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Within the COST Action TU1101 the working group WG 1 is dealing with acceptance criteria and problems in helmet use while bicycling concerning conspicuity, thermal stress, ventilation deficits and other potential confounding. To analyze the helmet usage practice of bicyclists in Europe a questionnaire was developed in the scope of working group 1 to collect relevant information by means of a field study. The questionnaire consists of some 66 questions covering the fields of personal data of the cyclist, riding und helmet usage habits, information concerning the helmet model and the sensation of the helmet, as well as information on previous bicycle accidents. A second complementary study is conducted to analyze if the use of a bicycle helmet influences the seating geometry and the posture of cyclists when riding a bicycle and if the if the helmet vertically limits the vision. For this purpose cyclists with and without helmets were photographed in real world situations and relevant geometrical values such as the decline of the torso, the head posture of the upper vertical vision limit due to the helmet were established from the photos. The interim results of the field studies which were conducted in Germany by the Hannover Medical School are presented in this study. Some 227 questionnaires were filled out, of which 67 participants had used a helmet and 42 of the 227 participants have had a bicycle accident before. For the analysis of the riding position and posture of the cyclist over 40 pictures of riders with a helmet and over 240 pictures of riders without a helmet were measured concerning the seating geometry to describe the influence of using a bicycle helmet. Some results in summary: From the riders interviewed with the questionnaire only 11% of the city bike riders and 12% of the mountain bike riders always used the helmet, while 38% of the racing bike riders and 88% of the e-bike-riders always used the helmet. The helmet use seems not to change the sensation of safety of cycling compared to the use of a car. The arguments for not wearing a helmet are mostly stated to be the short distance of a trip, high temperatures or carelessness and waste of time. The reasons for using a helmet are stated to be the feeling of safety and being used to using a helmet. Being a role model for others was also stated to be a reason for helmet use. Concerning the sensation of the helmet 9% of the riders reported problems with the field of vision when using a helmet, 57% saw the problem of sweating too much, and 10% reported headaches or other unpleasant symptoms like pressure on the forehead when using the helmet. The analysis of the seating posture from the pictures taken of cyclists revealed that older cyclists generally have a riding position where the handle bar is higher than the seat (0-° to 10-° incline from seat to handlebar), while younger riders had a higher variance (between -10-° decline and 20-° incline). Further, elderly riders and riders with helmets seem to have a more upright position of the upper body when cycling. The vertical vision limit due to the helmet is determined by the front rim of the helmet (mostly the sun shade). Typical values here range from 0-° (horizontal line from the eye to the sun shade) to 75-° upwards, in which elderly riders tend to have a slightly higher vertical vision limit possibly due to the helmet being worn more towards the face.
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.
Since a number of human models have been developed it appears sensible to use these models also in the accident analysis. Especially the understanding of injury mechanisms and probably even injury risk curves can be significantly improved when interesting accidents are reconstructed using human body models. However, an important limitation for utilising human models for accident reconstruction is the effort needed to develop detailed FE models of the accident partners or to prepare the human model reconstruction by running physical accident reconstructions. The proposed approach for using human models for accident reconstruction is to use simplified and parametric car models. These models can be adapted to the crash opponents in a fast and cost effective way. Although, accuracy is less compared to detailed FE models, the relevant change in velocity can be simulated well, indicating that the computation of a detailed crash pulse is not needed. Two frontal impact test accidents that were reconstructed experimentally and using the parametric car models are indicating sufficient correlation of the adapted parametric car models with the full scale crash reconstructions. However, further developments of the parametric models to be capable for the use in lateral impacts and rear impacts are needed. For the PC Crash simulation runs the output sampling rate is too large to allow sufficient analysis. In addition the performance appears to be too general.
The main focus of the benefit estimation of advanced safety systems with a warning interface by simulation is on the driver. The driver is the only link between the algorithm of the safety system and the vehicle, which makes the setup of a driver model for such simulations very important. This paper describes an approach for the use of a statistical driver model in simulation. It also gives an outlook on further work on this topic. The build-up process of the model suffices with a distribution of reaction times and a distribution of reaction intensities. Both were combined in different scenarios for every driver. Each scenario has then a specific probability to occur. To use the statistical driver model, every accident scene has to be simulated with each driver scenario (combinations of reaction times and intensities). The results of the simulations are then combined regarding the probabilities to occur, which leads to an overall estimated benefit of the specific system. The model works with one or more equipped participants and delivers a range for the benefit of advanced safety systems with warning interfaces.
The study aimed at estimating the impact of pedelecs (with an assumed higher speed than bicycles) on the traffic accident severity in Germany for different penetration rates. The analysis shows that in many real situations (68%) an electrical support of bicycles has no influence on the sequence of accident events. Taking into account a number of unreported "single bicycle accidents", the adoption of similar traffic behavior and similar age distribution, the authors determined a shift of 400 former slightly to seriously injured cyclists in Germany per year. Overall this would be an increase of approximately 2.3% in case of 10% of pedelec penetration with the pessimistic assumption of 10 km/h speed increase although first natural driving studies predict a much lower average speed increase of pedelecs. The hypothesis verbalized in the initial question whether a higher distribution of pedelecs will result in more severe accidents in Germany is not verified. The study shows that electrical support didn"t result in higher collision speed in general. In many accident situations, the speed of pedelecs has only a minor influence on the accident severity. Further research focusing on a possible change of driver behavior especially in new target groups (elderly people) will be needed.
