Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
Dokumenttyp
Sprache
- Englisch (97) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Sicherheit (97) (entfernen)
Technische Sicherheitsverbesserungen führen im Mensch-Maschine-System Straßenverkehr nicht zwangsläufig zu Sicherheitsgewinnen. Von den Einstellungen und Verhaltensgewohnheiten der Fahrzeugführer hängt es ab, ob vergrößerte sicherheitspotenziale adäquat genutzt oder durch Verhaltensanpassungen wieder verspielt werden. Anhand ausgewählter theoretischer Modelle und empirischer Forschungsergebnisse (OECD-Studie Behavioural adaptations to changes in the road transport system) wird dies diskutiert, und es werden Kriterien zur Vermeidung unerwünschter Adaptationen abgeleitet, die bereits bei der Planung und Realisierung technischer Verbesserungen Berücksichtigung finden sollten.
Structured road markings are becoming popular as edge line on high speed roads, ensuring night time visibility (retroreflection) during rain. These markings are often also "audio-tactile": vehicles (un)intentionally driving over it may produce much more tyre/road sound, which may be observed in the vehicle but also in the vicinity. The sound increase inside the car can be considered as a positive side effect, as it alarms the driver and may be very helpful for the prevention of "doze off" traffic accidents. The sound increase perceived outside the car however, may have a positive aspect as it can warn people on the emergency lane about the approaching vehicle, but it may as well annoy people living around. A method for the assessment of the acoustic properties of audio-tactile markings has been developed. It is mainly based on the "Close Proximity" (CPX) method, an ISO method intended for the acoustic assessment of pavements. The results of measurement campaigns with CPX trailers in Belgium and Germany according to a specially designed procedure are presented. The feasibility of the method is discussed. The research has been carried out in the frame of the standardization activities of the CEN working group CEN/TC226/WG2 "Horizontal signalization".
A methodology to derive precision requirements for automatic emergency braking (AEB) test procedures
(2015)
AEB Systems are becoming important to increase traffic safety. Test procedures in testing for consumer information, manufacturer self-certification and technical regulations are used to ensure a certain minimum performance of these systems. Consequently, test robustness, test efficiency and finally test cost become increasingly important. The key driver for testing effort and test costs is the required repeatable accuracy in a test design - the higher the accuracy, the higher effort and test costs. On the other hand, the performance of active safety systems depends on time discretization in the environment perception and other sub-systems: for instance, typical sensors supply information with a cycle time of 50 - 150 ms. Time discretization results in an inherent spread of system performance, even if the test conditions are perfectly equal. The proposed paper shows a methodology to derive requirements for a test setup (e.g. test repeats, use of driving robots, ...) as function of AEB system generation and rating method (e.g. Euro NCAP points awarded, pass/fail, ...). While the methodology itself is applicable to AEB pedestrian and AEB Car-Car scenarios, due to the lack of sufficient test data for AEB Car-Car, the focus of this paper is on AEB pedestrian scenarios. A simulation model for the performance of AEB Pedestrian systems allows for the systematic variation of the discretization time as well as test condition accuracy. This model is calibrated with test results of 4 production vehicles for AEB Pedestrian, all fully tested by BASt according to current Euro NCAP test protocols. Selected parameters to observe the accuracy of the test setup in case of pedestrian AEB is the calculated impact position of pedestrian on the vehicle front (as if no braking would have occurred), and the test vehicle speed accuracy. These variable was shown in real tests to be repeatable in the range of ± 5 cm and ± 0,25 km/h, respectively, with a fully robotized state of the art test setup. The sensitivity of AEB performance (measured in achieved speed reduction as well as overall rating result according to current Euro NCAP rating methods) towards discretization and the sensitivity of performance towards test accuracy then is compared to identify economic yet robust test concepts. These comparisons show that the available repeatability accuracy of current test setups is more than sufficient for today's AEB system capabilities. Time discretization problems dominate the performance spread especially in test scenarios with a limited pedestrian dummy reveal time (e.g. child behind obstruction, running adult scenarios with low car speeds). This would allow to increase test tolerances to decrease test cost. A methodology which allows to derive the required tolerances in active safety tests might be valuable especially for NCAPs of emerging countries that do not have the necessary equipment (e.g. driving robots, positioning units) available for the full-scale and high tolerance EuroNCAP active safety procedures yet still want to rate active safety systems, thus improving the global safety.
Euro NCAP will start to test pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking Systems (AEB) from 2016 on. Test procedures for these tests had been developed by and discussed between the AsPeCSS project and other initiatives (e.g. the AEB group with Thatcham Research from the UK). This paper gives an overview on the development process from the AsPeCSS side, summarizes the current test and assessment procedures as of March 2015 and shows test and assessment results of five cars that had been tested by BASt for AsPeCSS and the respective manufacturer. The test and assessment methodology seems appropriate to rate the performance of different vehicles. The best test result - still one year ahead of the test implementation - is around 80%, while the worst rating result is around 10%. Other vehicles are between these boundaries.
The EVERSAFE project addressed many safety issues for electric vehicles including the crash and post-crash safety. The project reviewed the market shares of full electric and hybrid vehicles, latest road traffic accident data involving severely damaged electric vehicles in Europe, and identified critical scenarios that may be particular for electric vehicles. Also, recent results from international research on the safety of electric vehicles were included in this paper such as results from performed experimental abuse cell and vehicle crash tests (incl. non-standardized tests with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the BMW i3), from discussions in the UN IG REESS and the GTR EVS as well as guidelines (handling procedures) for fire brigades from Germany, Sweden and the United States of America. Potential hazards that might arise from damaged electric vehicles after severe traffic accidents are an emerging issue for modern vehicles and were summarized from the perspective of different national approaches and discussed from the practical view of fire fighters. Recent rescue guidelines were reviewed and used as the basis for a newly developed rescue procedure. The paper gives recommendations in particular towards fire fighters, but also to vehicle manufacturers and first-aiders.
Since the beginning of the testing activities related to passive pedestrian safety, the width of the test area being assessed regarding its protection level for the lower extremities of vulnerable road users has been determined by geometrical measurements at the outer contour of the vehicle. During the past years, the trend of a decreased width of the lower extremity test and assessment area realized by special features of the outer vehicle frontend design could be observed. This study discusses different possibilities for counteracting this development and thus finding a robust definition for this area including all structures with high injury risk for the lower extremities of vulnerable road users in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle. While Euro NCAP is addressing the described problem by defining a test area under consideration of the stiff structures underneath the bumper fascia, a detailed study was carried out on behalf of the European Commission, aiming at a robust, worldwide harmonized definition of the bumper test area for legislation, taking into account the specific requirements of different certification procedures of the contracting parties of the UN/ECE agreements from 1958 and 1998. This paper details the work undertaken by BASt, also serving as a contribution to the TF-BTA of the UN/ECE GRSP, towards a harmonized test area in order to better protect the lower extremities of vulnerable road users. The German In-Depth Accident Database GIDAS is studied with respect to the potential benefit of a revised test area. Several practical options are discussed and applied to actual vehicles, investigating the differences and possible effects. Tests are carried out and the results studied in detail. Finally, a proposal for a feasible definition is given and a suggestion is made for solving possible open issues at angled surfaces due to rotation of the impactor. The study shows that, in principle, there is a need for the entire vehicle width being assessed with regard to the protection potential for lower extremities of vulnerable road users. It gives evidence on the necessity for a robust definition of the lower extremity test area including stiff and thus injurious structures at the vehicle frontend, especially underneath the bumper fascia. The legal definition of the lower extremity test area will shortly be almost harmonized with the robust Euro NCAP requirements, as already endorsed by GRSP, taking into account injurious structures and thus contributing to the enhanced protection of vulnerable road users. After finalization of the development of a torso mass for the flexible pedestrian legform impactor (FlexPLI) it is recommended to consider again the additional benefit of assessing the entire vehicle width.
