Sonstige
In line with the new definition introduced by the European Commission (EC), the number of seriously injured road casualties in Germany for 2014 is assessed in this study. The number of MAIS3+ casualties is estimated by two different methodological approaches. The first approach is based on data from the German Inâ€Depth Accident Study (GIDAS), which is closely related to the German Road Traffic Accident Statistics. The second approach is based on data from the German TraumaRegister DGU-® (TRâ€DGU), which includes many more hospitals but not all MAIS3+ injuries.
Europe has benefited from a decreasing number of road traffic fatalities. However, the proportion of older road users increases steadily. In an ageing society, the SENIORS project aims to improve the safe mobility of older road users by determining appropriate requirements towards passive vehicle safety systems. Therefore, the characteristics of road traffic crashes involving the elderly people need to be understood. This paper focuses on car occupants and pedestrians or cyclists in crashes with modern passenger cars. Ten crash databases and four hospital statistics from Europe have been analysed to answer the questions on which body regions are most frequently and severely injured in the elderly, and specific injuries sustained by always comparing older (65 years and above) with midâ€aged road users (25â€64 years). It was found that the body region thorax is of particularly high importance for the older car occupant with injury severities of AIS2 or AIS3+, where as the lower extremities, head and the thorax need to be considered for older pedestrians and cyclists. Further, injury risk functions were provided. The hospital data analysis showed less difference between the age groups. The linkage between crash and hospital data could only be made on a general level as their inclusion criteria were quite different.
Car occupants have a high level of mortality in road accidents, since passenger cars are the prevalent mode of transport. In 2013, car occupant fatalities accounted for 45% of all road accident fatalities in the EU. The objective of this research is the analysis of basic road safety parameters related to car occupants in the European countries over a period of 10 years (2004-2013), through the exploitation of the EU CARE database with disaggregate data on road accidents. Data from the EU Injury Database for the period 2005 - 2008 are used to identify injury patterns, and additional insight into accident causation for car occupants is offered through the use of in-depth accident data from the EC SafetyNet project Accident Causation System (SNACS). The results of the analysis allow for a better understanding of the car occupants' safety situation in Europe, thus providing useful support to decision makers working for the improvement of road safety level in Europe.
Recently, EuroNCAP updated the upper legform test protocols. The main objective of this study is to establish the upper legform test in KIDAS (Korean In-depth Accident Study) taking into account domestic pedestrian accident data as well as anthropometric data to protect elderly pedestrians whose average height and weight is much smaller and lighter than other age groups, especially compared to Europeans. Therefore 230 cases of pedestrian accidents from KIDAS were investigated to explore the injury severity of body regions as well as age related injury patterns. Injuries of all body regions were examined, with a special focus on injuries of abdomen and pelvic area. On the other hand, in order to explore Korea's pedestrian accident environment, national police data and KIDAS (Korean In-depth Accident Study) data were compared. The results should be taken into account in future analyses and possible improvements, such as regulations and KNCAP test protocols, of the pedestrian safety policy in Korea.
Interdisciplinary accident research and research projects of AARU Audi Accident Research Unit
(2017)
AARU (Audi Accident Research Unit) is an interdisciplinary research project of the University Hospital Regensburg in cooperation with AUDI AG. Specific objective is to comprehend the respective accident scenario and retrieve generally applicable findings as to technical, medical and psychological processes. In order to prevent traffic accidents and to alleviate vehicle accident consequences, postulates of general traffic safety, human-machine interaction, technical design and function of new vehicles and occupant as well as third party protection shall be inferred from these findings. Specifically, each accident with new Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati vehicles involved is analyzed interdisciplinary, discussed in a case meeting and anonymously documented with more than 2,000 parameters. The database is continually used for solving safety relevant issues. Parallel to accident analysis, research projects are performed in the fields medicine, psychology and engineering in order to gain comprehensive insight and identify potential additional areas of activity of accident research.