The evaluation of the expected benefit of active safety systems or even ideas of future systems is challenging because this has to be done prospectively. Beside acceptance, the predicted real-world benefit of active safety systems is one of the most important and interesting measures. Therefore, appropriate methods should be used that meet the requirements concerning representativeness, robustness and accuracy. The paper presents the development of a methodology for the assessment of current and future vehicle safety systems. The variety of systems requires several tools and methods and thus, a common tool box was created. This toolbox consists of different levels, regarding different aspects like data sources, scenarios, representativeness, measures like pre-crash-simulations, automated crash computation, single-case-analyses or driving simulator studies. Finally, the benefit of the system(s) is calculated, e.g. by using injury risk functions; giving the number of avoided/mitigated accidents, the reduction of injured or killed persons or the decrease of economic costs.
In North America, frontal crash tests in both the regulatory environment and consumer-based safety rating schemes have historically been based on full-width and moderate-overlap (40%) vehicle to barrier impacts. The combination of improved seat-belt technologies, notably belt tensioning and load limiting systems, together with advanced airbags, has proven very effective in providing occupant protection in these crash modes. Recently, however, concern has been raised over the contribution of narrower frontal impacts, involving primarily the vehicle corners, to the incidence of fatality and serious injury as a result of the potential for increased occupant compartment intrusion and performance limitations of current restraint systems. Drawing on data documented in the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS)/ Crashworthiness Data System (CDS) for calendar years 1999 to 2012, the present study examines the characteristics of existing and proposed corner crash test configurations, and the nature of real-world collisions that approximate the test environments. In this analysis, particular emphasis is placed on crash pulse information extracted from vehicle-based event data recorders (EDR's).
Verschiedene Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Luftqualität in Städten waren bisher bei der Verminderung von Stickoxiden nur bedingt erfolgreich. Interessant ist, ob der Einsatz der Photokatalyse hier weiterhelfen kann. Photokatalytische Anwendungen wurden schon in einigen Pilotstudien untersucht, zum Beispiel an Straßen beziehungsweise Modell-Canyons sowie in Tunneln. Teilweise wurden international sehr positive Ergebnisse erzielt, geichzeitig liegen aus anderen internationalen Projekten Ergebnisse unterhalb der Messgenauigkeit vor. Die vorgestellten Ergebnisse werden anhand verschiedener Variablen betrachtet und die erwartbare Atmosphärenrelevanz diskutiert. Zusammengefasst wird, dass basierend auf bekannten Feldmessungen für die Photokatalyse eine mittlere NOx-Reduktion von nur wenigen Prozent (in Hauptstraßenschluchten) zu erwarten ist. Dieses Potenzial muss mit anderen Maßnahmen verglichen werden (Kosten/Nutzenanalyse). Materialien müssen vor ihrem Einsatz in der Atmosphäre sorgfältig auf ihre Aktivität untersucht werden. Erfüllen die Oberflächen die Voraussetzungen, um als aktiv eingestuft zu werden, ist ihr Einsatz zur Luftreinhaltung klar zu empfehlen.
Accident simulation and reconstruction for enhancing pedestrian safety: issues and challenges
(2015)
The enhancement of pedestrian safety represents a major challenge in traffic accidents. This study allows a better understanding of the issues in pedestrian protection. It highlights the potential of in-depth studies in identifying relevant crash parameters interfering in the pedestrian safety. A computational simulation tool was developed to reconstruct pedestrian real-world crashes. A sample of 100 in-depth accident cases was reconstructed from two sources: 40 crashes provided by IFSTTAR-LMA and 60 crashes from CASR. To exemplify the methodology, two accident cases from each database were illustrated. A description of the sample of crashes was presented including the travel and impact speed of the vehicle, the driver reaction, the pedestrian walking speed, the scene configuration with the eventual obstacles, etc. This detailed description is pointing to the major factors affecting the limits of pedestrian safety systems.
Es werden erste Ergebnisse des von der Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) geförderten Forschungsprojekts "Hauptstudie zur Wirksamkeit von Tunnelwänden als Träger photokatalytischer Oberflächen" (FE 9.0184/2011/ARB) vorgestellt. Ziel war die Erarbeitung von technischen Lösungen zur Stickoxidreduktion an einem Tunnelstandort durch die Konzeptionierung und den Bau abgeschlossener photokatalytischer Reaktoren (Tunnelkassetten) sowie deren Validierung im Tunnel "Rudower Höhe" an der Bundesautobahn A113 in Berlin. Dabei wird künstliches UV-Licht als Energiequelle für den Schadstoffabbau eingesetzt. Es wird speziell über die Modellierungen berichtet, mit Hilfe derer die Tunnelkassetten sowohl strömungstechnisch als auch in Hinblick auf den photokatalytischen Abbauwirkungsgrad optimiert wurden.
Cycling supports the independence and health of the aging population. However, elderly cyclists have an increased injury risk. The majority of injured cyclists is victim of a single-sided accident, an accident in which there is no other party involved. The aim of the project "Safe and Aware on the bicycle" is to develop guidelines for an advisory system that is useful in preventing single-sided accidents. This system is able to support the elderly cyclist; enabling the cyclist to timely adapt his cycling behaviour and improve cycling safety and comfort. For the development of such advisory system the causes of singles accidents and the wishes of the elderly cyclist must be known. First step to obtain this insight was a literature survey and an GIDAS research. Unfortunately accidentology research with GIDAS did not give the full understanding of the pre-crash situations and (especially the behaviour related) factors leading to the accident. The second step was consultation of elderly cyclist through a questionnaire (n=800), in-depth interviews (n=12) and focus group sessions (n=15). This offered complementary information and a much better understanding of the behavioural aspects. Results concern the behaviour in traffic and identify specific physical (i.e. problems looking backwards over the shoulder) and mental issues. Furthermore, the needs and wishes for support in specific cycling situations were identified. In conclusion; The GIDAS results together with the information obtained contacting the elderly cyclists enabled setting up requirements for an advisory system, which is useful in preventing single-sided accidents.