During the past five years, a Euro NCAP technical working group on pedestrian safety has been working on improving test and assessment procedures for enhanced passive pedestrian safety. After harmonizing the tools and procedures as much as possible with legislation, the work was mainly focused on the development of grid procedures for the pedestrian body regions head, upper leg with pelvis and lower leg with knee. Furthermore, the test parameters for the head and the upper leg were revised, a new lower legform impactor was introduced and the injury thresholds were adjusted or, where necessary, the injury criteria were changed. Finally, the assessment limits and colour scheme were refined, widening the range and adding two more colours in order to provide a more detailed description of the pedestrian safety performance. By abstaining from an assessment based on a worst point selection philosophy, the improved test point determination procedures that were introduced during the years 2013 and 2014 give a more homogeneous, high resolution picture of the pedestrian safety performance of the vehicle frontends. By using a uniform grid for each test zone approximately 200 test points, evenly distributed within each area, can now be assessed per vehicle. The introduction of the flexible pedestrian legform impactor in 2014 enables a more realistic injury prediction of the knee and the tibia using a biofidelic test tool. With the new upper legform test that has been launched in 2015 the assessment in that area is now focusing on the injured body region instead of the injury causing vehicle part and thus is aligned with the approach in the remaining body regions head and lower leg. At the same time, a monitoring test with the headform impactor against the bonnet leading edge is closing the possible gap between the test areas to identify injury causing vehicle parts that moved out of focus due to the introduction of the new upper legform test. The paper describes the new test and assessment procedures with their underlying philosophy and gives an outlook in terms of open issues, specifying the needs for further improvement in the future. In parallel to the work of the pedestrian subgroup, a Euro NCAP working group on heavy vehicles introduced a set of protocol changes in 2011 that were related to the assessment of M1 vehicles derived from commercial vehicles, with a gross vehicle weight between 2.5 and 3.5 tons and 8 or 9 seats. The paper also investigates the applicability of the new pedestrian test and assessment procedures to heavy vehicles.
Per definition, SAE Level 2 (L2) Systems perform both the lateral and longitudinal vehicle motion control with the expectation that the driver completes the Object and Event Detection and Response (OEDR). Since every system performs also parts of the OEDR itself and this amount of OEDR also varies between different L2 systems depending on the intended system design, it cannot be taken for granted that drivers automatically understand their roles and responsibilities in interaction with the system. Especially highly reliable L2 systems performing a greater amount of OEDR while at the same time requiring only little driver input over time can make it difficult for drivers to correctly identify their role and responsibility. Until now, neither application-oriented assessment methods nor design guidelines for OEDR related system design features taking safety of human-machine-interaction into account are available. The objective is therefore to deliver a standardized tool for the assessment of human-machine-interaction-related safety of vehicles with L2 systems currently available on the market. To evaluate the impact of different system design aspects on safety of human-machine-interaction and also to be able to differentiate between system designs, a holistic, standardized and application-oriented assessment procedure is proposed. The novel tablet-based assessment tool focuses not only on available standards and guidelines but measures also concrete user behaviour and user understanding in interaction with the L2 systems. The aim is to gain further insights which cannot be measured directly by simple checklist instruments. For preparation, based on international standards, literature reviews and expert consultations, a first checklistbased expert-evaluation for currently available vehicles with L2 systems was developed. These assessments are focusing on different sources of user information (e.g. user manual), human-machine-interface design as well as the prevention of unintended use by different driver monitoring techniques. The checklist-tool was developed in cooperation with experts of different EuroNCAP test laboratories and validated in a common expert workshop to gain high level of standardization and agreement. However, to assess safety of human-machine-interaction holistically beyond these rather explicit forms of information design criteria, also implicit forms of drivervehicle-communication via vehicle dynamics, functional behavior or reliability play an important role and should be taken into account. Therefore, the main and novel methodological aim is to consider also interaction related processes regarding user´s understanding of roles and responsibilities when applying automated driving functions as well as user´s awareness of automation modes or traffic situations in the modular tablet-based assessment tool.
To assess occupant safety in a crash test, criteria associating the measurements made with a crash test dummy to injury risk are necessary. To enable better protection of elderly car occupants the objective of this study was to develop improved thoracic injury criteria for the THOR average male dummy. The development of these criteria is usually based on matched dummy and Post Mortem Human Surrogate (PMHS) tests by relating the obtained PMHS injuries to dummy measurements. This approach is limited, since only a few tests in relevant loading conditions are available and any new test series requires high efforts to be performed due to their complexity and costs. To overcome these limitations and to extend the dataset for the development of THOR dummy chest injury risk functions a simulation-based approach was applied within the EC funded project SENIORS (Safety Enhanced Innovations For older Road Users - www.seniors-project.eu). Within this study frontal impact sled simulations with an FE model representing a THOR average male dummy and matched simulations with a human body model (HBM) representing an elderly car occupant were carried out. The HBM used for this study was the THUMS TUC with modified rib cage, which was developed in SENIORS. The modifications included material and geometry changes aiming to represent an elderly car occupant. The rib fracture risk was predicted with a deterministic approach whereby a rib was considered broken when the strain exceeded an age-dependent threshold. Furthermore, a probabilistic method was applied to predict the probability of sustaining a certain number of fractured ribs by comparing local strain values to the distribution of cortical rib ultimate strain. By relating the output from the HBM simulations to a multi-point dummy injury criterion, injury risk curves were calculated by statistical methods. The wide range of loading conditions resulted in the desired range of injuries and THOR ATD output. The number of fractured ribs predicted by the HBM based on the deterministic prediction method was between 0 and 15. Furthermore, the probabilistic risk for the number of rib fractures equal or greater than two, three or four was calculated for each load case. The THOR rib deflection criterion Rmax was between 18 and 56 mm, while the PC Score was in the range of 2.5 to 7.2. Based on these outputs new risk curves for the predicted deterministic (AIS2+/3+) and probabilistic injury risk were calculated. The new curves show reasonable shapes and significance that provide trust in their application. The new risk curves are compared to risk curves obtained by traditional methods. The results were found similar to previous injury risk functions based on physical tests, which gives a high level of confidence in the chosen approach. The simulation-based approach of matched ATD model vs. HBM simulation was successfully applied. Rmax curves show a slightly better quality than the injury criterion PC Score.
