83 Unfall und Mensch
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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.
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.
Die vorliegende Dokumentation ist Teil der wissenschaftlichen Begleituntersuchung zur Umsetzung des Verkehrssicherheitsprogrammes im Lande Brandenburg. Sie soll die Bedeutung der Verkehrssicherheit bei der Durchführung straßenbaulicher Maßnahmen aufzeigen. Dazu wurden alle kommunalen und Straßenbauämter des Landes befragt. Zur Erfassung der Einzelmaßnahmen wurde ein standardisierter, nach Maßnahmearten gegliederter Fragebogen verwendet. Die Ergebnisse dokumentieren bisher Erreichtes und belegen Art und Umfang des weiteren Handlungsbedarfs. Fahrbahnerneuerungen und die Umgestaltung von Knotenpunkten bildeten die Schwerpunkte der Jahre 1992 bis 1994. Die begleitende Optimierung der Linienführung blieb nur auf wenige Baumaßnahmen beschränkt. Die Verbesserung der Verkehrssicherheit in Alleen, in denen Unfälle oftmals mit schweren Folgen enden, konzentrierte sich auf die Ausstattung mit Schutzplanken. Angesichts der besonderen Problemlage erfolgte die Installation von Schutzplanken an Alleen bisher jedoch erst in wenigen Fällen. Eine Erneuerung des überörtlichen Straßennetzes von Grund auf wird es angesichts der Einschränkungen der öffentlichen Haushaltsmittel in den nächsten Jahren nicht geben. Künftige Straßenbaumaßnahmen müssen sich daher auf gravierende Sicherheitsmängel und besonders unfallbelastete Bereiche konzentrieren.
Im Rahmen von zwei Forschungsprojekten hat sich die BASt mit dem Thema Verkehrssicherheit auf zweibahnigen Straßen bei Nässe befasst. Die Ergebnisse zeigen einen deutlichen Anstieg des Unfallrisikos auf nassen Fahrbahnen, insbesondere in Verwindungsbereichen. Zur Unterstützung der Straßenbauverwaltungen wurde ein EDV-Programm zur Berechnung von Wasserfilmdicken und Aquaplaning- Geschwindigkeiten entwickelt.