Die europäischen Länder, die ein Programm zur Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit eingeführt haben, weisen in der Regel einen gesteigerten Rückgang an Getöteten und Verletzten auf. Im Vordergrund dieser Programme stehen neben der Reduktion der Unfälle die Umsetzbarkeit, die Finanzierbarkeit, die politische und soziale Akzeptanz sowie die Kosteneffizienz. Im Anschluss an die Erörterung der Merkmale einer erfolgreichen Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit werden zunächst beispielhaft die Planziele der Programme in Finnland (im Jahr 2010 weniger als 250 Getötete) und in Österreich (Reduktion der Getöteten um 50 % und eine Verminderung der Unfälle mit Personenschaden um 20 % bis 2010) vorgestellt. Die bisherige Entwicklung der Unfallzahlen wird auf je einer Grafik veranschaulicht. Anschließend werden das Hauptziel der Europäischen Kommission, die Halbierung der Zahl der Verkehrstoten 2001 bis 2010, sowie die Entwicklung der Zahlen von 1990 bis 2005 beziehungsweise 2010 (Zielvorgabe) dargestellt. Eine weitere vergleichende Grafik gibt die Zahl der Verkehrstoten in den Jahren 1995 und 2004 in allen Ländern der Europäischen Union (EU) wieder. Schließlich werden noch verschiedene Bemühungen der World Health Organisation (WHO) erwähnt.
Verkehrsunfallopfer, die beim Unfall überrollt werden, erleiden fast immer tödliche Verletzungen. Im innerstädtischen Bereich ereignen sich diese Unfälle mehrheitlich im niedrigen Geschwindigkeitsbereich. Die Frage der Vermeidbarkeit des Unfalls wird daher sehr oft seitens der Ermittlungsbehörde an die Sachverständigen gestellt. Im Rahmen der Unfallrekonstruktion spielt der Reifenprofilabdruck am Leichnam eine wichtige Rolle. Er belegt nicht nur den Überrollungsvorgang selbst, sondern erlaubt auch die Identifikation der Überrollungsrichtung und -region, aber auch des in Frage kommenden Reifens. Bei der retrospektiven Analyse von 120 Überrollungsfällen in Berlin (Fußgänger, Radfahrer und Kraftradfahrer) aus den letzten 23 Jahren wurde untersucht, wie verlässlich dieses Merkmal ist, wie oft und wo man es findet und von welchen Faktoren seine Entstehung beeinflusst wird.
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.
Road accidents are typically analyzed to address influences of human, vehicle, and environmental (primarily infrastructure) factors. A new methodology, based on a "Venn diagram" analysis, gives a broader perspective on the probable factors, and combinations of factors, contributing both to the occurrence of a crash and to sustaining injuries in that crash. The methodology was applied to 214 accidents on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Factors contributing to accidents and injuries were addressed. The major human factors influencing accidents on this roadway were speeding (30%) and falling asleep (29%), while injuries were primarily due to lack of seat belt use (46%). The leading infrastructure factor for injuries was impact with a roadside manmade structure (28%), and the main vehicle factor for injuries was passenger compartment intrusion (73%). This methodology can help identify effective vehicle and infrastructure-related solutions for preventing accidents and mitigating injuries in India.
Ruptures and dissections of the thoracic and abdominal aortic vessel caused by traffic accidents are rare but potentially life-threatening injuries. They can occur by blunt trauma via seat belt or dashboard injury. The study aimed at evaluating the overall mortality, morbidity, neurological disorders, and differences in operative procedures of open repair and stenting. It shows that, with a change and improvement in diagnostic tools and surgical approach, mortality and morbidity of blunt aortic injuries were significantly reduced. Still an immediate life-threatening injury early diagnosis via multiple-slice and scans and surgical repair with minimally invasive stents showed excellent short-time results for selected patients.
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).
