Factors influencing crash involvement during early years of owning a new vehicle

Though automobile manufacturers are investing efforts to make newer vehicles safer to drive, an element of uncertainty with the new vehicle seems to persist with the drivers during the early years of ownership. This could be due to a lack of familiarity of the vehicle's power, dimensions or available technologies/features. While the uncertainty in itself is a potential cause of a crash, it is important for the policy-makers, practitioners, and automobile manufacturers to understand the factors that could further aggravate the problem. This research focuses on identifying the factors influencing the likelihood of getting involved in a crash and its severity when driving a new vehicle. Crash data for North Carolina for the years 2013 to 2018 (six years) was used develop partial proportionality odds models, compute the odds ratios, analyze the effects of explanatory variables, and identify factors influencing crashes by the age of the vehicle. The likelihood of getting involved in a severe or moderate injury crash when driving a new vehicle is less for drivers in the age group ≤19 years. Erratic driving behavior (like making wide turns, weaving and swerving in traffic, driving with headlights off, driving on center-line or lane-line, etc.) and speeding increase the risk of getting involved in a moderate injury crash when driving a new vehicle. Likewise, the odds of getting involved in a crash are high on weekends and in adverse weather conditions when driving a new vehicle. They are higher when driving a new motorcycle, heavy vehicle or farm machinery. The findings help policy-makers and practitioners formulate strategies to educate drivers on factors influencing crash risk when driving a new vehicle. Further, automobile manufacturers can establish guidance programs and documentation that explain what to expect when buying and driving a new vehicle.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Evaluation of risk factors for road accidents under mixed traffic: Case study on Indian highways

This paper presents an evaluation of risk factors for highway crashes under mixed traffic conditions. The basis of selecting study sites was abutting land use, roadway, and traffic characteristics. Accordingly, the study selected thirteen segments on the existing highway network in the state of West Bengal of India, covering a wide spectrum of such road attributes. A systematic investigation based on site-specific accident data to capture the highway sections' safety features revealed that the crash rate has steadily increased for years with traffic regardless of roadway category and conditions. A number of risk factors that affect road accidents were identified; they are mid-block access, pavement and shoulder conditions, vehicle involvement, time of day, and road configuration, i.e., two and multi-lane. The empirical observation indicates that the crash rate is relatively lower on multi-lane highways; however, the severity of any crash on such a road is relatively high. Notably, the crash frequencies on such roads are less during daylight hours due to the lane-based unidirectional traffic movement. This is quite the opposite during nighttime when drivers exhibit an inability to meet traffic contingencies, thereby increasing crash risk. The majority of crashes on two-lane highways are, on the other hand, due to unsafe driving manoeuvers. The study also observed that frequent mid-block accesses and poor shoulder conditions reduce scopes to rectify driving errors and increase crash risk as a consequence. The paper subsequently suggests proactive approaches to identify safety deficits at the time of planning and designing.     

Driver behavior formulation in intersection dilemma zones with phone use distraction via a logit-Bayesian network hybrid approach

Use of cellular phone while driving is one of the top contributing factors that induce traffic crashes, resulting in significant loss of life and property. A dilemma zone is a circumstance near signalized intersections where drivers hesitate when making decisions related to their driving behaviors. Therefore, the dilemma zone has been identified as an area with high crash potential. This article utilizes a logit-based Bayesian network (BN) hybrid approach to investigate drivers' decision patterns in a dilemma zone with phone use, based on experimental data from driving simulations from the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS). Using a logit regression model, five variables were found to be significant in predicting drivers' decisions in a dilemma zone with distractive phone tasks: older drivers (50–60 years old), yellow signal length, time to stop line, handheld phone tasks, and driver gender. The identified significant variables were then used to train a BN model to predict drivers' decisions at a dilemma zone and examine probabilistic impacts of these variables on drivers' decisions. The analysis results indicate that the trained BN model was effective in driver decision prediction and variable influence extraction. It was found that older drivers, a short yellow signal, a short time to stop line, nonhandheld phone tasks, and female drivers are factors that tend to result in drivers proceeding through intersections in a dilemma zone with phone use distraction. These research findings provide insight in understanding driver behavior patterns in a dilemma zone with distractive phone tasks.     

