without restricting the nature of variables. The analyses discover intriguing associations to understand the potential causes and effects of crashes. For example, alcohol impairment results in fatal crashes with passengers, daytimes severe collisions occur to unrestrained drivers who have exceeded the posted speed limits, and adverse weather conditions are associated with moderate injury crashes. The findings also reveal how the behavior patterns connected with teen driver crashes, such as distracted driving in the morning hours, alcohol intoxication or using cellphone in pickup trucks, and so on. The research results can lead to effectively targeted teen driver education programs to mitigate risky driving maneuvers. Also, prioritizing crash attributes of key interconnections can help to develop practical safety countermeasures. Strategy that covers multiple interventions could be more effective in curtailing teenagers' crash risk.     

Age and road safety performance: Focusing on elderly and young drivers

The existing literature on young and elderly drivers indicates that they have the highest crash risks compared to other age groups of drivers. This study improves our understanding of the risk factors contributing to young and elderly drivers' elevated crash risk by examining self-report data from the E-Survey of Road User's Safety Attitudes (ESRA). The primary objective of this study is to compare the attitudes and behaviours of young, elderly, and middle-age drivers in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The main focus is on the practice of driving while distracted by mobile phones and driving while fatigued, as these are two dangerous behaviours that demonstrate the impact age may have. The analyses consistently showed that there are differences in the responses attributable to age. In all regions, drivers aged 18–21 years consistently reported higher rates of distracted and fatigued driving and higher rates of perceived social and personal acceptability of these behaviours than drivers aged 35–54 years. Elderly drivers aged 65+ years reported even lower rates of these behaviours and acceptability. Young drivers were also the least likely to believe that distraction and fatigue are frequent causes of road crashes, while elderly drivers were the most likely to believe this. This pattern with respect to age repeats in the support for policy measures as well; young drivers are least likely to support zero tolerance policies for mobile phone use when driving, while elderly drivers are the most likely to support this measure. Multivariate logistic regression modeling confirmed that elderly drivers were the least likely to engage in the use of mobile phones while driving or driving while fatigued. Statistically significant results showed that the middle-age group was less likely than young drivers to read a text message/email or check social media while driving and driving while fatigued.     

Assessment of the effectiveness of connected vehicle weather and work zone warnings in improving truck driver safety

Improving work zone safety remains a prime challenge for the transportation sector in the United States. In particular, the frequency and severity of work zone crashes involving large trucks in rural freeways are alarming. Lack of compliance with the instructions provided at work zones results in increased crash risk. In-vehicle advanced warning systems enabled by Connected Vehicle (CV) technology have the potential to prompt appropriate driver response, make navigation more predictable, and improve overall work zone safety. This study falls under the umbrella of the WYDOT Connected Vehicle Pilot Program and seeks to investigate the impacts of the Pilot's real-time weather and work zone notifications on the behavior of truck drivers in rural freeway work zone settings under poor visibility. Twenty professional truck drivers participated in this simulator study. The driving scenarios were designed to mimic the driving conditions experienced on Wyoming Interstate 80. Findings suggest that exposure to the CV notifications has promising safety benefits manifested in improved driver behavior and response. Furthermore, both the weather and work zone notifications acquired high approval from the participants in terms of usefulness and ease of understanding. Nonetheless, the display of multiple work zone warnings on the Human Machine Interface may had introduced little to moderate distraction for some participants. Overall, this study brings forth valuable lessons that are being funneled to support informed decision making to enhance the Pilot's existing Human Machine Interface design.     

Intelligent speed adaptation: Preliminary results of on-road study in Penang,Malaysia

The first field experiment with intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) in Malaysia was held in December 2010 in the State of Penang. Eleven private cars were instrumented with an advisory system. The system used in the present study included a vocal warning message and a visual text message that is activated when the driver attempts to exceed the speed limit. When the driver decreases the speed, the warning stops; otherwise it is continuously repeated. The test drivers drove the vehicles for three months with the installed system, and the speed was continuously logged in all vehicles. The warning was however only activated in the second month of the three month period. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of an advisory ISA on driving speed, traffic safety, and drivers' attitude, behavior, and acceptance of the system. To examine these effects, both the survey and the logged speed data were analyzed and explored. The results show a significant reduction in the mean, maximum and 85th percentile speed due to the use of the system. However, there was no long-lasting effect on the speed when the system was deactivated. In the post-trial survey, drivers declared that the system helped them well in following the speed limits and that it assisted them in driving more comfortably. Furthermore, the warning method was more accepted compared to a supportive system, such as active accelerator pedal (AAP). After the trial, most drivers were willing to keep an ISA system.     