Die Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) hat 2009 eine Pilotstudie initiiert, an der sich vier Autobahnmeistereien aus Niedersachsen und Nordrhein-Westfalen beteiligt haben und deren Schlussbericht nun vorliegt. Grund dafür waren die immer stärker spürbaren psychischen Belastungen, die sich aus der gefährlichen und stressreichen Arbeit ergeben, die die Frauen und Männer in der orangefarbenen Arbeitskleidung auf der Straße verrichten. Bundesweit kommen nach Angaben des Bundesverbandes Deutscher Straßenwärter jedes Jahr acht bis zehn Straßenwärter ums Leben. Die Zahl der Verletzten ist hoch. Zu der Arbeit in unmittelbarer Nähe des fließenden Verkehrs auf der Fahrbahn oder im direkt angrenzenden Seitenbereich von Straßen und Autobahnen kommen Belastungen durch die immer knapper werdende Personalausstattung der Meistereien und den daraus resultierenden Überstunden hinzu, besonders im Winter. Diese ziehen oft gesundheitliche Einschränkungen und persönliche Krisen nach sich. Probleme, mit denen sich viele Kollegen allein gelassen fühlen. Der "Burn-out" ist praktisch schon vorprogrammiert. Das Ergebnis der Studie muss realistisch betrachtet werden. Die angebotenen Trainingseinheiten können die Belastungen der Straßenwärter, denen sie Tag für Tag ausgesetzt sind, zwar nicht weiter senken, aber sie können lernen, mit den daraus resultierenden Beanspruchungen deutlich besser fertig zu werden. Vor allem, indem sie miteinander und mit ihren Vorgesetzten sprechen und die Last des Einzelnen nötigenfalls auf mehrere Schultern verteilen.
Zielsetzung des Projektes war die Weiterentwicklung der Unfallfolgenbewertung entsprechend neuerer Ergebnisse vor allem aus der Umwelt- und Gesundheitsökonomie, unter Beachtung objektiver wie subjektiver Bewertungsansätze und mit Schwerpunktsetzung auf Personenschäden. Vorgehensweise: Auswertung der vorliegenden Arbeiten unter inhaltlichen und methodischen Gesichtspunkten. Erarbeitung von Verbesserungsvorschlägen unter theoretischen Aspekten sowie unter Beachtung von Möglichkeiten und Problemen der Datenverfügbarkeit. Zentrale Ergebnisse: Ansatzpunkte, die gängige Unfallfolgenbewertung sowohl in theoretischer als auch in methodischer Hinsicht neu zu überdenken, wurden vor allem in folgenden Bereichen identifiziert: 1. Kosten der medizinischen Behandlung: Bei der Erfassung der Behandlungskosten von Unfallopfern wäre ein Verfahren wünschenswert, das auf vorhandenem Datenmaterial aufbaut und die angefallenen Behandlungskosten differenzierter als die Zweiteilung in Schwer- und Leichtverletzte vornimmt. Hier würden sich zunächst vor allem ICD-basierte Fallpauschalen anbieten. 2. Kosten der Invalidität: Zur Ermittlung der langfristigen Kosten von unfallbedingten Invaliditätsfällen bietet sich die Ermittlung und die Bewertung solcher dauerhafter Unfallfolgen auf der Basis von Funktionsniveaueinschränkungen an. Im Vergleich zum Grad der Minderung der Erwerbsfähigkeit ermöglicht diese Vorgehensweise eine realistische Einteilung der unterschiedlichen Grade langfristiger Beeinträchtigungen. 3. Kosten unfallinduzierter Todesfälle: Als Alternative zur Berechnung der Kosten unfallbedingter Todesfälle mit Hilfe des Ertragswert- beziehungsweise Kostenwertansatzes besteht die Möglichkeit zur Ermittlung eines subjektiven Wertansatzes. Diese, zumindest im deutschsprachigen Raum noch wenig berücksichtigten Verfahren, versuchen auf der Basis von Marktbeobachtungen beziehungsweise Befragungen den Wert eines Menschenlebens zu ermitteln. Verfahren aus der Umweltökonomie haben gezeigt, dass inzwischen verfeinerte Instrumentarien entwickelt wurden, dass auch empirische Untersuchungen im Bereich der Verkehrsunfälle durchgeführt werden sollten.