Although cruise control (CC) is available for most cars, no studies have been found which examine how this automation system influences driving behaviour. However, a relatively large number of studies have examined adaptive cruise control (ACC) which compared to CC includes also a distance control. Besides positive effects with regard to a better compliance to speed limits, there are also indications of smaller distances to lead vehicles and slower responses in situations that require immediate braking. Similar effects can be expected for CC as this system takes over longitudinal control as well. To test this hypothesis, a simulator study was conducted at the German Aerospace Center. Twenty-two participants drove different routes (highway and motorway) under three different conditions (assisted by ACC, CC and manual driving without any system). Different driving scenarios were examined including a secondary task condition. On the one hand, both systems lead to lower maximum velocities and less speed limit violations. There was no indication that drivers shift more of their attention towards secondary tasks when driving with CC or ACC. However, there were delayed driver reactions in critical situations, e.g., in a narrow curve or a fog bank. These results give rise to some caution regarding the safety effects of these systems, especially if in the future their range of functionality (e.g., ACC Stop-and-Go) is further increased.
The "Autonomous driving on the roads of the future: Villa Ladenburg Project" by the Daimler und Benz-Stiftung looks at degrees of automation that will only become technically feasible in the distant future. The treatment of the legal questions in the present chapter therefore draws heavily on the description of the use cases, which begin to provide a concrete basis for evaluating individual issues. Uncertainties in predicting future technical developments can be expected and will have a commensurate impact on the assumptions and conclusions of this chapter. The resulting uncertainty is nevertheless unavoidable if one wants to press ahead with important interrelated issues. This chapter is therefore intended as a contribution to the debate on societal aspects of automated driving from a legal perspective and not as a legalistic evaluation of the subject. The consideration will largely focus on the situation within the context of current German law. The legal views expressed are those of the author and are based on nine years of experience in the field of driver assistance system research. In terms of the underlying conception presented here, the societal dimension of autonomous vehicles addressed in the present project goes well beyond the adjustments to the legal framework currently being called for in Germany. The following will examine the question of "societal acceptance" in the context of the legal questions raised by autonomous vehicles. This line of investigation is not immediately obvious and covers only a segment of the more thoroughgoing focus of the project.
The term driver assistance systems in the chapter title shall be understood to include vehicle automation. This chapter starts with a homogeneous and consistent classification and nomenclature of all kinds of driver assistance systems known and under discussion today (including vehicle automation). It thereby builds upon familiar classification schemes by the German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) and the standardization body SAE international. Detailed evaluation of the German legal situation for driver assistance systems and vehicle automation is provided in the following Sect. 2. In Sect. 3, an overview is given on the legal system in the US to reveal aspects relevant for vehicle automation. This is intended as initial information for those not acquainted to the US legal system which has been the first to regulate automation in several federal states. Finally, in Sect. 4, the current rating scheme of the European New Car Assessment Programme (EuroNCAP) is presented in comparison to legal instruments. The model of a consumer protection based approach proves to be a flexible instrument with great advantages in promoting new technologies. Technical vehicle regulations on the other hand rule minimum requirements. Both approaches are needed to achieve maximum vehicle safety.
Motorcycling is a fascinating kind of transportation. While the riders' direct exposure to the environment and the unique driving dynamics are essential to this fascination, they both cause a risk potential which is several times higher than when driving a car. This chapter gives a detailed introduction to the fundamentals of motorcycle dynamics and shows how its peculiarities and limitations place high demands on the layout of dynamics control systems, especially when cornering. The basic principles of dynamic stabilization and directional control are addressed along with four characteristic modes of instability (capsize, wobble, weave, and kickback). Special attention is given to the challenges of braking (brake force distribution, dynamic over-braking, kinematic instability, and brake steer torque induced righting behavior). It is explained how these challenges are addressed by state-of-the-art brake, traction, and suspension control systems in terms of system layout and principles of function. It is illustrated how the integration of additional sensors " essentially roll angle assessment " enhances the cornering performance in all three categories, fostering a trend to higher system integration levels. An outlook on potential future control systems shows exemplarily how the undesired righting behavior when braking in curves can be controlled, e.g., by means of a so-called brake steer torque avoidance mechanism (BSTAM), forming the basis for predictive brake assist (PBA) or even autonomous emergency braking (AEB). Finally, the very limited potential of brake and chassis control to stabilize yaw and roll motion during unbraked cornering accidents is regarded, closing with a promising glance at roll stabilization through a pair of gimbaled gyroscopes.
Cycling and designing for cyclist in Germany: an overview of road safety, research and guidelines
(2016)
Cycling is considered a social, eco-friendly, pollution-free, low noise and healthy activity and mode of transportation. There are currently around 67 million bicycles in Germany. This number is expected to increase in the near future with greater use of electromotive assisted bicycles. Regarding the expected increase, there should be additional attention given to road traffic accidents involving cyclists. In 2014, 396 cyclists were killed in road accidents in Germany, which is 12 % of all road fatalities. Also in 2014, Germany reported over 78,000 injuries to cyclists. The majority of the fatalities (about 58 %) and 83 % of the serious injuries to cyclists occurred in urban areas. This paper will examine three aspects concerning cyclists. First, the paper will show the main current developments, for example the National Cycling Plan 2020, the effects of the road safety programme and provide an analysis of the German national accident statistics. Second, the paper will give an overview of the regulations, guidelines for road traffic and designing of cycling facilities. Lastly, this study will detail the current and completed research in Germany addressing cyclist. For example, the paper will discuss the topic "Accidents between Turning-off Trucks and Cyclists" Accidents between right turning trucks and straight riding cyclists often show massive consequences. Accident severity is much higher than in other accidents. The situation is critical especially due to the fact that, in spite of the six mirrors that are mandatory for ensuring a minimum field of sight for the truck drivers, cyclists in some situations cannot be seen or are not seen by the driver. Either the cyclist is overlooked or is in a blind spot area that results from the turning manoeuvre of the truck. At present driver assistance systems are discussed that can support the driver in the turning situation by giving a warning when cyclists are riding parallel to the truck just before or in the turning manoeuvre. The paper will describe the requirements for turning assist systems for trucks. The outcome of the study is an overview of the accident situation between right turning trucks and straight driving cyclists in Germany as well as a corresponding test procedure for driver assistance systems. Below are several other projects which will be investigated, too: Accident Risk and Acceptance of Traffic-Rules by Cyclists ; Safety Improvement in Terms of Using Bicycle Paths in the Opposite Direction ; Cycling in Mixed-Traffic ; Observation of Pedal Electric Cycles Riders to Identify Safety Concerns. These three aspects will provide the current situation on the topic of cyclist safety in Germany.
Established in 1997, the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) provides consumers with a safety performance assessment for the majority of the most popular cars in Europe. Thanks to its rigorous crash tests, Euro NCAP has rapidly become an important driver safety improvement to new cars. After ten years of rating vehicles, Euro NCAP felt that a change was necessary to stay in tune with rapidly emerging driver assistance and crash avoidance systems and to respond to shifting priorities in road safety. A new overall rating system was introduced that combines the most important aspects of vehicle safety under a single star rating. The overall rating system has allowed Euro NCAP to continue to push for better fitment and higher performance for vehicles sold on the European market. In the coming years, the safety rating is expected to play an important role in the support of the roll-out of highly automated vehicles.
