Method to Assess and Enhance Vulnerable Road User Safety during Impact Loading

Every year approximately 1.35 million people die as a consequence of road accidents. Almost 50% of road fatalities are vulnerable road users (VRUs). This research reviews the history of traffic safety for VRUs, presents an interesting insight into the statistics and evaluates the current legislation in Europe for pedestrians, cyclists, children on bicycle-mounted seats and motorcyclists in terms of impact situations and applied criteria. This enabled the author to have a better perspective on how the VRUs’ safety is currently verified. Furthermore, the VRU safety requirements are contrasted with the author’s research, which is mainly focused on VRU’s head biomechanics and kinematics. Finally, a new coherent method is presented, which encompasses the sub-groups of VRUs and proposes some improvements to both the regulations as well as technical countermeasures to mitigate the injuries during an impact. This study highlights the importance of numerical methods, which can serve as a powerful tool to study VRUs’ head injuries and kinematics.

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Autonomous Vehicles and Vulnerable Road-Users—Important Considerations and Requirements Based on Crash Data from Two Countries

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs11070101 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 101

Author(s):

Andrew Paul Morris ◽

Narelle Haworth ◽

Ashleigh Filtness ◽

Daryl-Palma Asongu Nguatem ◽

Laurie Brown ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Red Light ◽

Road User ◽

Red Light Running ◽

Crash Data ◽

Passenger Vehicles ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users ◽

Road Intersections

(1) Background: Passenger vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) functionalities are becoming more prevalent within vehicle fleets. However, the full effects of offering such systems, which may allow for drivers to become less than 100% engaged with the task of driving, may have detrimental impacts on other road-users, particularly vulnerable road-users, for a variety of reasons. (2) Crash data were analysed in two countries (Great Britain and Australia) to examine some challenging traffic scenarios that are prevalent in both countries and represent scenarios in which future connected and autonomous vehicles may be challenged in terms of safe manoeuvring. (3) Road intersections are currently very common locations for vulnerable road-user accidents; traffic flows and road-user behaviours at intersections can be unpredictable, with many vehicles behaving inconsistently (e.g., red-light running and failure to stop or give way), and many vulnerable road-users taking unforeseen risks. (4) Conclusions: The challenges of unpredictable vulnerable road-user behaviour at intersections (including road-users violating traffic or safe-crossing signals, or taking other risks) combined with the lack of knowledge of CAV responses to intersection rules, could be problematic. This could be further compounded by changes to nonverbal communication that currently exist between road-users, which could become more challenging once CAVs become more widespread.

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Vehicle-to-Pedestrian Communication for Vulnerable Road Users: Survey, Design Considerations, and Challenges

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s19020358 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 358 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Parag Sewalkar ◽

Jochen Seitz

Keyword(s):

Communication Systems ◽

Survey Design ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Road User ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Design Considerations ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

In the last few years, increasing attention has been provided to research Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) communication systems. These V2P systems serve different purposes (safety or convenience) and cater to different Vulnerable Road User (VRU) groups. Also, these V2P systems employ different communication technologies, and use different mechanisms to interact with the users. An effective V2P system also needs to consider varying characteristics of different VRUs. These various elements may be considered as design parameters of the V2P system. In this paper, we discuss such elements and propose a design framework for the V2P system based on them. We also provide an extensive survey of existing V2P efforts for safety and convenience applications and their design considerations. We perform a case study that compares the different approaches of V2P safety system for different VRU groups under different pre-crash scenarios. Finally, we discuss a few technological challenges in integration of VRUs into V2X systems.