Pedestrians represent about 20% of the overall fatalities in Europe- road traffic accidents. In this paper a methodology is proposed to understand why the numbers are so high, especially in the south of Europe and particularly in Portugal, . First a detailed statistical analysis using Ordinal Logistic Regression model (OLR) was applied to the gathered data from all Portuguese accidents with victims in the period 2010-2012. In a second stage accident reconstruction computational techniques using pedestrian biomechanical models are used to evaluate the accident conditions that lead to the injuries, such as the speed and the impact location. For biomechanical injury criterions, the AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale), the HIC (Head Injury Criterion) and other injury criterions based on the resulting accelerations in the pedestrian's body are used. The statistical model reported that there were several predictors that significantly influenced the pedestrian injury severity in the event of a road accident, such as Pedestrian's age, Pedestrian's gender, Vehicle Design/Category or Driver's gender. The use of injury scales and biomechanical criterions in in-depth investigation of road accidents, such as AIS, can significantly improve the quality of the reconstruction process.
The declining trend since 1991 in the number of killed people was broken in 2011 when overall 4 009 people died in traffic accidents in Germany. The question arises if there is a stagnating trend of fatalities in Germany in future? By breaking down the accidents with casualties towards a monthly view one can see a decreasing trend of fatalities in the warmer months especially since 2009. When comparing against winter months higher deviations are observed. In December 2011 an increase of 191 traffic deaths were registered (181 in 2010 compared to 372 in 2011). Further analyses of different accident influences were evaluated and their possibility of drastic change from one year to the other was determined. As seen weather- and environmental conditions are one of the major contributing factors and are one of the causes for the increased number of fatalities. To support the underlying assumption a model had been created to calculate the number of traffic deaths on a daily basis approach. As an input, road conditions projected through weather parameters and also different driving behaviors on weekdays or holidays were used. As a result, estimates of daily fatality with up to 75% precision can be achieved out of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 data. Further on it shows that weather and street conditions have a high influence on the overall resulting number of traffic accidents with casualties, and especially to the number of fatalities. Hence it is estimated that approximately 3 300 people were killed in traffic accidents in Germany in 2013 which would be again a reduction of another 13% compared to 2012. Therefore an answer to the question will be that the decreasing trend in traffic fatalities in Germany somehow is not broken when environmental conditions are included in national statistics. Their effects will become more visible in future accident statistics and it is estimated variances of 5% to 8% of the annual number of traffic fatalities in Germany will be seen.
The paper gives an overview of the recent (mostly 2012) figures of killed bus/coach occupants (drivers and passengers) in 27 Member States of the European Union as reported by CARE. The Evolution of the figures of bus/coach occupants killed in road accidents urban, rural without motorway and on motorways from 1991 to 2010 in 15 Member States of the EU supplements this information. More detailed are the figures reported for Germany by the Federal Statistics. The paper displays long-term evaluations (1957 to 2012) for killed, seriously and slightly injured occupants in all kinds of buses/coaches. Midterm evaluations (1995 to 2012) of the figures of fatalities and casualties are displayed for different busses according to their identification of road using as coaches, urban buses, school buses, trolley buses and "other buses". To be able to compare the evolutions of the safety of vehicle occupants it is customary to use different risk indicators. Calculations and illustrations for three often used indicators with their development over time are given: fatalities, seriously injured and slightly injured per 100,000 vehicles registered, per 1 billion (109) vehicle-kilometres travelled and per 1 billion (109) person-kilometres. These indicators are shown for occupants of cars, goods vehicles and buses/coaches. For the period from 1957 until 2012 it is obvious, that for all three vehicle categories analysed there was a clear long-term trend towards more occupant safety in terms of casualties per vehicles registered and per vehicle mileage. This was most significant for car occupants but it can be seen for bus/coach occupants and goodsvehicle occupants as well. Figures of killed occupants and of casualties related to person-kilometres are calculated and displayed for the shorter period 1995 to 2012. Here it becomes obvious that the bus/coach is still the safest mode of transport for the occupants of road vehicles. Graphs for the casualty risk indices still show significantly higher risks for car occupants despite the corresponding curve moved sustainable downwards. It is remarkable, that the risks of being killed or injured for the occupants of urban buses is growing whereas the corresponding risk for the occupants of coaches in line traffic tends downwards. The article ends with a short comparison and discussion of the risk indicators which are actually published for the occupants (driver and passengers) of cars and the passengers of buses/coaches, railroads, trams and airplanes. The interpretation of such information depends on the perception and it seems that for a complete view not only one indicator should be used and the evolutions of the indicator values during longer periods (as displayed with examples in the paper) should also be taken into account.