Fire incidents are among the most relevant for people in a tunnel. Therefore, it is important to be sufficiently prepared for such events. A large scale fire test is to be used to help evaluate the initial burning duration and the time it takes for the fire to spread to other vehicles in the tunnel, and in particular how long it takes for a truck carrying wooden pallets to catch fire, taking into consideration the extremely high temperatures. The goal, therefore, is to determine the time it takes for a fire to spread to other vehicles in the tunnel. In the large scale fire test, an accident in a tunnel with one-way traffic is simulated between a truck loaded with approximately 3.7 t of wooden Europol pallets and a passenger car. Directly behind each of the vehicles involved in the accident there is another car which stops at a distance of 1.0 m. Approximately 300 litres of burning diesel are discharged from the truck's fuel tank, which is simulated by using approximately 400 litres of isopropanol. A 10 m-² burning pool forms underneath the truck. Other objectives of the large scale fire test are the validation of the CFD models and the evaluation of the progression of the thermal release ratios estimated for the simulation. The thermal release ratios generated in the test are determined and evaluated using various models.
There is considerable evidence for the negative effects of driver distraction on road safety. In many experimental studies, drivers have been primarily viewed as passive receivers of distraction. Thus, there is a lack of research on the mediating role of their self-regulatory behavior. The aim of the current study was to compare drivers' performance when engaged in a system-paced secondary task with a self-paced version of this task and how both differed from baseline driving performance without distraction. Thirty-nine participants drove in a simulator while performing a secondary visual"manual task. One group of drivers had to work on this task in predefined situations under time pressure, whereas the other group was free to decide when to work on the secondary task (self-regulation group). Drivers' performance (e.g., lateral and longitudinal control, brake reaction times) was also compared with a baseline condition without any secondary task. For the system-paced secondary task, distraction was associated with high decrements in driving performance (especially in keeping the lateral position). No effects were found for the number of collisions, probably because of the lower driving speeds while distracted (compensatory behavior). For the self-regulation group, only small impairments in driving performance were found. Drivers engaged less in the secondary task during foreseeable demanding or critical driving situations. Overall, drivers in the self-regulation group were able to anticipate the demands of different traffic situations and to adapt their engagement in the secondary task, so that only small impairments in driving performance occurred. Because in real traffic drivers are mostly free to decide when to engage in secondary tasks, it can be concluded that self-regulation should be considered in driver distraction research to ensure ecological validity.
The levels of continuous vehicle automation have become common knowledge. They facilitate overall understanding of the issue. Yet, continuous vehicle automation described therein does not cover "automated driving" as a whole: Functions intervening temporarily in accident-prone situations can obviously not be classified by means of continuous levels. Continuous automation describes the shift in workload from purely human driven vehicles to full automation. Duties of the driver are assigned to the machine as automation levels rise. Emergency braking, e.g., is obviously discontinuous and intensive automation. It cannot be classified under this regime. The resulting absence of visibility of these important functions cannot satisfy " especially in the light of effect they take on traffic safety. Therefore, in order to reach a full picture of vehicle automation, a comprehensive approach is proposed that can map out different characteristics as "Principle of Operation" at top level. On this basis informing and warning functions as well as functions intervening only temporarily in near-accident situations can be described. To reach a complete picture, levels for the discontinuous, temporarily intervening functions are proposed " meant to be the counterpart of the continuous levels already in place. This results in a detailed and independent classification for accident-prone situations. This finally provides for the visibility these important functions deserve.
Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is a major health problem. Patients are increasingly treated with chronic opioid therapy (COT). Several laboratory studies have demonstrated that long-term use of opioids does not generally impair driving related skills. But there is still a lack of studies investigating on-the-road driving performance in actual traffic. The present study assessed the impact of COT on road-tracking and car-following performance in CNCP patients. Twenty CNCP patients, long-term treated with stable doses of opioid analgesics, and 19 healthy controls conducted standardized on-the-road driving tests in normal traffic. Performance of controls with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.5 g/L was used as a reference to define clinically relevant changes in driving performance. Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP), a measure of road-tracking control, was 2.57 cm greater in CNCP patients than in sober controls. This difference failed to reach statistical significance in a superiority test. Equivalence testing indicated that the 95% CI around the mean SDLP change was equivalent to the SDLP change seen in controls with a BAC of 0.5 g/L and did not include zero. When corrected for age differences between groups the 95% CI widened to include both the alcohol reference criterion and zero. No difference was found in car-following performance. Driving performance of CNCP patients did not significantly differ from that of controls due to large inter-individual variations. Hence in clinical practice determination of fitness to drive of CNCP patients who receive opioid treatments should be based on an individual assessment.
The field of safety in road tunnels has always been an important issue for operators, owners and the responsible authorities. After the tunnel accidents in 1999 the subject gained however in importance. On European level the Directive 2004/54 EC on "Minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans European Road network" has been published. This guideline has to be implemented into national law by all Member States. According to the guideline all Member States of the European Community shall develop a methodology for risk analyses to be applied in certain cases. For Germany, a standardized methodology for a probabilistic quantitative risk assessment has been worked out.
The goal of the project FIMCAR (Frontal Impact and Compatibility Assessment Research) was to define an integrated set of test procedures and associated metrics to assess a vehicle's frontal impact protection, which includes self- and partner-protection. For the development of the set, two different full-width tests (full-width deformable barrier [FWDB] test, full-width rigid barrier test) and three different offset tests (offset deformable barrier [ODB] test, progressive deformable barrier [PDB] test, moveable deformable barrier with the PDB barrier face [MPDB] test) have been investigated. Different compatibility assessment procedures were analysed and metrics for assessing structural interaction (structural alignment, vertical and horizontal load spreading) as well as several promising metrics for the PDB/MPDB barrier were developed. The final assessment approach consists of a combination of the most suitable full-width and offset tests. For the full-width test (FWDB), a metric was developed to address structural alignment based on load cell wall information in the first 40 ms of the test. For the offset test (ODB), the existing ECE R94 was chosen. Within the paper, an overview of the final assessment approach for the frontal impact test procedures and their development is given.
Driver distraction
(2017)
This report for the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) summarises recent research and knowledge from scientific studies about distracted driving. The report defines what it means to be "distracted" when driving, discusses the impact of distraction on driver behaviour and safety, and what can be done to reduce distracted driving. The focus of distraction discussed here relates to how drivers engage with technology when driving. The report begins with a background to driver distraction, followed by discussion about what is actually meant by driver distraction. It is then considered why humans cannot successfully do two things at the same time, particularly within the context of driving. The subsequent section summarises the scientific research findings to date with regard to driver distraction and technology, and how this affects different types of road user. Recommendations for how driver distraction can be mitigated in the real world and a summary conclude the report. Responses to common questions raised by drivers are presented in Appendix A.