This study aimed at developing an injury estimation algorithm for AACN technologies for Germany and compared them to findings based on Japanese data. The data to build and to verify the algorithm was obtained from the German in-depth Accident Database (GIDAS) and split into a training and a validation dataset. Significant input variables and the generalized linear regression model to predict severe injuries (ISS>15) were selected to maximize area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Probit regression with the input parameter multiple impact, delta v, seatbelt use and impact direction gave the largest AUC of 0.91. Sensitivity of the algorithm was validated at 90% and specificity at 76% for an injury risk threshold of 2%. It appears that no major differences between Japan and Germany exist for injury estimation based on delta v and impact direction. However, far side impact and multiple crash events appear to be associated with a larger risk increase in the German data.
The current paper reports on the results of a pilot study aiming to investigate the effect of mobile telephone use on the driving performance of 5 amateur and 5 professional drivers. Their driving acuity was tested through a driving simulator. Analysis and interpretation of the results occurred comparing the drivers' driving performance while talking, reading messages and writing a message on the mobile phone (intervention time) with the drivers' driving performance engaged in no activity (control time). The variables affected by the mobile phone were the "steering", the "lane offset" and the "duration of lane offset". Moreover, the drivers involved in a car crash in the last five years appeared to differ from those who were not involved in a crash in both "lane offset" and "following distance". The results of this pilot study will inform the design of a large experimental study on 50 professional and 50 amateur drivers.
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.
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).
The Traffic Accident Research Institute at University of Technology Dresden investigates about 1,000 accidents annually in the area around and in Dresden. These datasets have been summarized and evaluated in the GIDAS (German Accident In-Depth Study) project for 13 years. During the project it became apparent that the specific traffic situation of a covert exit of a passenger car and an intersecting two-wheeler involves a high risk potential. This critical situation develops in a large part due to the lack of visibility between the driver and the intersecting bike. In this paper the accident avoidance potential of front camera systems with lateral field of view, which allows the driver to have an indirect sight into the crossing street area will be presented.
Assessment of the effectiveness of Intersection Assistance Systems at urban and rural accident sites
(2015)
An Intersection Collision Avoidance System is a promising safety system for accident avoidance or injury mitigation at junctions. However, there is still a lack of evidence of the effectiveness, due to the missing real accident data concerning Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. The objective of this study is the assessment of the effectiveness of an Intersection Collision Avoidance System based on real accidents. The method used is called virtual pre-crash simulation. Accidents at junctions were reconstructed by using the numerical simulation software PC-Crashâ„¢. This first simulation is called the baseline simulation. In a second step the vehicles of these accidents were equipped with an Intersection Collision Avoidance System and simulated again. The second simulation is called the system simulation. In the system simulation two different sensors and four different intervention strategies were used, based on a time-to-collision approach. The effectiveness of Intersection Collision Avoidance System has been evaluated by using an assessment function. On average 9% of the reviewed junction accidents could have been avoided within the system simulations. The other simulation results clearly showed a change in the principal direction of force, delta-v and reduction of the injury severity.
Analysis of pedestrian leg contacts and distribution of contact points across the vehicle front
(2015)
Determining the risk to pedestrians that are impacted by areas of the front bumper not currently regulated in type-approval testing requires an understanding of the target population and the injury risk posed by the edges of the bumper. National statistics show that approximately 10% of all accident casualties are pedestrians, with 20% to 30% of these pedestrian casualties being killed or seriously injured. However, the contact position across the front of the bumper is not recorded in national statistics and so in-depth accident databases (OTS, UK and GIDAS, Germany) were used to examine injury risk in greater detail. The results showed that some injury types and severities of injuries appear to peak around the bumper edges. Although there are sometimes inconsistencies in the data, generally there is no evidence to suggest that the edges of the bumper are less likely to be contacted or cause injury.
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.
Mit Fokus auf Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) wird das urbane NO2-Problem umrissen. Um die Jahresgrenzwerte einzuhalten, sind beispielsweise in allen Straßenschluchten in NRW Reduktionen nötig. Die Europäische Kommission hat gegen mehrere Mitgliedsstaaten, darunter Deutschland, Vertragsverletzungsverfahren wegen der Überschreitung von NO2-Grenzwerten eröffnet. Dargestellt werden die Langzeittrends bezüglich der gemessenen Abnahme bei der Stickoxidbelastung. Potenzielle Maßnahmen können hinsichtlich ihrer möglichen Wirkungen durch den Einsatz von Modellen abgeschätzt werden, zum Beispiel Umweltzonen, Fahrverbote, Elektrofahrzeuge. Die Ergebnisse der Messungen und Modellrechnungen werden dargestellt und kritisch beleuchtet. Als Fazit ergibt sich, dass das urbane NO2-Problem nicht einfach zu lösen ist, Minderungen der NOx-Emissionen spiegeln sich nicht in der gleichen Größenordnung in der Abnahme der NO2-Belastung wieder. Bei zusätzlich wirksamen Maßnahmen wie beispielsweise einem höheren Anteil von Elektrofahrzeugen fehlt die (schnelle) praktische Umsetzbarkeit. Eine Kombination aus lokalen, regionalen und europaweiten Maßnahmen ist nötig, um das Problem zu lösen.
