Assessing the Safety Impacts of Intersection Safety Systems

Accident Analysis & Prevention

et al. 2017

In recent years, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have assisted in the decrease of road traffic fatalities, particularly amongst passenger car occupants. Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) such as pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists, however, have not been that much in focus when developing ITS. Therefore, there is a clear need for ITS which specifically address VRUs as an integrated element of the traffic system. This paper presents the results of a quantitative safety impact assessment of five systems that were estimated to have high potential to improve the safety of cyclists, namely: Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Bicycle to Vehicle communication (B2V), Intersection safety (INS), Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System+Emergency Braking (PCDS+EBR) and VRU Beacon System (VBS). An ex-ante assessment method proposed by Kulmala (2010) targeted to assess the effects of ITS for cars was applied and further developed in this study to assess the safety impacts of ITS specifically designed for VRUs. The main results of the assessment showed that all investigated systems affect cyclist safety in a positive way by preventing fatalities and injuries. The estimates considering 2012 accident data and full penetration showed that the highest effects could be obtained by the implementation of PCDS+EBR and B2V, whereas VBS had the lowest effect. The estimated yearly reduction in cyclist fatalities in the EU-28 varied between 77 and 286 per system. A forecast for 2030, taking into accounts the estimated accident trends and penetration rates, showed the highest effects for PCDS+EBR and BSD.

Section: Bicycle To Vehicle Communication (B2v)supporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Intersection Safety (Ins)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Can cyclist safety be improved with intelligent transport systems?

Silla

Leden

Accident Analysis & Prevention

et al. 2017

“…The effectiveness is estimated as 50-60% (the road user is made aware of the danger and system is expected to be effective), based on results from the eIMPACT [15], PReVAL [16] and Intersafe2 projects [17,28]. These studies looked at a similar system, the main difference being that the VRU is not warned.…”

Section: Intersection Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

A headway to improve PTW rider safety within the EU through three types of ITS

Silla

Leden

et al. 2018

Eur. Transp. Res. Rev.

Introduction: The current safety situation for Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) within the EU is alarming. According to EU statistics, PTW riders account for 17% of all fatal road injuries in the region and twice as many fatalities per hundred thousand registered vehicles compared with occupants of cars. In recent years, too little attention has been given to Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), including PTW users, in the development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Therefore, ITS should be developed that consider PTW riders an integral part of traffic; we focus on three systems that we believe have the potential to improve safety among PTW riders, namely Intersection Safety (INS), the Powered Two Wheeler oncoming vehicle information system (PTW2V), and the Vulnerable road user Beacon System (VBS). The present study aims to estimate quantitatively the safety impacts of the selected ITS for PTW riders in the EU-28, once the systems are fully adopted and meet selected future scenarios for 2020 and 2030. Method: An ex-ante method suggested by Kulmala (Accident Analysis and Prevention 42:1359-1369, 2010) was further developed and applied to assess the safety impacts of ITS specifically designed for VRUs. As suggested by the method, the analysis started by determining the impact mechanisms through which the selected ITS systems affect the safety of PTW riders. Results: According to the main results, all the systems we studied have a positive impact on PTW rider safety by preventing fatalities and injuries. The greatest effects, based on 2012 accident data and full penetration, could be attained by implementing PTW2V (283 fewer yearly fatalities) and INS (261 fewer yearly fatalities). The weakest effect was found with VBS (216 fewer yearly fatalities). Forecasts for 2030, also based on estimated accident trends and penetration rates, confirm an expected edge for INS and PTW2V in terms of safety.

“…They include an Intersection Safety system with various subsystems (red light warning, stop signs and left‐turn assistance) which lowered fatalities from 3.9 to 7.3% [7] and a left turn assistance which lowered fatalities from 0.6 to 1.5% [9]. A later study [10] updated the impact estimates of Intersection Safety subsystems and suggested somewhat bigger impacts; if used in all vehicles and implemented at 10% of intersections, they would have the potential to decrease fatalities by 9% and injuries by 17% within the EU27. Expert assessments have also shown C‐ITS services designed specifically for vulnerable road users (VRUs) and powered two‐wheeler riders [11] to have positive effects on traffic safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety assessment of local cooperative warnings and speed limit information

IET intell. transp. syst

Innamaa

2020

The study was designed to assess the impacts of cooperative intelligent transport systems (C‐ITS) on traffic safety. The aim was also to review assumptions made in some previous studies and verify or update the earlier safety estimates. Seven informative C‐ITS services warning about various situations and hazards were selected in the study. The expert estimates provided were grounded on new evidence about driver behaviour, the crash categories created in the European Risk Calculation tool (ERiC), and literature. The C‐ITS services were assessed to reduce the number of fatalities and injury crashes. The clearly biggest drop in fatalities was assessed for ‘In‐vehicle signage, speed limit’, ‘Weather warning’ being the second most effective. The next effective were assessed to be ‘Warning of emergency braking ahead’ and ‘Road works warning’. The smallest but still positive impacts were assessed for ‘Traffic jam ahead warning’, ‘Car breakdown warning’ and ‘In‐vehicle signage, child and pedestrian crossing ahead’. Generally, the effectiveness was assessed to be somewhat smaller for injury crashes than fatalities. The authors conclude that the results are positive both for implementing C‐ITS services as such and as supporting measure for the deployment of more intervening ITS and automated driving.