The Decision Support System (DSS) is one of the key objectives of the European co-funded research project SafetyCube in order to better support evidence-based policy making. Results will be assembled in the form of a DSS that will present for each suggested road safety measure: details of risk factor tackled, measure, best estimate of casualty reduction effectiveness, cost-benefit evaluation and analytic background. The development of the DSS presents a great potential to further support decision making at local, regional, national and international level, aiming to fill in the current gap of comparable measures effectiveness evaluation. In order to provide policy-makers and industry with comprehensive and well-structured information about measures, it is essential that a systems approach is used to ensure the links between risk factors and all relevant safety measures are made fully visible. The DSS is intended to become a major source of information for industry, policy-makers and the wider road safety community.
In 2016 the seventh ESAR conference (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was held in Hannover. ESAR is an international convention of experts, who analyze traffic accidents all over the world and discuss their results in this context, conducted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover every 2 years. It connected representatives of public authorities, engineers in automotive development and scientists and offers a forum with particular emphasis on In-Depth-Analyses of accident statistics and accident analyses. Special focus is placed on research on the basis of so-called "In-Depth-Accident-Investigations" [data collections at the sites of the accidents], which are characterized by extensive documentations of the sites of the accidents, of the vehicles as well as of the injuries, encompassing several scientific fields. ESAR aims at a multi-disciplinary compilation of scientific results and at discussing them on an international, scientific level. It is thus a scientific colloquium and a platform for exchanging information for all accident researchers. Experiences in accident prevention as well as in the complex field of accident reconstruction are stated and new research fields are added. Existing results of long-term research work in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan include different infrastructural correlations and give findings on population, vehicle population and driver characteristics, which offer a basis for recommendations to be derived and measures for increasing road safety.
Camera-monitor systems (CMS) can be used in motor vehicles to display the driver's rear view on a monitor mounted inside the vehicle. This also offers the possibility of replacing conventional exterior mirrors with suitable CMS and thereby implementing new design concepts with aerodynamic advantages. However, as exterior mirrors are safety-relevant vehicle parts for securing the driver's indirect rear view (requirements specified in UN Regulation No. 46), the question arises whether CMS can provide an equivalent substitute for mirrors. In the scope of this study, CMS and conventional exterior mirrors were compared and assessed in test drives and static tests under different external conditions. On the one hand, the examination of technical aspects, and on the other hand, issues pertaining to the design of the human-machine interaction, were the objects of the study. Two vehicles were available for the trials with passenger vehicles: A vehicle, manufactured in small series, which is already equipped with CMS as sole replacement for the exterior mirrors, as well as a compact class vehicle which had a CMS retrofitted by the car manufacturer in addition to conventionally used exterior mirrors. The latter could be covered exclusively for trips with CMS. A tractor unit with semitrailer was available for the truck trials. The driver's cabin was equipped with a CMS system developed by the vehicle manufacturer. In general, it was shown that it is possible to display the indirect rear view sufficiently for the driver, both for cars and trucks, using CMS which meet specific quality criteria. Depending on the design, it is even possible to receive more information about the rear space from a CMS than is possible with mirror systems. It was also shown that the change from mirrors to CMS requires a certain period of familiarisation. However, this period is relatively short and does not necessarily result in safety-critical situations.
In 2011 399 cyclists died in road accidents in Germany and another 76.351 cyclists have been injured. Since 2000 the number of injured or fatally injured cyclists remained on the same high level. Cyclists form 19% of all casualties in German road traffic, although the modal split rate of this transport mode in 2008 was only 10% of trips and resp. 3% of kilometres per day. The high proportion of fatally and seriously injured shows the high vulnerability of cyclists. The demographic shift towards an older population in Germany and the governmental recommendation of increased bicycle use as an ecological, economical and healthy alternative to other modes of transport lead to the assumption that bicycle use especially of elderly people will increase. Based on these facts about the German cyclists' situation a representative survey of 2.000 cyclists was conducted. Results display use patterns and accident involvement on a descriptive level. Overall 7.7% of cyclists report to have been involved in at least one road traffic accident within the last three years. The performed path model analysis reveals an acceptable model fit. Though the explained variance of accident involvement of the applied psychological factors was low, significant relations between several of these factors and especially risky behaviour could be found.
Rural roads (highways) in Germany have to provide both high road safety and an appropriate level of service in accordance with their function in the road network. Single carriageway rural roads often underperform these expectations. An analysis of severe accidents on rural roads found two main contributing factors. First, high or inappropriate speed leads to accidents caused by the loss of control of the vehicle. Second, unsafe passing manoeuvres related to a misjudgement of sight distance, speed of oncoming vehicles or a misjudgement of the driver vehicle's acceleration capability. On the five roads where unsafe passing manoeuvres were a main contributing factor to accident occurrence, single short passing lanes (600 m to 1.2 km) were built to provide safe passing. On the remaining two-lane sections passing was prohibited by road signs and road marking. This paper investigates the effect of this design change on the accident situation and on traffic flow. The research project is based on a before/after comparison of traffic and accident data. Traffic volume, vehicle types and their velocities as well as the time gaps between the vehicles were recorded at different cross-sections. The result shows a significant improvement in road safety. This improvement was especially noted for severe head-on crashes, which were reduced to almost zero. The analysis of traffic flow on these roads pointed out that the chosen lengths of passing lanes were sufficient for safe passing and thereby reduced the need for dangerous driving behaviour. The recommendations of this research were fundamental for the determination of the design parameters of the second highest design class (EKL 2) in the new German Rural Road Design Guideline (RAL) published in spring 2013.
Within the automotive context camera monitor systems (CMS) can be used to present views of the traffic situation behind the vehicle to the driver via a monitor mounted inside the cabin. This offers the opportunity to replace classical outside rearview mirrors and therefore to implement new design concepts, aerodynamically optimized vehicle shapes and to reduce the width of the vehicle. Further, the use of a CMS offers the potential to implement functionalities like warnings or situation-adaptive fields of view that are not feasible with conventional rearview mirrors. Despite these potential advantages, it is important to consider the possible technical constraints of this technology and its effect on driver perception and behavior. On the technical side next to the field of view and die robustness of die system, aspects as its functionality at day and night as well as under varying weather conditions should be object to scientific investigation. Concerning human machine interaction, it has to be considered, that the perception of velocities and distances of approaching vehicles might be different for CMS as compared to conventional rearview mirrors and potential influences of factors as the Position of the displays or drivers' age should be taken into account. In order to shed light on these and further open issues, BASt is currently conducting a study that will cover the use of CMS under controlled conditions as well in real traffic. The first part of the study will focus on passenger cars, while in a second step the empirical investigation will be extended to heavy goods vehicles, where the potentials as well as the limitations of CMS might differ considerably. The presentation will cover the first part, with regard to the experimental design, implementation and initial results if already available.
Various kinds of demerit point systems have been developed and implemented in European countries, aimed at tackling repeat offences in road transport by acting as a deterrent and providing sanctioning. The impact of a demerit point system on the number of crashes is often reported to be significant, but temporary. The objective of the EU BestPoint project was to establish a set of recommended practices that would result in a more effective and sustainable contribution of demerit point systems to road safety. A high actual chance of losing the licence and a high perceived chance of losing the licence are basic prerequisites for the effective operation of demerit point systems. For measures applied within the context of a demerit point system, a four-step-approach is recommended: warning letter, driver improvement course, licence withdrawal, rehabilitation course. Further recommendations concern issues like points and offences, e.g. which offences should lead to points, target groups, and the administration of demerit point systems. The final result of the EU BestPoint project is a handbook (van Schagen & Machata, 2012) which provides a concise overview of all recommended practices. The presentation/paper outlines how sustainable safety improvements can be achieved if national demerit point systems are implemented and maintained according to the recommended practices. In addition, potential further steps towards an EU-wide demerit point system (cross-border exchange on points and/or offences) are presented.