Ausgehend von den rechtlichen Grundlagen für die Luftreinhaltung sowie den Grenzwertfestlegungen für Feinstaub (PM10) sowie Stickoxide (NO2) wird auf die heutige Luftqualität in Städten mit Schwerpunkt Stuttgart eingegangen. Dargelegt werden die festgestellten Überschreitungen bei den Grenzwerten für PM10 und NO2. Eingegangen wird auf die Maßnahmen zur Reduzierung der Luftbelastung in Stuttgart und die Wirkungen in Bezug auf die Senkung der Grenzwert-Übersschreitungen beziehungsweise Jahresmittelwerte von PM10 und NO2 an den Hotspot-Stationen "Am Neckartor" und "Hohenheimer Straße". Abschließend wird ein perspektivischer Ausblick gegeben: obwohl die Luftsituation in den Städten kontinuierlich besser geworden ist, gibt es an stark befahrenen städtischen Straßen weiterhin Grenzwertüberschreitungen. Die EU-Vertragsverletzungsverfahren machen weitere Maßnahmen notwendig. Die Städte brauchen praxiserprobte Maßnahmen und keine langfristigen, kostspieligen Pilotversuche mit unsicherem Ausgang.
Today's volumes of traffic require more and more responsibility from each individual road user in their interactions. Those who drive motor vehicles have the singular obligation to minimise the risk of accidents and hence the severity of injuries, particularly with a view to the most vulnerable road users such as motor bikes, bikes and pedestrians. Since responsible and pro-active driving depends first and foremost on the visual information relayed by our eyes and the visual channel this requires good command of the traffic and all-round visibility from our driver's seat. Granted that human error can never be fully excluded, improving visibility around the car is nevertheless an urgent priority. To do so, we need to rate visibility in the most realistic driving situations. Since the existing visibility metrics and methodology are not applicable to real-life driving situations, this study aimed at developing a new visibility rating methodology based on real-life accident scenarios. On the basis of the cases documented by the accident research project, this study analysed criteria indicative of diminishing visibility on the one hand and revealing some peculiarities in connection with the visibility issue on the other. Based on the above, the project set out to develop a rating methodology allowing to assess all-round visibility in various road situations taking into account both driver and road geometries. In this context, the assessment of visibility while turning a corner, crossing an intersection and joining traffic on a major road (priority through route) is of major importance. The first tests have shown that critical situations can be avoided by adapting the relevant geometries and technical solutions and that significant improvements of road safety can be derived therefrom.
Event data recorders (EDRs) are a valuable tool for in-depth investigation of traffic accidents. EDRs are installed on the airbag control module (ACM) to record vehicle and occupant information before, during, and after a crash event. This study evaluates EDR characteristics and aims at better understanding EDR performance for the improvement of accident reconstruction with more reliable and accurate information regarding accidents. The analysis is based on six crash tests with corresponding EDR datasets.
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.
Um ein zuverlässiges Straßennetz aufrechtzuerhalten, ist es notwendig, neue innovative Ansätze in das Erhaltungsmanagement der Brückenbauwerke im Bundesfernstraßennetz zu integrieren und weiterzuentwickeln. Ergänzend zu den turnusmäßigen Bauwerksprüfungen nach DIN 1076 wird daher ein adaptives Konzept bereitgestellt, das es ermöglichen soll zum einen Zustandsveränderungen frühzeitig zu erfassen und zu bewerten und zum anderen mit Hilfe von erfassten Einwirkungen und Widerständen zukünftige Zustandsentwicklungen zu prognostizieren. Die zu konzipierenden Systeme setzen sich im Wesentlichen aus der Datenerfassung mit Hilfe von Sensorik und den zur echtzeitnahen Verwendung und Bewertung notwendigen Modellen zusammen. Im Rahmen mehrerer Forschungsprojekte wurden einzelne Bausteine eines solchen adaptiven Systems erarbeitet.
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.
The market introduction and penetration of electric vehicles can be seen as a milestone in order to reduce the environmental burden imposed by the transport sector. The wide-spread use of electric vehicles powered by electricity from renewable sources promises a substantial reduction of local emissions in urban areas as well as greenhouse gas emissions. To be a successful mobility alternative several obstacles and challenges have to be overcome first. Especially the customers' purchase decision determines finally whether an innovation like electromobility will be successful. Therefore, this paper concentrates on demand-related obstacles and barriers for a broad market deployment of electric cars. Within the Electromobility+ project eMAP these issues are investigated via a consumer survey. It was designed to identify the awareness of potential consumers of electric cars as well as give an estimate of the attitude towards this new technology. In addition to the picture of potential demand-related obstacles the consumers were asked to evaluate the suitability of various promotion measures.
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.
According to an investigation in March 2008 by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS) about 14,000 truck parking spaces are missing in the near of motorways in Germany. Beside constructional enlargement of rest areas, intelligent traffic systems ought to be used to detect automatically the occupancy rate of rest areas and to provide better demand management and also to achieve an increase of capacity of truck parking spaces. The essay describes the newly developed control procedure "Compact parking", which is currently under development by German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt). The method achieves that a number of trucks are parking in a compact way, side by side and without a driving lane between them. With the help of dynamic displays above the parking rows, the drivers receive the needful information to park their vehicle in a parking row, in which other trucks have the same or an earlier departure time. This system is able to increase the rest area capacity in short-term, more quickly than constructional enlargement of rest areas.
