Cyclist efficiency and its dependence on infrastructure and usual speed

Bicyclists are a heterogeneous group, with varying abilities, traffic education and experience. While efficiency was identified as an important factor on utility bicycle trips, it might be traded for experienced safety, for example by choosing different pathways in a given situation, or by relinquishing one’s right of way. In a semi-controlled study with 41 participants, a grouping was made according to self-reported riding speed in relation to other cyclists. The participants cycled twice along a 3 km inner-city route, passing four intersections with different priority rules. The cyclists were free to choose how to negotiate the intersections. Speed and the traffic surroundings were recorded via gps and cameras on the bike of the participant and of a following experimenter. For each cyclist, the ‘base’ speed on undisturbed segments was determined as reference. Based on this, the efficiency in different types of intersections was computed per cyclist group. It turned out that infrastructural aspects, cyclist group and the presence and behaviour of interacting traffic influenced cyclist efficiency. Faster cyclists were delayed more when the infrastructure required a stop regardless of the traffic situation, like at a red traffic light or a stop sign. The members of the so-called ‘comfort cyclists’ group were delayed the most in a roundabout with mixed traffic, where many chose to get off their bike and walk. In a society working for equality of access to the transport system, it is recommended to develop solutions that consider and accommodate the behaviours of different cyclist groups when planning bicycling infrastructure.     

Narrative (Re)Righting: Recovering and Rebuilding a Life Rocked by Trauma

In this paper, I write about and through my recent brush with death to narrate myself out of fear and desperation and into hope and acceptance. Storytelling helps me sort through the rubble and make sense of my life repeatedly rocked by trauma. Narrative reframing takes me a step further, empowering me to rebuild and reinvent my life through the stories I choose to tell as I move forward. Through this work, I am reminded rebuilding is temporary, continual, and precarious; and not only possible, but important and necessary.     

事故多发驾驶员与安全驾驶员反应时的比较研究

本文对18名事故多发卡车驾驶员和18名安全卡车驾驶员的视觉、听觉简单反应时、选择反应时以及决策时间进行了比较研究.结果表明事故多发组卡车驾驶员的视觉、听觉简单反应时比安全组卡车驾驶员长,但差异不显著;事故多发组卡车驾驶员的视觉、听觉选择反应时与决策时间都比安全组卡车驾驶员长,且差异显著.本研究结果为我国深入开展驾驶员的选拔、培训与驾驶适应性检测提供理论依据与技术支持.     

Surrogate safety indicator for unsignalised pedestrian crossings

ProblemAlthough the road safety situation in Poland is generally improving, the number of accidents at pedestrian crossings has not decreased in the last four years. This paper presents the results of the MOBIS research project, the aim of which was to develop surrogate safety indicators, based on detection of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts using video analysis.MethodPedestrian and vehicle traffic was filmed at two unsignalised pedestrian zebra crossings in Warsaw and Wrocław for over 40 days. Motion trajectories of vehicles and pedestrians were determined based on video processing. Several variables describing pedestrian-vehicle interactions were calculated, such as speed, post-encroachment time, distance between the participants, decelerations, etc. Classification of encounters was based on interactions of pedestrians and vehicles i.e. drivers yielding to pedestrians, vehicles passing just in front of, or behind pedestrians.Results and discussionCriteria for identification of dangerous encounters were selected with the assumption that it should be possible to automate the assessment process. The selected variables were: pedestrian-vehicle passing distance and the vehicle speed at that moment. Other criteria were used in cases of abrupt braking – deceleration exceeding 4 m/s² and vehicle speed. A Dangerous Encounter Index is proposed as a surrogate safety indicator for pedestrian crossings. It relates the occurrence of dangerous events to exposure, defined as the number of pedestrian-vehicle encounters.Practical applicationsThe proposed index shows that crossing two lanes involves more risk than crossing one lane, given similar traffic flow. Some improvement of safety at both types of crossing was observed after active signage involving blinking lights had been introduced. The proposed method is a step towards automation of safety assessment.     

Development and validation of the Drivers’ Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EMOVIAL)

Road fatalities involving young road users have become a global health issue. Although human factors are known to be involved in road fatalities, little research has examined the way in which emotional competencies may affect road accidents. With the aim of filling this gap we describe the development and validation of a scale for measuring emotional intelligence when driving. The EMOVIAL inventory consists of nine items distributed across three dimensions (attention to emotions while driving, clarity of emotions while driving, and emotional regulation while driving). Analysis of its psychometric properties showed it to be valid and reliable. The paper discusses how the scale may be used to improve road safety.     