Trauma management (TM) covers two types of medical treatment: the initial one provided by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and a further one provided by permanent medical facilities. There is a consensus in the professional literature that to reduce the severity and the number of road crash victims, the TM system should provide rapid and adequate initial care of injury, combined with sufficient further treatment at a hospital or trauma centre. Recognizing the important role of TM for reducing road crash injury outcome, it was decided, within the EU funded SafetyNet project, to develop road safety performance indicators (SPIs) which would characterize the level of TM systems" performance in European countries and enable country comparisons. The concept of TM SPIs was developed based on a literature study of performance indicators in TM, a survey of available practices in Europe and data availability examinations. A set of TM SPIs was introduced including 14 indicators which characterize five issues such as: availability of EMS stations; availability and composition of EMS medical staff; availability and composition of EMS transportation units; characteristics of the EMS response time, and availability of trauma beds in permanent medical facilities. Basic information on the TM systems was collected in close cooperation with the national expert group. A dataset with TM SPIs for 21 countries was created. It was demonstrated that the countries can be compared using selected TM SPIs. Moreover, a more general comparison of the TM systems' performance in the countries is possible, using multiple ranking and statistical weighting techniques. By both methods, final estimates were received enabling the recognition of groups of countries with similar levels of the TM system's performance. The results of various trials were consistent as to the recognition of countries with high or low level of the TM systems" performance, where in grouping countries with intermediate levels of the TM system's performance some differences were observed. The SafetyNet project's practice demonstrated that data collection for estimating TM SPIs is not an easy task but is realizable for the majority of countries. The TM SPIs" message is currently limited to the availability of trauma care services. Further development of the TM SPIs should focus on characteristics of actual treatment supplied, based on combined police and medical road crash related databases.
To improve vehicle safety in frontal collisions, the crash compatibility between the colliding vehicles is crucial. Compatibility aims to improve both the self and partner protection properties of vehicles. Although compatibility has received worldwide attention for many years, no final assessment approach has been defined. Within the Frontal Impact and Compatibility Assessment Research (FIMCAR) project, different frontal impact test procedures (offset deformable barrier [ODB] test as currently used for Economic Commission for Europe [ECE] R94, progressive deformable barrier test as proposed by France for a new ECE regulation, moveable deformable barrier test as discussed worldwide, full-width rigid barrier test as used in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard [FMVSS] 208, and full-width deformable barrier test) were analyzed regarding their potential for future frontal impact legislation. The research activities focused on car-to-car frontal impact accidents based on accident investigations involving newer cars. Test procedures were developed with both a crash test program and numerical simulations. The proposal from FIMCAR is to use a full-width test procedure with a deformable element and compatibility metrics in combination with the current offset test as a frontal impact assessment approach that also addresses compatibility. By adding a full-width test to the current ODB test it is possible to better address the issues of structural misalignment and injuries resulting from high acceleration accidents as observed in the current fleet. The estimated benefit ranges from a 5 to 12 percent reduction of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from frontal impact accidents. By using a deformable element in the full-width test, the test conditions are more representative of real-world situations with respect to acceleration pulse, restraint system triggering time, and deformation pattern of the front structure. The test results are therefore expected to better represent real-world performance of the tested car. Furthermore, the assessment of the structural alignment is more robust than in the rigid wall test.
Enhanced protection of pedestrians and cyclists remains on the focus. Besides infrastructural and behavioral aspects it is necessary to exploit technical solutions placed on motorized vehicles. Accident research needs reliable data as well as national road accident statistics. Changing the view on seriously injured road users is one of the challenges which will substantially contribute to the optimization on future traffic safety. The missing accuracy in the definition of personal injury has a detrimental effect on making cost efficient road safety policy which is not only focused on fatal accidents. The European commission requested that, starting in 2015, all EU member states provide more detailed data on the injury status of road casualties, with special regard to the group of seriously injured. Conventional accident data will always be essential. But to obtain detailed data about driver behavior in real traffic situations further data sources are required. These could be EDR data, data from electronic control units, data from traffic surveys and traffic counting, naturalistic diving studies and field operational tests. Gaining insight into normal as well as critical driver behavior will enable accident researchers to deduct functions estimating the increase or decrease of accident risk associated with certain behaviors or vehicle functions. Also with view to the introduction of highly automated driving functions in the future such data is urgently needed. Computer simulation based tools to estimate the benefits of active safety systems are another step on the way towards the safety assessment of automated driving. It is now the duty of the scientific community to ask the right questions, to develop a methodology and to merge all these data sources into a common framework for the assessment of future traffic safety innovations.
Although the annual traffic accident statistics published by the national police is available in public, the detailed traffic accident data has not been released in Korea. Recently the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recognized the importance of in-depth accident data to enhance road traffic safety and initiated a research project to establish a collection of the detailed accident data. The main objective of the project is a feasibility study to establish KIDAS (Korea In-Depth Accident Study). Within this project, three university hospitals which are located in mid-size cities have been selected to collect accident data. Annually, more than 500 cases of accidents have been collected from the in-patient's interviews and diagnosis. Unlike GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study), currently on-site investigation can"t be performed by the Korean police. The only available data is patient medical records, patient's description of accident circumstances and the damaged vehicle. Occasionally the police provide the accident investigation reports containing very brief information on accident causation and vehicle safety. In a first step, the concept of KIDAS is to adopt the format of iGLAD (Initiative for the Global Harmonization of Accident Data) for harmonization. Since the currently collected accident information is extremely limited compared with GIDAS, the other sources of data and calculations such as KNCAP vehicle data, pc-crash simulations, vehicle registration information, insurance company data are utilized to complete the iGLAD template. Results from KIDAS_iGLAD and the cases of assessment of active safety devices such as AEBS, ESC, and LDWS will be evaluated.
Many safety-relevant tasks in control or diagnostics require binary choices such as "conflict versus separation" in air traffic control, "normal versus pathological" when interpreting x-ray pictures, or "permitted versus forbidden" when inspecting airport security scans. Deciders often are uncertain, but nevertheless required to decide between two alternatives, that is, they have not only to decide upon an action, but also about the admissible level of uncertainty. If the accepted level of judgment certainty is not taken into account, the sequence of decisions does not capture the full picture of the underlying decision process. Differences in judgment certainty are relevant, because they reflect not only the adequacy of the human-machine interface that is evaluated, but also the differences in expertise of the decider and the requirements of the actual situation or task. Therefore, capturing both judgment certainty and discrimination performance is essential. A comparison of different human-machine-interfaces (for air traffic control) is used to illustrate a methodological approach, which allows for integrated analyses of decision processes based on receiver-operator-characteristics and practical guidelines for the evaluation of human-machine-interfaces for safety-relevant operation procedures are provided.