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Cooperative Multi-Sensor Tracking of Vulnerable Road Users in the Presence of Missing Detections

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20174817 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (17) ◽

pp. 4817

Author(s):

Martin Dimitrievski ◽

David Van Hamme ◽

Peter Veelaert ◽

Wilfried Philips

Keyword(s):

Temporal Integration ◽

Tracking Performance ◽

Road User ◽

Fusion Algorithm ◽

Multiple Control ◽

Sensor Model ◽

Road Users ◽

Noise Characteristics ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

This paper presents a vulnerable road user (VRU) tracking algorithm capable of handling noisy and missing detections from heterogeneous sensors. We propose a cooperative fusion algorithm for matching and reinforcing of radar and camera detections using their proximity and positional uncertainty. The belief in the existence and position of objects is then maximized by temporal integration of fused detections by a multi-object tracker. By switching between observation models, the tracker adapts to the detection noise characteristics making it robust to individual sensor failures. The main novelty of this paper is an improved imputation sampling function for updating the state when detections are missing. The proposed function uses a likelihood without association that is conditioned on the sensor information instead of the sensor model. The benefits of the proposed solution are two-fold: firstly, particle updates become computationally tractable and secondly, the problem of imputing samples from a state which is predicted without an associated detection is bypassed. Experimental evaluation shows a significant improvement in both detection and tracking performance over multiple control algorithms. In low light situations, the cooperative fusion outperforms intermediate fusion by as much as 30%, while increases in tracking performance are most significant in complex traffic scenes.

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Integrating Communication with Conspicuity to Enhance Vulnerable Road User Safety: ArroWhere Case Study

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11102761 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 2761

Author(s):

Takuro Shoji ◽

Gordon Lovegrove

Keyword(s):

Traffic Control ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Road User ◽

Communication Aids ◽

Safety Measures ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users ◽

Control Devices

This paper presents findings from a research study into the role that communication plays in the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs), including a literature review, a hypothesis, and a case study testing our hypothesis. Many governments and road authorities lack capital or have not made it a priority to implement full VRU safety measures, with many gaps in VRU infrastructure and networks. These gaps leave VRUs to take safety into their own hands, including use of conspicuity aids such as high-visibility wear, helmets, bells, and lights with differing levels of effectiveness. The knowledge gap regarding the conventional wisdom, “be safe, be seen,” is the absence of communication and comprehension between road users (VRUs and vehicles). We hypothesize that communication aids are equally, if not more important than visibility aids for VRU safety. A case study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of several Hi-Viz safety vest designs including online surveys and separate in-field experiments using Instrumented Probe Bicycles. The results suggest that Hi-Viz safety vests using arrow designs (ArroWhere’s proprietary products and designs) similar to those found in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) can increase VRU safety until road authorities can fully fund and complete proper and sustainable VRU networks.

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Applying the Twilight Envelope to the Forensic Analysis of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Conspicuity in the Dark

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931213601603 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 479-483

Author(s):

Stephanie A. Whetsel Borzendowski ◽

Alan O. Campbell

Keyword(s):

Forensic Analysis ◽

Road User ◽

Future Research ◽

Traffic Crashes ◽

Traffic Crash ◽

Selective Degradation ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Artificial Illumination ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

The large majority of traffic crashes involving vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists occur when ambient illumination levels are reduced. The difficulty drivers face in recognizing the presence of these road users in the darkness can be attributed to the selective degradation of foveal visual functions, which support a driver’s ability to detect and identify the presence of potential hazards and other objects in the environment. Clothing worn by pedestrians and bicyclists can contribute to their conspicuity to oncoming drivers; extensive research has demonstrated that dark-clothing-clad pedestrians are often recognized at dangerously short distances. Vehicle headlamps serve to illuminate the path ahead for drivers, particularly in the absence of artificial illumination along the roadway, in order to improve driver visibility in the dark. The twilight envelope is a means of determining the visibility distance afforded by headlamps. This approach to describing illumination was applied to the analysis of a traffic crash involving a vulnerable road user, providing insight into the driver’s visibility. Future research should address the relationship between the twilight envelope of vehicle headlamps and the distance at which drivers are able to recognize potential hazards such as pedestrians and bicyclists using those headlamps.