Contribution of traffic behavior surveys for monitoring safety performance indicators in Germany: Case of mobile phone use while driving

Behavioral determinants in the form of safety performance indicators (SPIs) are increasingly being applied in addition to road traffic crash statistics to evaluate road safety. These SPIs help understand driving behaviors and adopt preventive measures for crashes. Behavior-explaining determinants, including attitude or subjective norms, are defined in the theory of planned behavior and are collected through surveys. In this study, data from three traffic behavior surveys, conducted in Germany, were employed, taking the example of mobile phone use while driving, which causes distraction and represents a road safety risk. The surveys differ in their methodology and results. While the Traffic Climate in Germany has been surveying the determinants of mobile phone use in a representative sample for several years, the E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes (ESRA) is conducted in parallel in several countries and allows for comparison with Germany. The survey by the International Association of Traffic and Safety Science (IATSS) only included the group of young drivers in Germany. All three surveys demonstrate that although attitudes and subjective norms tend to be negative, mobile phones are nevertheless used while driving. Major differences exist depending on the mode of use (hands-free calling, texting) and recent developments. Thus, regularly surveying the determinants and mapping the latest developments in terms of content is critical. Together, these surveys provide comprehensive insights into the topic and enable prevention approaches, such as the concrete communication of information to young drivers and the emphasis on dangers, even during the hands-free use of mobile phones while driving.     

城市快速路匝道合流区车辆交互行为模式

在城市快速路匝道合流区,驾驶任务难度主要来自于车辆与其周边车辆之间的动态交互,目前对这种交互行为的特征和机理的认识还不十分清楚。基于从无人机视频中提取的高精度车辆轨迹数据,提取出表征车辆交互行为的指标TTC和GAP,并结合速度、加速度、车道位置等其他指标,对车辆的交互过程加以刻画,从中获得了大量交互行为实例,并在此基础上归纳总结出9种典型的车辆交互行为模式。通过分析各模式特征发现：即使在相同的外部环境下,车辆交互行为模式也可能存在差异,这表明交互行为不仅与车辆之间的相对位置、时空距离、速度状态等环境因素有关,还与驾驶人的应对能力、动机及风险意识等认知心理有关;另外,不同的交互模式面临的风险不同,并且该风险既可能是周边车辆行为发生改变而被迫卷入,也可能是驾驶人自身主动寻求的结果;9种不同类型的交互行为模式,构成了驾驶人自行感知的4种风险状态互相转换的具体实现形式;在驾驶过程中,驾驶人努力寻找契机并选择某种交互行为模式在各个风险状态之间来回切换,并非仅由心理压力较大的危险态向压力较小的自由态转换,也会发生反向转换,前者主要由降低事故风险和减少认知努力的动机驱动,后者旨在追求行车效率,但同时驾驶人会付出更多的认知努力以对抗风险的增加,这充分反映了驾驶人试图在行车效率、事故风险与认知努力三方面取得平衡。研究成果对深化理解驾驶行为及其背后的决策机制具有积极意义。     

自然驾驶状态下重型工程车驾驶人驾驶稳定性分析

重型工程车行驶过程中事故风险大,发生恶性事故的概率高,易造成重大生命和经济损失,其运输安全管理问题面临挑战.为探究重型工程车驾驶人驾驶稳定性与相关影响因素之间的关系,开展重型工程车自然驾驶试验,提取车辆运动学、道路条件、驾驶人状态和工作时间等数据;采用速度均值和速度标准差表征驾驶人驾驶稳定性,以睡眠模式、道路线形、道路...     

Modeling injury severity of crashes involving trucks: Capturing and exploring risk factors associated with land use and demographic in addition to crash,driver, and on-network characteristics