SEEKING is looking for answers regarding electric powered bicycles and their relation to traffic safety issues. Does a cyclist need "E"? Is it as risky as riding a moped or are E-bikes creating conflicts with other cyclists? The project described herein, funded by the Austrian Ministry of Transport, has the aim of seeking answers to these hot topics. The SEEKING-team shows an in-depth investigation of vehicle dynamic sensing, together with subjective feedback of test riders to detect similarities and differences between conventional cycling and E-biking. Following an overview on the international status quo, measurement runs and their analyses are performed to find a set of preventative measures to make (E-)biking safer. A specific focus is the detection of curve handling, stopping and acceleration phases as well as conflict studies on course-based test rides and "real world" tests on cycling paths (naturalistic riding).
It is commonly agreed that active safety will have a significant impact on reducing accident figures for pedestrians and probably also bicyclists. However, chances and limitations for active safety systems have only been derived based on accident data and the current state of the art, based on proprietary simulation models. The objective of this article is to investigate these chances and limitations by developing an open simulation model. This article introduces a simulation model, incorporating accident kinematics, driving dynamics, driver reaction times, pedestrian dynamics, performance parameters of different autonomous emergency braking (AEB) generations, as well as legal and logical limitations. The level of detail for available pedestrian accident data is limited. Relevant variables, especially timing of the pedestrian appearance and the pedestrian's moving speed, are estimated using assumptions. The model in this article uses the fact that a pedestrian and a vehicle in an accident must have been in the same spot at the same time and defines the impact position as a relevant accident parameter, which is usually available from accident data. The calculations done within the model identify the possible timing available for braking by an AEB system as well as the possible speed reduction for different accident scenarios as well as for different system configurations. The simulation model identifies the lateral impact position of the pedestrian as a significant parameter for system performance, and the system layout is designed to brake when the accident becomes unavoidable by the vehicle driver. Scenarios with a pedestrian running from behind an obstruction are the most demanding scenarios and will very likely never be avoidable for all vehicle speeds due to physical limits. Scenarios with an unobstructed person walking will very likely be treatable for a wide speed range for next generation AEB systems.
In the project SECMAN " SECurity MANual " a simple four-step procedure for the identification of critical road infrastructures, assessment of these infrastructures regarding various man-made threats and the determination of effective protection measures was developed. These methodologies are summarized and combined into a comprehensive best-practice manual which allows for a trans-national structured and holistic security-risk-management approach for owners and operators of road infrastructures in Europe. This paper presents the developed methodology starting from the assessment procedures of a network's criticality over an object's attractiveness and vulnerability to the selection process of appropriate protection measures.
The paper describes the development of transitions between different safety barriers in Germany but also in the context of the European standardization. In the paper practical and impact test expriences with transitions are shown. In view of the sheer number of theoretically possible combinations of safety barriers, the demand for testing every transition, even if the connecting safety barriers differ only slightly, appears to be economically unacceptable. On the other hand the experience from accidents and also from failed impact tests shows that transitions can be a risk to traffic safety. Therefore criteria for the distinction between transitions (impact test required/impact test unnecessary) are explained. In order to distinguish transitions which do not have to be impact-tested from those that require impact tests, criteria were developed and formulated.
This article reports on a two-year study (2006 to 2008) of the distribution of de-icing salts (NaCl) applied to the road and the influence of traffic on the effective times of the de-icing salts. The research was focused on the needed resting periods of de-icing salts on road surfaces. The study used sensors installed in two lanes of the Motorway A4 in the area of the Dresden-Hellerau Highway Surveillance Center (Germany), to measure air and ground temperatures, wind speed and direction, liquid film thicknesses and residual quantities of salt on the road surface during ongoing traffic at 5-minute intervals. The authors conclude with four observations that can be useful for applying de-icing salts more judiciously: preventive spreading is only sensible if applied timely, i.e. immediately prior to icing events to be expected; the time-frame for preventive spreading on the dry road surface is maximum 60 minutes and on the moist road surface maximum 120 minutes; by increasing spreading densities in preventive spreading, this timeframe cannot be extended; it is completely sufficient if the spreading width is adjusted in such a way that the outer wheel tracks are also covered by the spreading. Distribution across the entire width of the lane will be caused by the rolling traffic within a few minutes.
In 2014 the sixth ESAR conference (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was held in Hannover. ESAR is an international convention of experts, who analyze traffic accidents all over the world and discuss their results in this context, conducted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover every 2 years. It connected representatives of public authorities, engineers in automotive development and scientists and offers a forum with particular emphasis on In-Depth-Analyses of accident statistics and accident analyses. Special focus is placed on research on the basis of so-called "In-Depth-Accident-Investigations" [data collections at the sites of the accidents], which are characterized by extensive documentations of the sites of the accidents, of the vehicles as well as of the injuries, encompassing several scientific fields. ESAR aims at a multi-disciplinary compilation of scientific results and at discussing them on an international, scientific level. It is thus a scientific colloquium and a platform for exchanging information for all accident researchers. Experiences in accident prevention as well as in the complex field of accident reconstruction are stated and new research fields are added. Existing results of long-term research work in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan include different infrastructural correlations and give findings on population, vehicle population and driver characteristics, which offer a basis for recommendations to be derived and measures for increasing road safety.
Topics of this report are: Road construction (highways, interstate roads, urban by-passes, cycle tracks, construction sites, level crossings removal), traffic management systems, road tunnel equipment, harmonisation of vehicle regulations, accident statistics and accident research, passive vehicle safety, active vehicle safety , automotive environmental protection and rescue systems.
EEVC Status report
(2001)
Despite the steadily declining number of pedestrian fatalities and injuries in most European countries during recent decades, pedestrian protection is still of great importance in the European Union as well as in Germany. This is because they still constitute a large proportion of road user casualties and are more likely to suffer serious and fatal injuries than most other road users. In 1999 only car occupants suffered more fatal injuries than pedestrians in Germany. In December 1998, EEVC WG 17 completed their review and updating of the EEVC WG 10 pedestrian test procedure that made it possible to evaluate the protection afforded to pedestrians by the front of passenger cars in an accident. Within the scope of this procedure, four different impactors are used representing those parts of the body which are injured very often and/or very seriously in vehicle-pedestrian-collisions. In a project executed by IKA and BASt, a small family car was tested according to the EEVC WG 17 test procedure. Afterwards modifications to the car were carried out in order to improve the pedestrian protection provided by the vehicle design. There were certain restrictions placed on the level of modifications undertaken, e.g. only minor modifications to vehicle styling and to the vehicle structures, which provide passenger protection. The redesigned vehicle was tested again using the WG 17 test procedure. The test results of the modified vehicle were compared with those of the standard vehicle and evaluated. The results show that considered measures for pedestrian protection in many areas of the vehicle front structure and the use of innovative techniques can lead to a significant reduction of the loads of pedestrians at an acceptable expense.