Due to the publication of guidelines in Germany the possibility exists to offer analytical designed construction works within an alternative proposal. But the extent to which the test specimen production influences the design relevant properties (for the same asphalt mixture) is not sufficiently investigated at present. Objective of this research project was to determine the design relevant asphalt properties by tests and do comparative considerations on two selected locations within the renewal of a federal trunk road (Germany). For the comparative consideration of the design relevant asphalt properties mixture samples were taken during paving and afterwards drill cores were taken at the same locations. Fatigue tests and tests to determine the stiffness were conducted with the Indirect Tensile Test (ITT). Then design calculations having regard to the test results were performed. At this different bearing conditions of the asphalt package were considered. The calculated fatigue conditions were comparative evaluated and they are presented and discussed in this paper.
Improving the security of critical road infrastructure is a major task for owners and operators of tunnels and bridges in the European TEN-T Network (Trans-European Networks of Transport) (European Parliament and Council 1996). Up to now, there has not been a systematic procedure for identifying and assessing critical infrastructure objects and selecting appropriate protection measures. The EC FP7 project SeRoN for the first time presents an innovative methodology in order to support road owners and operators in handling this complex task. This paper describes the methodology and project results in detail by giving an introduction into its practical application.
Für die rechnerische Dimensionierung der Betondecken im Oberbau von Verkehrsflächen für den Neubau sowie die Erneuerung nach RDO-Beton 09 ist die statische Spaltzugfestigkeit an der unteren beziehungsweise unteren und oberen Scheibe des Betonzylinders beziehungsweise Bohrkerns entsprechend der Vorgaben der AL Sp-Beton zu bestimmen. Aufgrund der unzureichenden Kenntnis der Präzision dieses Prüfverfahrens wurden mit einem breit aufgestellten Ringversuch die statistischen Kennwerte an Labor- und Bestandsbetonen unter Vergleichs- und Wiederholbedingungen auf der Grundlage des FGSV-Merkblatts über die statistische Auswertung von Prüfergebnissen ermittelt. Für eine möglichst gute statistische Absicherung nahmen an dem Ringversuch dreizehn erfahrene Prüfstellen teil. Zur Abdeckung des vielschichtigen Einsatzes des Prüfverfahrens erfolgte der Ringversuch an acht Prüflosen. Dabei berücksichtigen einerseits die Prüflose 1 und 2 mit den im Transportbetonwerk hergestellten Betonzylindern die Erst-/Eignungsprüfung und das darauf aufbauende Prüflos 3 mit Bohrkernen aus einer im Feldversuch hergestellten Fahrbahnplatte mit gleicher Betonrezeptur die Übereinstimmungskontrolle bei Neubaumaßnahmen. Andererseits findet der Einsatz des Prüfverfahrens bei der Restsubstanzbewertung von Betonfahrbahnplatten bei den Prüflosen 4 bis 7 mit den Bohrkernen aus vier in Waschbetonbauweise ausgeführten Fahrbahnplatten Berücksichtigung. Das zusätzlich aufgenommene Prüflos 8 mit einem Labormörtel dient der Herausarbeitung des Materialeinflusses auf die Präzision der Spaltzugfestigkeitsprüfung. Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, dass die Präzision der in der AL Sp-Beton beschriebenen Spaltzugfestigkeitsprüfung mit einem Variationskoeffizienten von weniger als 10 % unter Wiederhol- und Vergleichsbedingungen hinreichend genau ist. Der geringe Unterschied zwischen den Variationskoeffizienten unter Wiederhol- und Vergleichsbedingungen lässt zusätzlich den Schluss zu, dass der Einfluss des unterschiedlichen Personals und der verschiedenartigen Prüftechniken bei den einzelnen Prüfstellen relativ gering ist. Die im Rahmen des Ringversuchs gewonnenen Erkenntnisse haben bereits partiell Eingang in die Normung gefunden.
Bitumen ist ein Erdölprodukt mit einer komplexen chemischen Zusammensetzung. Durch die Auswahl der zur Herstellung verwendeten Rohöle und die Art des Raffinerieprozesses werden die Zusammensetzung und die resultierenden chemisch-physikalischen Eigenschaften bestimmt. Für die Untersuchung von Bitumen steht heute eine Vielzahl von leistungsfähigen Methoden der modernen instrumentellen Analytik zur Verfügung. Das Hauptproblem bei der Analyse von Bitumen besteht in der Auftrennung des Stoffgemisches. Chromatographische Verfahren bieten generell die besten Voraussetzungen derartige Trennaufgaben zu bewältigen. So ermöglicht die TLC-FID-Methode die quantitative Bestimmung der Stoffgruppen der Aliphaten, Aromaten, Harze und Asphaltene. Dagegen ermöglicht die klassische Dünnschichtchromatographie, die in der Vergangenheit ausschließlich zum Nachweis von teerhaltigen Bindemitteln eingesetzt wurde, eine einfache und schnelle Möglichkeit eine chemische Charakterisierung von Bitumen in Form eines "Fingerprints" vorzunehmen. Dem Anspruch eine möglichst exakte und vollständige Beschreibung der chemischen Zusammensetzung von Bitumen zu erhalten, stehen Begrenzungen hinsichtlich der Wirtschaftlichkeit und Schnelligkeit der Verfahren gegenüber. Dennoch ist es möglich, mit einem relativ begrenzten Aufwand wertvolle Informationen über die chemische Beschaffenheit zu erhalten.