Assessing the effect of inattention-related error and anger in driving on road accidents among Iranian heavy vehicle drivers

Extensive studies have examined the effect of variables such as demographic characteristics, insomnia, and working conditions of drivers individually on inattention-related error as well as expression of anger in driving. Nevertheless, so far no study has tested the concurrent effect of these factors on crashes. This study has dealt with indirect investigation of the effect of variables including demographic characteristics, insomnia, and working conditions of drivers on inattention-related error and expression of anger in driving (as mediation model). Next, the effect of these two variables on the probability of incidence of road crashes has been assessed among truck drivers. For this purpose, 780 Iranian truck drivers were interviewed by validated questionnaires including insomnia severity index (ISI), attention related driving errors scale (ARDES), and driving anger expression (DAX). To confirm the validity of these questionnaires, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used. Next, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for investigating the relationships between these latent variables and truck drivers' demographic characteristics, working conditions and their crash involvement. SEM results indicated that as the severity of insomnia among drivers increased, they committed more inattention-related errors, and also expressed more anger during driving. Generally, the results of this study indicated that with increase in the extent of experience and safety knowledge of drivers and improvement in their working conditions and their sleep status, it is possible to reduce inattention-related error and expression of anger during driving among heavy vehicle drivers.     

Drivers' perceptions regarding speeding and driving on urban residential streets with a 30 km/h speed limit

Previous studies have shown very little information regarding drivers' opinions, attitudes and behaviours with respect to speeding and driving on urban residential streets with a 30 km/h speed limit. The present research aims to address this issue by conducting a questionnaire study with a sample of 367 Japanese drivers. The results showed that drivers tended to have positive beliefs about complying with the 30 km/h speed limit and understand the negative consequences of speeding; however, a majority of the drivers considered breaking the speed limit as a way to reduce their travel time. While the extent of speeding was found to be very serious, a number of drivers still supported the use of a 30 km/h speed limit on residential streets and favoured protecting the right of vulnerable street users. The logistic regression models developed in this study identified that the drivers who did not support the 30 km/h speed limit were associated with those who had committed traffic-law violations, who had negative beliefs about complying with the speed limit, who did not consider residents' opinions, who believed it is acceptable for them to drive at a high speed, and who felt it difficult to refrain from speeding. With regard to anti-speeding countermeasures, under drivers' point of view, streets should be designed to make the 30 km/h speed limit more credible, although this study also showed evidence supporting the application of public awareness programmes and social campaigns as speeding interventions. In addition, this research investigated drivers' speed choices in various specific driving circumstances, and six underlying factors affecting drivers' speed choices were determined. On the basic of the findings, the implications and suggestions for speeding interventions were also discussed.     

老年驾驶人在交叉口的视觉特性（双语出版）

机动车驾驶人主要通过视觉搜索行为获取交通信息,为了分析老年驾驶人进入道路交叉口的视觉特性,建立了5个道路交叉口的虚拟场景,并进行了驾驶模拟试验,采集了21名老年驾驶人和17名中青年驾驶人进入交叉口的眼动数据。应用动态聚类法将驾驶人的视野平面划分为5个注视区域;在此基础上对比分析了2组驾驶人进入交叉口的注视特性、扫视特性、注视转移概率和注视平稳分布概率;并通过灰色关联度矩阵分析了影响注意转移行为的因素。分析结果表明：老年驾驶人对非行驶方向上的注视区域的注意都相对较差,2组驾驶人的注视持续时间、扫视幅度和扫视平均速度存在较大的差异,其中老年驾驶人的扫视幅度和扫视速度明显低于中青年驾驶人,而且老年驾驶人的注视点分布在车辆正前方区域的平稳分布概率为80.7%,比中青年驾驶人的69.3%高11.4%,并且具有显著性差异,说明老年驾驶人注视转移模式的灵活性相对中青年驾驶人较差。