Risky behaviours associated with traffic crashes among app-based motorcycle taxi drivers in Vietnam

Motorcycle taxi services provide an important mobility option for people in developing countries. With the emergence of new transport technologies, app-based motorcycle taxi services have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, little is known about risky driving behaviours and their association with traffic crashes among app-based motorcycle taxi drivers. Through a survey of 602 app-based motorcycle taxi drivers from three cities in Vietnam, this research aimed to investigate the incidence of risky driving behaviours and their association with driver characteristics and traffic crashes. Using a mobile phone while driving was found to be the most common risky driving behaviour (52%) among app-based motorcycle taxi drivers, followed by neglecting to use turn signals (31%), encroaching car lanes (25%), exceeding the speed limit (21%), running red lights (19%) and carrying more than one passenger (17%). In addition, drivers who were students, or those who worked more than 50 h per week, were found to be more likely to engage in risky driving behaviours. Binary logistic regression modelling showed that neglecting to use turn signals, carrying more than one passenger and smoking while driving was significantly associated with self-reported active crash/fall involvement. Turn signal neglect was also associated with active injury crash/fall involvement. The incidence of risky driving behaviours and associated crash involvement was found to be lower among app-based motorcycle taxi drivers compared with regular motorcyclists, yet the findings still highlight the need for ride-hailing firms to deliver improved education and road safety training for their drivers.     

Temporal fluctuations in driving demand: The effect of traffic complexity on subjective measures of workload and driving performance

Traffic density has been shown to be a factor of traffic complexity which influences driver workload. However, little research has systematically varied and examined how traffic density affects workload in dynamic traffic conditions. In this driving simulator study, the effects of two dynamically changing traffic complexity factors (Traffic Flow and Lane Change Presence) on workload were examined. These fluctuations in driving demand were then captured using a continuous subjective rating method and driving performance measures. The results indicate a linear upward trend in driver workload with increasing traffic flow, up to moderate traffic flow levels. The analysis also showed that driver workload increased when a lane change occurred in the drivers’ forward field of view, with further increases in workload when that lane change occurred in close proximity. Both of these main effects were captured via subjective assessment and with driving performance parameters such as speed variation, mean time headway and variation in lateral position. Understanding how these traffic behaviours dynamically influence driver workload is beneficial in estimating and managing driver workload. The present study suggests possible ways of defining the level of workload associated with surrounding traffic complexity, which could help contribute to the design of an adaptive workload estimator.     

The Judas Within: A Look at the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church

Drawing from normal accident theory, high reliability theory, and systems theory, we analyze the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that is promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the sexual abuses of minors by clergy members. Although the Charter is a step in the right direction, there remain some areas that require immediate attention. In spite of the goodwill processes, the safety of minors must remain the concerted efforts and responsibilities of individuals at all the various levels if the Catholic Church is to prevent further cases of abuse from happening.     

The influence of age on the take-over of vehicle control in highly automated driving

The growing proportion of older drivers in the population plays an increasingly relevant role in road traffic that is currently awaiting the introduction of automated vehicles. In this study, it was investigated how older drivers (⩾60 years) compared to younger drivers (⩽28 years) perform in a critical traffic event when driving highly automated. Conditions of the take-over situation were manipulated by adding a verbal non-driving task (20 questions task) and by variation of traffic density. Two age groups consisting of 36 younger and 36 older drivers drove either with or without a non-driving task on a six-lane highway. They encountered three situations with either no, medium or high traffic density where they had to regain vehicle control and evade an obstacle on the road. Older drivers reacted as fast as younger drivers, however, they differed in their modus operandi as they braked more often and more strongly and maintained a higher time-to-collision (TTC). Deterioration of take-over time and quality caused by increased traffic density and engagement in a non-driving task was on the same level for both age groups. Independent of the traffic density, there was a learning effect for both younger and older drivers in a way that the take-over time decreased, minimum TTC increased and maximum lateral acceleration decreased between the first and the last situation of the experiment. Results highlight that older drivers are able to solve critical traffic events as well as younger drivers, yet their modus operandi differs. Nevertheless, both age groups adapt to the experience of take-over situations in the same way.     

Predicting Driver's Intention Based on Own Vulnerability: A Social Interaction Process between Road Users at an Intersection in Japan

When road users predict the future movement of an approaching vehicle at an intersection, they need to consider not only the physical environment but also the predicted behavioral intention of the approaching driver. In the present experiments, we asked participants to imagine how a vehicle would approach in a natural traffic environment. In Experiment 1, participants estimated the time‐to‐contact with an approaching vehicle as longer when they were physically vulnerable. In Experiment 2, we confirmed that differences in participants’ eye height did not explain the findings of Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, we asked participants to indicate the last possible moment at which they could cross an intersection in front of an approaching vehicle. Participants left a shorter safety margin when they were more physically vulnerable than the approaching vehicle. The results indicate that road users’ perceived vulnerability is a cue for them to trust the approaching driver's intention to decelerate. This viewpoint is important for interventions to prevent unrealistic trust that an approaching vehicle will avoid an accident and subsequent trust‐based behaviors.