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An Analysis of Vulnerable Road Users Overtaking Maneuver along the Urban Road

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11146361 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (14) ◽

pp. 6361

Author(s):

Manh Dung Vu ◽

Hirofumi Aoki ◽

Tatsuya Suzuki ◽

Sueharu Nagiri ◽

Quy Hung Nguyen Van ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Driving Simulator ◽

Road User ◽

Initial Speed ◽

Automotive Safety ◽

The Road ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Lane Width ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

This paper discusses driving styles while overtaking a vulnerable road user who moves along the shoulder in urban roads. Based on the data obtained from an experiment in pre-defined conditions (combinations of four main effects: vehicle’s initial speed, lane width of the road, vulnerable road users’ type, and location in the shoulder) with an immersive driving simulator, we analyzed four different driving styles of drivers while approaching and passing the objects. It is shown that drivers took avoidance maneuvers even if there was no clear risk of collision to vulnerable road users. The results showed that the drivers tended to have a unique perception about the lateral passing gap and overtaking strategy with two worth notice groups: overcaution drivers and reckless drivers. The road characteristic has a statistically significant effect for all types of drivers. Moreover, the effect of the vehicle’s initial speed on overtaking strategy and the effect of vulnerable road user location on minimum lateral passing gap are statistically significant. The findings provide some implications for the development of automotive safety systems that can reduce the risk of overtaking maneuvers in urban areas.

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Contrasting Perspectives on the Comfort and Safety of Pedestrians Interacting with Other Road Users

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198121992272 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2675 (3) ◽

pp. 33-43

Author(s):

Alexander Bigazzi ◽

Gurdiljot Gill ◽

Meghan Winters

Keyword(s):

Traffic Safety ◽

Injury Risk ◽

Road User ◽

Motor Vehicles ◽

Advisory Group ◽

User Interactions ◽

The Public ◽

Road Users ◽

Expert Assessments ◽

Sample Representation

Assessments of interactions between road users are crucial to understanding comfort and safety. However, observers may vary in their perceptions and ratings of road user interactions. The objective of this paper is to examine how perceptions of yielding, comfort, and safety for pedestrian interactions vary among observers, ranging from members of the public to road safety experts. Video clips of pedestrian interactions with motor vehicles and bicycles were collected from 11 crosswalks and shown to three groups of participants (traffic safety experts, an engaged citizen advisory group, and members of the general public) along with questions about yielding, comfort, and risk of injury. Experts had similar views of yielding and comfort to the other two groups, but a consistently lower assessment of injury risk for pedestrians in the study. Respondent socio-demographics did not relate to perceptions of yielding, comfort, or risk, but self-reported travel habits did. Respondents who reported walking more frequently rated pedestrian comfort as lower, and respondents who reported cycling more frequently rated risk as lower for pedestrian interactions with both motor vehicles and bicycles. Findings suggest small groups of engaged citizens can provide useful information about public perspectives on safety that likely diverge from expert assessments of risk, and that sample representation should be assessed in relation to travel habits rather than socio-demographics.

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Road barriers: modern solutions for improving traffic safety

10.36652/1684-1298-2021-6-43-48 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 43-48

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Traffic Safety ◽

Traffic Accident ◽

Preventive Measures ◽

Mechanical Damage ◽

Road Accidents ◽

Road Users ◽

Urgent Task ◽

The Moment ◽

Energy Absorbing ◽

The Impact

Improving the system of preventive measures aimed at reducing the severity of the consequences of road accidents is an urgent task. Road deaths are constantly increasing and there is a need for a comprehensive approach to creating safe road conditions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the promising designs of road barriers designed to prevent uncontrolled exit of vehicles from the roadway of the highway and to develop the design of energy-absorbing fencing. Barrier barriers must not only be safe for road users, but must also ensure their safety, as well as preserve the elements after hitting the fence. Analytical studies have shown that in order to reduce mechanical damage to vehicles and reduce the severity of injuries to the driver and passengers, it is necessary to develop a road fence design that allows you to extinguish the impact energy at the moment of contact between the car and the fence. Keywords: fencing, barrier, safety, traffic accident