Die Kenntnis über den tatsächlichen strukturellen Zustand einer Asphaltbefestigung wird im Hinblick der stets steigenden Verkehrsbelastung und für eine qualifizierte Erhaltungsplanung immer wichtiger. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Ansatz vorgestellt, welcher darin besteht, zu einem beliebigem Zeitpunkt anhand von versuchstechnisch ermittelten Asphaltkennwerten und aufbauend auf diesen Ergebnissen die Restnutzungsdauer einer Asphaltbefestigung zu prognostizieren. Hierfür wurden aus bestehenden Asphaltbefestigungen, welche bereits langjährig unter Verkehr liegen, Asphaltproben entnommen und deren asphaltspezifischen Eigenschaften wie die Steifigkeit und die Ermüdungsbeständigkeit versuchstechnisch bestimmt. Mit diesen Ergebnissen der Asphaltuntersuchungen im Labor und zusammen mit einem Prognoseverfahren in Anlehnung an die RDO Asphalt (FGSV 2009) besteht die Möglichkeit, Aussagen zu den voraussichtlichen Restnutzungsdauern von Asphaltbefestigungen geben zu können. Für die Optimierung dieser Vorgehensweise zur Prognose von Restnutzungsdauern wurde zu verschiedenen Zeitpunkten der gesamte Asphaltoberbau der Asphaltbefestigungen untersucht.
Offenporige Asphaltbeläge besitzen mit 22 % Hohlraum im Belag und einer groben Kornstruktur an der Oberfläche einen wesentlich anderen Aufbau als dichte Beläge. Nach vorliegenden Erfahrungen und Ergebnissen von durchgeführten Untersuchungen erfordern die Belagseigenschaften der offenporigen Asphaltbeläge eine andere Anwendung von Tausalz. Die Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) führte in den vergangenen Jahren gemeinsam mit der Firma KOMMZEPT-Ingenieurbüro Hausmann umfangreiche Untersuchungen zum Salzeinsatz auf offenporigen Belägen durch. Dazu gehörten Laborversuche, Messungen zur Verweil- und Wirkungsdauer von Tausalz auf diesen Belägen und Auswertungen der Beobachtungen von Autobahnmeistereien in Bayern, Brandenburg und Niedersachsen. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen zeigen, dass die offenporigen Beläge teilweise winterdienstlich anders behandelt werden müssen als die dichten Beläge. Die Offenporigen Asphalte besitzen im Vergleich zu dichten Belägen eine deutlich rauere Oberflächenstruktur. In den Poren des Belags fließt Wasser nicht vollständig ab. Durch Kapillarwirkungen lagert sich Wasser im Belag ähnlich wie in einem Schwamm ab. Dieses Wasser im Belag kann durch den Verkehr sogar wieder zur Oberfläche gesaugt werden, an der es bei Temperaturen unter 0 -°C vor allem nachts zu einer Eisschicht kommen kann. Aufgrund der größeren gebundenen Wassermengen muss mehr Salz auf offenporigen Asphalten gestreut werden. Ausgebrachtes Tausalz bleibt länger in den Oberflächenporen oder im Belag haften. Es wird im Vergleich zu dichten Belägen durch den Verkehr fast nicht zur Seite verweht. Vorbeugend ausgebrachtes Feuchtsalz dringt langsam in die Oberfläche ein. An den eigentlichen Kontaktflächen zum Reifen bleibt wenig haften. Deshalb ist der Einsatz von Tausalzlösungen bei Reifglätte oder geringer Feuchte (Nieselregen) wirkungsvoller.
Various climate projections predict changing climatic parameters like temperature, precipitation, wind speed etc. for Germany. This could have severe impacts on road transport infrastructure as well as road traffic itself. At the Federal Highway Research Institute (Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) a strategy was developed to adapt roads and engineering structures to the impacts of climate change. The strategy "Anpassung der Straßenverkehrsinfrastruktur an den Klimawandel / Adaptation of the road infrastructure to climate change (AdSVIS)" comprises currently about 15 projects. On the basis of the identification of the hazards and the combination of the climate and road network data, the road transport infrastructure which might be affected is to be determined. Adaptation measures are to be developed for the identified risk areas and assessed as to their effectiveness. Special attention is given to international cooperation since climate change is a truly global challenge.
Tempered road system
(2014)
The road performance is strongly influenced by climatic conditions. Winter conditions have massive impact on traffic security but also pavement lifetime decreases as an effect of temperature variation during wintertime and summertime. Heating and cooling of a pavement is a possibility to work against these impacts. To discuss the boundary conditions for an efficient construction and operation of a tempered road system a feasibility study has been made. The study shows the feasibility and identifies thermal energy buffering as a main challenge. When thinking of a fully regenerative operation of a large tempered road system (e.g. 20.000 m-²) the storage volume has to be too large for an economic and structurally engineered satisfactory solution. However, the location dependent usage of natural geothermal storage possibilities and as well smart alignment and construction promises a feasibility realization.
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.
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.