Nearly 499,000 motor vehicle crashes involving trucks were reported across the United States in 2018, out of which 22% resulted in fatalities and injuries. Given the growing economy and demand for trucking in the future, it is crucial to identify the risk factors to understand where and why the likelihood of getting involved in a severe or moderate injury crash with a truck is higher. The focus of this research, therefore, is on developing a methodology, capturing and integrating data, exploring, and identifying risk factors associated with surrounding land use and demographic characteristics in addition to crash, driver, and on-network characteristics by modeling injury severity of crashes involving trucks. Crash data for Mecklenburg County in North Carolina from 2013 to 2017 was used to develop partial proportional odds model and identify risk factors influencing injury severity of crashes involving trucks. The findings indicate that dark lighting condition, inclement weather condition, the presence of double yellow or no-passing zone, road sections with speed limit >40 mph and curves, and driver fatigue, impairment, and inattention have a significant influence on injury severity of crashes involving trucks. These outcomes indicate the need for effective geometric design and improved visibility to reduce the injury severity of crashes involving trucks. The likelihood of a severe or moderate injury crash involving a truck is also high in areas with high employment, government, light commercial, and light industrial land uses. The findings can be used to identify potential risk areas, proactively plan and prioritize the allocation of resources to improve safety of transportation system users in these areas.     

驾驶过程中手机使用行为数据采集及分析

驾驶过程中使用手机的行为存在安全隐患,是当今导致交通安全事故的原因之一。文章借助于信息技术开发出采集使用手机行为数据的App,从真实数据出发,客观地分析驾驶员在开车过程中使用手机这一不良驾驶行为的覆盖程度及危险程度,并提出将手机使用行为作为驾驶风险评价因子。     

不同干预方式下右转车辆避让行人效果研究

为探究车辆右转过程中不同干预方式对驾驶人未规避行人行为的改善情况,设计听觉警示、触觉警示、形式惩罚、利益惩罚和道德惩罚5种干预方式,分为控制组、警示组和惩罚组,试验基于眼动仪和模拟驾驶仪展开。定义注视次数、注视点分布信息熵、平均注视时间、视线转移路径、区域关注概率和瞳孔面积6项指标表征驾驶人眼动特性,提取制动踏板深度比例、行车速度2项指标反映车辆运行状态。经方差分析确定各干预方式差异的显著性水平,从注视特性指标、扫视特性指标、瞳孔面积指标、驾驶人制动指标和机动车制动指标5个方面分析不同干预下驾驶人视觉及操纵响应特征,并收集被试反馈的追踪问卷。试验结果表明：不同干预方式对右转车辆未避让行人均有规范作用,各组干预效果由强到弱依次为利益惩罚、道德惩罚、形式惩罚、触觉警示和听觉警示。利益惩罚性主动干预效果优势显著,注视点分布信息熵最高为0.74,右侧平均注视次数为6次,平均注视时间增加至13.25 s,驾驶人对右侧注视概率增加至0.403,瞳孔面积明显增大,制动踏板深度比例维持在0.8,右转车速下降至20 km·h^-1以下,谨慎驾驶程度和避让行人意识均有提升。一致性追踪问卷调查表明,结束试验时32%的驾驶人对利益惩罚印象深刻,驾驶人对其主观认可度高达83%,具有较强的推广性;该干预方式可帮助驾驶人规范驾驶行为,树立避让行人的安全驾驶意识。     

Âge des conducteurs de voiture et accidents de la route: Quel risque pour les seniors ?

Increasing life expectancy and the fact that the baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age are increasing the size of the elderly population. As road users, seniors have quite specific travel behaviours, and this has an impact on accidents. This paper adopts a quantitative approach with a view to showing the specific characteristics of elderly drivers as regards travel, accidents and road risk. Towards this end it surveys a number of previous studies and takes advantage of recent data to update some of the findings of these contain. Some road risk indicators are described, and attention is paid to the methodological bias inherent in the methods employed. Our analysis shows that the presence of seniors on the roads is growing as the proportion, particularly of the women, in this group who are accustomed to driving increases. They nevertheless cover fewer kilometres than other drivers and develop compensatory strategies, for example not driving when conditions are difficult or driving more slowly than other drivers. When they have accidents they tend to be more severe because of their greater vulnerability. They have higher crash involvement at intersections as a result of detection and estimation difficulties in the driving task. The excess crash risk per kilometre driven for seniors that was observed a few years ago is tending to fall, or even disappear, if the low mileage bias is taken into account.     