Bei Straßenverkehrsunfällen werden volkswirtschaftliche Ressourcen vernichtet und die Leistungsfähigkeit des Wirtschaftssystems entsprechend beeinträchtigt. Die Bewertung der volkswirtschaftlichen Schäden ist unerlässlich, um Maßnahmen zur Verringerung von Straßenverkehrsunfällen beurteilen zu können. Das Bewertungsverfahren zur Ermittlung der volkswirtschaftlichen Kosten durch Straßenverkehrsunfälle wurde in den letzten Jahren sowohl für Personen- als auch für Sachschäden überarbeitet. Mit dem neuen Verfahren wurde das Unfallgeschehen von 1995 bis 1998 bewertet. Die Entwicklung der Unfallkosten zeigt, dass eine erfolgreiche Verkehrssicherheitspolitik zu einer erheblichen Kostenentlastung der Volkswirtschaft und entsprechender Steigerung der Lebensqualität beitragen kann. Allein im betrachteten Zeitraum von 4 Jahren haben Straßenverkehrsunfälle volkswirtschaftliche Kosten in Höhe von fast 280 Milliarden DM verursacht. Diese Kosten sind ein Beleg dafür, dass die Verbesserung der Verkehrssicherheit eine verkehrspolitische Daueraufgabe ersten Ranges bleibt. Gleichzeitig wurden nach Ortslagen differenzierte Unfallkostensätze ermittelt, die als Eingangsdaten für gesamtwirtschaftliche Wirtschaftlichkeitsanalysen von Straßenverkehrsmaßnahmen - zum Beispiel nach den "Empfehlungen für Wirtschaftlichkeitsuntersuchungen von Straßen" (EWS 97) - dienen.
Analysis of the accident scenario of powered two-wheelers on the basis of real-world accidents
(2013)
For the first time since 20 years the German national statistics of traffic accidents revealed an increasing number of fatalities and seriously injured persons in 2011. This negative development was especially caused by increasing numbers in all groups of vulnerable road users (VRU). Furthermore, the comparison of fatality reduction rates between several categories of road users shows that persons on motorcycles show the worst performance over years. Although every second fatality in German traffic accidents is still a car occupant, users of PTW make up more than 20% in the meantime. Assuming further improvements in the field of occupant protection this trend will continue. For that reason, a study on the basis of real-world accidents was conducted to describe the accident scenario involving motorcycles and to identify the reasons of the above-described fact. Approximately 1.800 motorcycle accidents out of GIDAS database were used for the analyses. The first part of the study deals with the question how representative the GIDAS database is for the German motorcycle accident scenario. Afterwards, detailed descriptive statistics on motorcycle accidents were presented considering numerous parameters about the accident scene, environmental influences, vehicle information, individual characteristics, interview data, injury severity and injury causation. One important point is the identification of the most frequent critical situations that are typical for motorcycle accidents. Furthermore, a special focus was on accident causation. Finally, conspicuous facts out of the analysis are emphasized. All in all, the study gives a comprehensive overview about the German motorcycle accident scenario. One the one hand, the use of weighted GIDAS data allows representative and robust statements on the basis of large case numbers; on the other hand highly detailed conclusions can be drawn. The results of the study help to understand the particularities of motorcycle accidents and provide approaches for further improvements in the field of PTW safety.
It is very important for Automotive OEMs to get feedback on their product performance on real roads for continuous improvement. Every OEM has a way of collecting this feedback for various performance parameters. Systematic accident research is a way to generate the information related to safety performance of the vehicle. In India, while there is a large amount of data related to the accidents, it is found this data is aimed at understanding the gross statistics and not directly useful for technology development. This paper explains learnings from a pilot study carried out in collaboration with an Emergency Medical Services provider on one of the expressways (motorways). This pilot study has resulted in development of working model that could now be scaled up at for wider application. The paper also presents some of the important observations based on the data collected.