Road markings are an essential component of a safe road. In particular, the optical guidance at night and under wet conditions rates high. Special surface textures of road markings can enhance the nighttime visibility during wetness, but they can lead on the other hand to noise emission during passages of vehicles and thus annoy residents. In the present study the tyre/road marking noise is analysed based on two different measurement methods for traffic noise: Several different road markings with increased nighttime visibility during wetness were overrun and the noise was determined by controlled coast-by measurements as well as close-proximity measurements. For both measuring methods the averaged A-weighted sound pressure levels were determined and an analysis of the third octave spectra was performed in order to identify annoying tonal components. The results of both measurement methods were compared with each other. Limitations of the individual measurement methods were overcome by combining the data. Properties of road marking noise depending on the texture of the marking are discussed in relation to those of road surface noise. The results will help specifying road marking texture types that ensure less annoyance and at the same time good visibility at wetness and night-time.
In the European Project FIMCAR, a proposal for a frontal impact test configuration was developed which included an additional full width deformable barrier (FWDB) test. Motivation for the deformable element was partly to measure structural forces as well as to produce a severe crash pulse different from that in the offset test. The objective of this study was to analyze the safety performance of vehicles in the full width rigid barrier test (FWRB) and in the full width deformable barrier test (FWDB). In total, 12 vehicles were crashed in both configurations. Comparison of these tests to real world accident data was used to identify the crash barrier most representative of real world crashes. For all vehicles, the airbag visible times were later in the FWDB configuration. This was attributed to the attenuation of the initial acceleration peak, observed in FWRB tests, by the addition of the deformable element. These findings were in alignment with airbag triggering times seen in real world crash data. Also, the dummy loadings were slightly worse in FWDB compared to FWRB tests, which is possibly linked to the airbag firing and a more realistic loading of the vehicle crash structures in the FWDB configuration. Evaluations of the lower extremities have shown a general increasing of the tibia index with the crash pulse severity.
Bis zum Jahr 2000 erfolgte die Überarbeitung der Begutachtungsleitlinien zur Kraftfahrereignung stets als Gesamtwerk, in Zusammenarbeit mit den Fachgesellschaften und herausgegeben von einem Wissenschaftlichen Beirat. Diese Art der Veröffentlichung erwies sich aus verschiedenen Gründen als nicht mehr praktikabel. Von Anwenderseite wurde der Wunsch nach besserer Übersicht geäußert und es hat sich gezeigt, dass mehr Detailinformation erforderlich ist. Es wird auf die zukünftige Gestaltung und Veröffentlichung der Leitlinien eingegangen, die nun die kapitelweise Überarbeitung als Methode der Wahl definieren. Die freie Verfügbarkeit als elektronisches Dokument soll die Verbreitung weiter erhöhen, die Suche nach Begriffen vereinfachen und eine schnellere Aktualisierung ermöglichen. Änderungen bei der Europäischen Führerscheinrichtlinie (Annex III) sowie bei deren Umsetzung in Deutschland (Anlage 4 der Fahrerlaubnisverordnung) gingen Überarbeitungen bei verschiedenen Kapiteln der Begutachtungsleitlinien voraus. Schon seit 2009 veröffentlicht ist das überarbeitete Kapitel "Epilepsie". Es wird auf die Änderungen in den Kapiteln Diabetes, Tagesschläfrigkeit, Hörvermögen und Gleichgewicht eingegangen, die als nächste folgen sollen. Für den Abstimmungsprozess mit Bund und Ländern wurde das zukünftige Vorgehen bei Änderungsbedarf abgestimmt. Die Begutachtungsleitlinien sind kostenlos zum Download auf www.bast.de verfügbar, einschließlich ergänzender Informationen.
T. DÜNCHHEIM erörtert in seinem Einführungsvortrag zu "Die Stellung der Gemeinden im Straßenrecht" die kommunalen Gestaltungsspielräume hinsichtlich ihres Satzungsrechts, das sich auf -§ 19 StrWG NRW stützen lässt. Er schildert die Auswirkungen dieser Gestaltung auf das Straßen- und Straßenverkehrsrecht, die letztlich Ausfluss der gemeindlichen Selbstverwaltungsgarantie sind. Dabei problematisiert er die Abgrenzung zwischen straßenrechtlichem Gemeingebrauch und Sondernutzung sowie die Bedeutung der rechtlichen Ausgestaltung des Straßen- und Straßenverkehrsrechts. Hierbei wird die Anwendung des -§ 45 StVO durch die Gemeinden einer kritischen Analyse unterzogen. A. NETTER schildert in seinem Beitrag "Aktuelle Rechtsfragen der Ortsdurchfahrten" die Gremienstruktur im Straßenwesen und den Einfluss des Europarechts, des Bundes- und Landesstraßenrechts sowie den Ortsdurchfahrtenrichtlinien auf das Straßenwesen. Er stellt dabei die Folgen der Aufhebung der Radwegbenutzungspflicht sowie die aus der Straßenbaulast folgende Entwässerungsverpflichtung der Straßenbaulastträger und ihre Umsetzung in den Gemeinden dar. U. WEGNER berichtet in ihrem Beitrag "Aktuelle Entwicklungen des Verbandsklagerechts" über die Auswirkungen europäischer Richtlinien auf das Umweltrecht. In diesem Zusammenhang wird eine wegweisende Entscheidung des BVerwG erörtert, welche die direkte Anwendung des Art. 9 Abs. 3 AK zum Gegenstand hat. Trotz der Einführung einer bundesrechtlichen Verbandsklage in -§ 64 BNatSchG sei das Problem der Wahrung von Allgemeininteressen nicht gelöst, da diese Norm die Interessen des Umweltschutzes nicht hinreichend zu schützen vermöge. Der Beitrag "Inanspruchnahme öffentlicher Wege durch TK-Unternehmen" von U. STELKENS, stellt eine differenzierte Auseinandersetzung mit dem TKG-Wegerecht dar. Er konstatiert, dass die Bestimmungen des TKG im Wesentlichen auf den Normen des Telegraphenwegegesetz (TWG) basieren. Daher bestehen Spannungsverhältnisse und Reibungsflächen zwischen den verschiedenen Abschnitten des TKG, da das TKG und das TWG unterschiedliche Ziele verfolgen. Beispielsweise seien die -§ 77a bis -§ 77e TKG nicht auf die -§ 68 bis -§ 77 TKG abgestimmt worden. Der abschließende Beitrag "Fachplanerische Auswirkungen des Umweltschadensgesetzes" von M. PETERSEN widmet sich der Frage, ob und welche Auswirkungen das Umweltschadensgesetz auf das Fachplanungsrecht hat. Zunächst wird allgemein herausgearbeitet, dass das Umweltschadensgesetz nicht Schadensersatz- oder Ausgleichsleistungen eines geschädigten Dritten bezweckt; vielmehr sollen Umweltschäden vermieden und die Wiederherstellung geschädigter Umweltgüter erreicht werden. Die Frage, ob und inwieweit das Umweltschadensgesetz Auswirkungen auf das Fachplanungsrecht hat, hängt davon ab, ob die Haftungstatbestände des -§ 3 Abs. 1 USchadG einschlägig sind.