The purpose of this paper is to review injuries found in real world lateral collisions and determine the mechanisms responsible for certain kinds of biomechanical failure. During the last years the distribution of deaths among the different types of accidents has changed. Lateral collisions now are the most frequent cause of fatal and other serious injuries. Every third accident is an impact from the side, while every second fatality is the result of a lateral accident. Just a few years ago this value was no higher than 30%. This is probably the result of increasing safety standards for frontal collisions (airbags, seatbelt usage, structural improvements of cars, etc.). Although the number of registered vehicles increased, the total amount of fatalities decreased during the same period. Thus it is now necessary to pay greater attention to the lateral accident situation in order to improve road safety and decrease the number of traffic injuries. Several European organisations had decided to launch the project SID2000, which was funded by the European Commission, with the intention of gathering more knowledge on injuries occurring in lateral accidents and the mechanisms that lead to such injuries. This should enable the group to define the requirements for a new side impact dummy (SID) to be designed. Within the same project the existing TNO-EUROSID 1 was enhanced by another group and the experience gained has now enabled allowed to design a better measuring device for side impacts. The data used for this contribution came from sources from all over Europe and had to be gathered in such a manner that as many accident parameters as possible were taken into account.
An approach to the standardization of accident and injury registration systems (STAIRS) in Europe
(1998)
STAIRS is a European Commission funded study whose aim is to produce a set of guidelines for a harmonised, crash injury database. The need to evaluate the effectiveness of the forthcoming European Union front and side impact directives has emphasised the need for real world crash injury data-sets that can be representative of the crash population throughout Europe. STAIRS will provide a methodology to achieve this. The ultimate aim of STAIRS is to produce a set of data collection tools which will aid decision making on vehicle crashworthiness as well as providing a means to evaluate the effectiveness of safety regulations. This paper will disseminate the up-to-date findings of the group as they try to harmonise their methods. The stage has been reached where studies into the diverse methods of the UK, French and German systems of crash injury investigation have been undertaken. An assessment has already been made of the relationships between the three current systems in order to define the areas of agreement and divergence. The conclusions reached stated that there were many areas that are already closely related and that the differences were only at the detailed level. With the emphasis on secondary safety and injury causation, core data sets were decided upon, taking into account: vehicle description, collision configuration, structural response of vehicles, restraint and airbag performance, child restraint performance, Euro NCAP, pedestrian and vehicle occupant kinematics, injury description and causation. Each variable was studied objectively, the important elements isolated and developed into a form that all partners were agreeable on. A glossary of terms is being developed as the project progresses which includes ISO standards and other definitions from the associated CAREPLUS project, which addresses the comparability of national data sets. A major consideration of the group was the data collection method to be employed. The strengths and weaknesses of each study were investigated to obtain a clear idea of which aspects offered the best way forward. The quality of this information and transference into a common format, as well as the necessary error checking systems to be employed have just been completed and are described. In tandem with this area of study the problem of the statistical relationship of each sample to the national population is also being investigated. The study proposes a mechanism to use a sample of crash injury data to represent the national and international crash injury problem
A means of assessing the passive safety of automobiles is a desirable instrument for legislative bodies, the automobile industry, and the consumer. As opposed to the dominating motor vehicle assessment criteria, such as engine power, spaciousness, aerodynamics and consumption, there are no clear and generally accepted criteria for assessing the passive safety of cars. The proposed method of assessment combines the results of experimental safety tests, carried out according to existing legally prescribed or currently discussed testing conditions, and a biomechanical validation of the loading values determined in the test. This evaluation is carried out with the aid of risk functions which are specified for individual parts of the body by correlating the results of accident analysis with those obtained by computer simulation. The degree of conformance to the respective protection criterion thus deduced is then weighted with factors which take into account the frequency of occurrence and the severity of the accident on the basis of resulting costs. Each of the test series includes at least two frontal and one lateral crash test against a deformable barrier. The computer-aided analysis and evaluation of the simulation results enables a vehicle-specific overall safety index as well as partial and individual safety values to be determined and plotted graphically. The passive safety provided by the respective vehicle under test can be defined for specific seating positions, special types of accident, or for individual endangered parts of the body.
Many big cities in Europe and elsewhere in the world have problems managing the traffic especially during rush hours. The improvement of the parking problematic and environmental protection as well are important aspects for the future traffic design of urban areas. To improve the traffic situation the development of new traffic concepts and alternative vehicles are required. The BMW company has developed a new type of two-wheel vehicle. This two-wheeler constitutes a totally new concept. BMW implemented a lot of safety features, such as a structure made up of rollover bars and a crush element instead of a front protecting plate. Furthermore the driver can secure himself with two safety belts. The paper contains a description of the novel two-wheel vehicle concept designed so far. BMW's concept and the safety features are also explained. The Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) was given the task of assessing the concept as a whole with regard to the active and passive safety and the exemption of the obligation to wear a helmet. The expertise concluded that the BMW two-wheeler concept has a very high safety standard. Some extracts of the expertise, in particular the investigations concerning the exemption of the obligation to wear a helmet are presented. Common legal requirements for the vehicle registration of vehicle concepts similar to the BMW two-wheeler in Germany have been formulated.
Although the bus belongs to the safest traffic means, single accidents can be particularly severe and concern many passengers. Especially in case of fires a high number of injured and killed persons can be the outcome. Fire safety of buses therefore is of high importance. With the increase of plastic materials as a material for the interior equipment of buses and coaches due to their good mechanical properties combined with low weight, the question arises whether the safety level has decreased in case of a fire during the last years " also compared to other means of transport. Because of the combustible plastics and their ability to release a high amount of heat the main fire load in buses is no longer the fuel but the plastic materials which are also often easy to ignite. Besides the flammability of the equipments, also the production of smoke, the smoke development and propagation as well as its toxicity are of interest. That counts for the passengers as well as for the test methods and its limit values. The severe fire in Germany near Hanover in 2008 with 20 fatalities showed how disastrous such fires can be. For those reasons several research projects were initiated on behalf of the German Federal Highway Research Institute. At the one hand the fire behaviour of coach interiors was examined in general focusing on fire propagation as well as fire detection and signalling. As result, recommendations with regard to early fire detection systems for the engine compartments and onboard extinguishing equipment were elaborated. On the other hand research was carried out to examine heat release, smoke, smoke propagation and its toxicity due to burning bus interior materials. In this project small and real scale experiments on material specimens, interior parts and vehicles were performed. Trains and buses often have very similar operation conditions. Consequently, bus interior material was tested according to the regulations for rail vehicles, i.e. DIN EN 45545 as well as DIN 5510. None of the tested bus interior materials would have been allowed to use in a train. The fire safety regulations for bus materials are on a low level compared to other transport sectors, i.e. railway, ship and aircraft. Also numerical investigations with the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) were performed. The very rapid fire development during the severe bus fire from 2008 could be predicted with the numerical model. The model was then used to investigate the influence of different materials, ventilation conditions and ignition sources. The bus materials contribute significantly to a very rapid fire development in bus fires. Especially, the flammable ceiling and the passenger seats were identified to be key issues of the fire propagation in a bus and can be explained by the rapid fire spread along the ceiling and the high fire load of passenger seats. As conclusion of the project effective and economically reasonable fire safety requirements for interiors of buses are recommended which would improve the current situation. Proposals for amendments of current requirements are recommended including the specification of appropriate limit values. In particular, it is taken into consideration which reasonable fire safety standards from other transport sectors, especially the rail sector, should be transferred to buses