Traffic safety culture of professional drivers in the State of Qatar

Professional drivers play a significant role within the traffic system of the State of Qatar. With developing infrastructure, the need for professional drivers is growing. However, knowledge is lacking about their perception of traffic safety. Therefore, this study investigates the personal acceptance of risky driving and suggested traffic laws among this specific group of drivers, in order to create understanding about their likelihood to commit certain risky driving behaviors and their resistance to the implementation of certain traffic laws. The aim of this study is to establish which personal attributes of professional drivers in Qatar could influence a high likelihood to commit risky driving behaviors, estimating which specific groups of professional drivers impose the highest risk to violate certain traffic laws. Results indicate that transportation mode, origin and years of driving experience are all personal attributes that have a significant impact on the professional driver's risk to commit risky driving behaviors and their opposition to the implementation of related traffic laws. Distressing results have been found for the high likelihood to violate speed in school zones and the high risk to be distracted by any type of phone use while driving, suggesting the need to put emphasize on these safety hazards during the training programs of professional drivers at professional driving schools in the State of Qatar.     

Crash risk factors associated with injury severity of teen drivers

This paper focuses on identifying crash risk factors associated with injury severity of teen drivers. Crash data obtained from the Highway Safety and Information System (HSIS) for the entire state of North Carolina, for years 2011 to 2013, was used for analysis and modeling. Among all the crashes during the study period, a total of 62,990 crashes involving teen drivers (15 to 19?years) were analyzed. A partial proportionality odds model was developed to identify factors contributing to injury severity of teen drivers. The results obtained indicate that teen drivers driving sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks are more likely to be severely injured when compared to teen drivers driving passenger cars. Teen drivers are more likely to be severely injured on weekdays, particularly during peak hours. The chances of teen drivers getting involved in severe injury crashes on Tuesdays and Fridays is higher when compared to Sundays. Age, gender, road configuration, terrain, adverse weather condition, and access control are observed to have a significant effect on teen driver's injury severity.     

Vehicle dynamics testing in motion based driving simulators

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the potential of a motion-based driving simulator in the field of vehicle dynamics testing, specifically for heavy vehicles. For this purpose, a case study was prepared embodying the nature of a truck dynamics test setup. The goal was to investigate if the drivers in the simulator could identify the handling differences owed to changes in vehicle parameters, while driving the simulated trucks. Results show that the drivers could clearly identify the differences in vehicle behaviour for most of the performed tests, which motivates further investigative work in this area and exposes the feasibility of heavy vehicle dynamics testing in simulators.     

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.     

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.     

基于驾驶特性的超车模型研究

超车行驶作为驾驶人行车过程中重要的行为之一,与行驶安全性有着直接的联系。为建立符合驾驶人操作习惯的超车模型,本文通过实车试验采集不同驾驶人在高速公路的超车行驶数据,并以此采用多项式回归拟合建立基于驾驶人操作特性的超车模型,最后利用prescan软件对提出的超车模型进行了仿真分析,结果表明建立的超车模型能够真实地反映驾驶人超车过程中的操作习惯,为超车行为的研究提供了可靠的理论依据。     

基于安全可靠性的多类用户交通分配模型

为探究出行安全对用户出行选择行为的影响,提出了考虑事故风险成本和旅行时间的多类用户交通分配模型。针对事故发生的随机性特征,定义了路径出行安全可靠性概念,并以此计算用户的事故风险成本预算,体现出行者的安全偏好。基于考虑事故机会和事故风险的基础事故预测模型,针对路段和交叉口的不同特征,分别定义了路段和交叉口的事故风险成本分布。构建的交叉口事故风险成本模型,体现了交叉口不同转向的事故风险成本的差异性。为了求解基于安全可靠性的多类用户交通分配模型,采用路径配流法和相继平均法设计了相应的求解算法,并通过算例分析了模型和算法的有效性。研究结果表明：安全可靠性在用户出行选择中具有重要影响。当在广义出行费用中考虑事故风险成本时,出行者会更多地选择事故风险成本较小的路径;不同风险倾向的用户会有不同的选择特征,保守型出行者倾向于选择路径事故风险成本标准差相对较小的路径,即事故风险成本波动小的路径,而中立型出行者倾向于选择事故风险成本均值相对较低的路径;考虑交叉口的事故风险成本与否会直接影响流量分配结果,即路径交叉口数量和转向的差异性同样会影响出行者的选择。所提出的模型对于客流预测和网络安全评价与管理具有潜在的应用价值。