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Evaluation of Head Injury Criteria for Injury Prediction Effectiveness: Computational Reconstruction of Real-World Vulnerable Road User Impact Accidents

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology ◽

10.3389/fbioe.2021.677982 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Fang Wang ◽

Zhen Wang ◽

Lin Hu ◽

Hongzhen Xu ◽

Chao Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head Injury ◽

Real World ◽

Head Injuries ◽

Axonal Injury ◽

Diffuse Axonal Injury ◽

Road User ◽

Injury Criteria ◽

Brain Deformation ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Head Injury Criteria

This study evaluates the effectiveness of various widely used head injury criteria (HICs) in predicting vulnerable road user (VRU) head injuries due to road traffic accidents. Thirty-one real-world car-to-VRU impact accident cases with detailed head injury records were collected and replicated through the computational biomechanics method; head injuries observed in the analyzed accidents were reconstructed by using a finite element (FE)-multibody (MB) coupled pedestrian model [including the Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) head–neck FE model and the remaining body segments of TNO MB pedestrian model], which was developed and validated in our previous study. Various typical HICs were used to predict head injuries in all accident cases. Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis method was adopted to investigate the correlation between head kinematics-based injury criteria and the actual head injury of VRU; the effectiveness of brain deformation-based injury criteria in predicting typical brain injuries [such as diffuse axonal injury diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and contusion] was assessed by using head injury risk curves reported in the literature. Results showed that for head kinematics-based injury criteria, the most widely used HICs and head impact power (HIP) can accurately and effectively predict head injury, whereas for brain deformation-based injury criteria, the maximum principal strain (MPS) behaves better than cumulative strain damage measure (CSDM0.15 and CSDM0.25) in predicting the possibility of DAI. In comparison with the dilatation damage measure (DDM), MPS seems to better predict the risk of brain contusion.

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Exploring the Informal Communication of Driver-to-Driver on Roads: A Case Study of Durban City, South Africa.

Put i saobraćaj ◽

10.31075/pis.67.04.01 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 67 (4) ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Jacob Adedayo Adedeji ◽

Xoliswa Feikie

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Traffic Safety ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Road User ◽

Novice Drivers ◽

The Road ◽

Road Users ◽

Hand Signal ◽

On The Road

Road traffic fatality is rated as one of the ten causes of death in the world and with various preventive measures on a global level, this prediction is only placed on flat terrain and didn’t reduce. Nevertheless, road users’ communication is an essential key to traffic safety. This communication, be it formal or informal between the road users is an important factor for smooth traffic flow and safety. Communication language on roads can be categorized into; formal device-based signal (formal signal), formal hand signal (formal signal), informal device-based signal (informal signal), and informal gesture-based signal (everyday signal). However, if the intent of the message conveys is not properly understood by the other road user, mistakes and errors may set in. Overall, the formal signal is based on explicit learning which occurs during the driving training and the license testing process and the informal, implicit learning occur during the actual driving process on the road unintentionally. Furthermore, since the informal signal is not a prerequisite to driving or taught in driving schools, novice drivers are clueless and thus, might have contributed to errors and mistakes which leads to traffic fatalities. Therefore, this study seeks to document the informal means of communication between drivers on South African roads. Consequently, a qualitative semi-structured interview questionnaire would be used in the collection of informal signals, which were predominantly used on South African roads from driving instructors and thereafter, a focus group of passengers’ car, commercial and truck drivers will be used to validate the availability and their understanding of these informal signals using a Likert-type scale for the confidence level. In conclusion, the information gathered from this study will help improve road safety and understanding of road users especially drivers on the necessity of communication and possible adaptation for other developing countries.

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