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".
The use of alcohol interlocks for DUI offenders is widespread around the world. in North America and Australia alcohol interlocks are core elements in the countermeasure system against DUI recidivism. Based on a European experience exchange hosted by the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) in October 2013, key features of European alcohol interlock programmes are illustrated. In addition, key findings from international alcohol interlock research are presented. They point towards a need for an accompanying rehabilitative measure in order to achieve long-lasting behavioural changes in the offender. Data from the interlock recorder can be used as predictor for recidivism risk, but also as objective data to aid counselling. Finally, an example of an accompanying rehabilitative measure, which was specifically developed for interlock programmes within a BASt project, is given.
The German highway network is facing new challenges in the near future. The structures have to deal with increasing traffic loads, climate change effects and new requirements regarding sustainability while they are getting older and budget cuts can be expected. To guarantee a reliable highway network, it will be vital to adapt and enhance innovative approaches. Current bridge management relies on the results of conventional bridge inspections and thus has certain limitations when it comes to insufficient load bearing capacity and other systematic weaknesses. Therefore, new approaches for real time condition assessment of critical road infrastructure elements are to be developed.
In 2012 the fifth 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.
The utilisation of secondary-safety systems to protect occupants has attained a very high level over the past decades. Further improvements are still possible, but increasingly minor progress is only to be had with a high degree of effort. Thus, a key aspect must be the impact to overall safety in an accident. If reliable information is available on an imminent crash, measures already taken in the pre-crash phase can result in a significantly great influence on the outcomes of the crash. With this background preventive measures are the key to a sustainable further reduction of the figures of crash victims on our roads. This paper aims to show a preventive approach that can contribute to lessening the consequences of a crash by creating an optimum interaction of measures in the fields of primary and secondary safety. To further enhance vehicle safety, driver assistant systems are already available that warn the driver of an imminent front-to-rear-end crash. The next step is to support him in his reactions or if he fails to react sufficiently, to even initiate an automatic braking when the crash becomes unavoidable. Automatic pre-crash braking can, in an ideal situation, fully prevent a crash or can significantly reduce the impact speed and thus the impact energy (and the severity of the accident). If a vehicle is being braked in the pre-crash phase, the occupants are already being pre-stressed by the deceleration. The information available about the imminent crash can be used to activate the belt tensioners and likewise other secondary safety systems in the vehicle right before the impact. The pre-crash deceleration also causes the front of the vehicle to dip. Conventional crash tests do not take this specific impact situation into consideration. This is why, for example, the influences of the pre-crash displacements of the occupants are not recorded in the test results. Furthermore, a reproducible representation of the benefit of the vehicle safety systems which prepare the occupants for the imminent impact is not possible. In order to demonstrate the functions of automated pre-crash braking and to investigate the differences during the impact as a consequence of the altered occupant positions as well as the initiation of force and deformations of the vehicle front, DEKRA teamed up with BMW to carry out a joint crash test with the latest BMW 5 series vehicle. It involved the vehicle braking automatically from a starting test speed of 64 km/h (corresponding to the impact speed set by Euro NCAP) down to 40 km/h. The test was still run by the intelligent drive system of the crash test facility. This required several modifications to be made to the test facility as well as to the vehicle. The paper will describe and discuss some relevant results of the crash test. In addition, the possible benefits of such systems will also be considered. The test supplemented the work of the vFSS working group (vFSS stands advanced Forward-looking Safety Systems).
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 synthetic and plastic materials as a material for the interior equipment of buses and coaches because of their ood 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, the production of smoke, the smoke development and propagation and its toxicity for the people as well as the testing methods and limit values are of interest. For those reasons research projects were initiated on behalf of the German Federal Highway Research Institute. At the one hand the fire behavior 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 on-board extinguishing equipment were elaborated. At the other hand research is carried out to examine heat release, smoke, smoke propagation and its toxicity due to burning bus interior materials. The paper describes which effective and economically reasonable fire safety requirements for interiors of buses 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.