Modelling Road User Perceptions towards Safety, Comfort, and Chaos at Shared Space: The via Maqueda Case Study, Italy

This study aims to investigate the impacts of perception of infrastructure, sociodemographic characteristics, frequency of road use, and road user perception on safety, comfort, and chaos with respect to shared spaces. The case study area was the Via Maqueda, a shared street in Palermo, Italy. A face-to-face survey was conducted and the answers of 200 of the participants, who use three active travel modes, namely, walking, cycling, and micromobility, were analysed. The results obtained from the ordered logit models suggest that one-unit higher perception of infrastructure will increase safety and comfort perceptions for both walking and cycling. Females feel less safe while walking and less comfortable while cycling at shared spaces compared to males. Increasing the age group by one unit will decrease the safety and comfort perceptions for walking. The participants who use the shared spaces more frequently perceive that they feel more comfortable with cycling. Participants, particularly males, find the shared spaces less chaotic for walking when the perception of infrastructure is higher. Regarding the micromobility use at shared spaces, females feel less comfortable compared to males while using micromobility.

Development of New Radar and Pyroelectric Sensors for Road Safety Increase in Cloud-Based Multi-Agent Control Application

The paper concentrates on the design, architecture, and monitoring of smart LED street lighting control, with focus on traffic safety and safe road infrastructure. The use of a CMAS (Cloud-Based Multi-Agent System) as a possible framework is investigated. The work is based on previous developments by the authors in the production and design of close and long-range hybrid Pyroelectric Infrared (PIR) motion detection sensors. It also introduces the advances in radar-type sensors used in smart SLC (street lighting control) application systems. The proposed sensor solutions can detect the road user (vehicle or pedestrian) and determine its movement direction and approximate speed that can be used for dynamic lighting control algorithms, traffic intensity prediction, and increased safety for both driver and pedestrian traffic. Furthermore, the street lighting system infrastructure can monitor city environmental parameters, such as temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, thus increasing levels of safety and security for smart cities. Utilising other hybrid systems within intelligent street lighting applications represents a new specialisation area in both energy-saving, safety awareness, and intelligent management.

Evaluation of Raised Safety Platforms (RSP) On-Road Safety Performance

A Raised Safety Platform (RSP) is a relatively new physical road safety intervention at major intersections. They aim to enhance road user safety by reducing vehicle speeds at intersections using an acute vertical deflection to the vehicle path. This study measured the change in speed at selected high-volume intersections treated with an RSP. It was a 12-month study based on a controlled before-and-after-treatment design, with speed and other measures assessed at six treated and five control intersections. Statistically significant and meaningful reductions in speeds were observed given the treatment and adjusted for the control group. A 15.6% reduction in the central tendency of speed was found overall. The odds of a vehicle exceeding nominal Safe System speeds of 30 km/h, 40 km/h, and 50 km/h also reduced markedly, with greater reductions observed at the higher speed thresholds (46%, 69%, and 80%, respectively). The change in speed corresponded to an estimated aggregate-level injurious crash-reduction benefit of around 26% and a reduction in the likelihood of a serious injury given a crash of between 38% to 57% depending on the crash type. It was concluded that RSP is an effective Safe System treatment to reduce speeds at major intersections to levels similar that at roundabouts. The results suggest that well designed RSPs at signalised intersections are an effective and sustainable Safe System treatment.

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

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.

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

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.

Predictors of In-Hospital Mortality for Road Traffic Accident-Related Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

(1) Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) and are associated with high mortality. Few studies have focused on RTA-related pediatric TBI. We conducted this study to analyze the clinical characteristics of RTA-related TBI in children and to identify early predictors of in-hospital mortality in children with severe TBI. (2) Methods: In this 15-year observational cohort study, a total of 618 children with RTA-related TBI were enrolled. We collected the patients’ clinical characteristics at the initial presentations in the emergency department (ED), including gender, age, types of road user, the motor components of the Glasgow Coma Scale (mGCS) score, body temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose level, initial prothrombin time, and the intracranial computed tomography (CT) Rotterdam score, as potential mortality predictors. (3) Results: Compared with children exhibiting mild/moderate RTA-related TBI, those with severe RTA-related TBI were older and had a higher mortality rate (p < 0.001). The in-hospital mortality rate for severe RTA-related TBI children was 15.6%. Compared to children who survived, those who died in hospital had a higher incidence of presenting with hypothermia (p = 0.011), a lower mGCS score (p < 0.001), a longer initial prothrombin time (p < 0.013), hyperglycemia (p = 0.017), and a higher Rotterdam CT score (p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses showed that the mGCS score (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 2.00, 95% CI: 1.28–3.14, p = 0.002) and the Rotterdam CT score (adjusted OR: 2.58, 95% CI: 1.31–5.06, p = 0.006) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. (4) Conclusions: Children with RTA-related severe TBI had a high mortality rate. Patients who initially presented with hypothermia, a lower mGCS score, a prolonged prothrombin time, hyperglycemia, and a higher Rotterdam CT score in brain CT analyses were associated with in-hospital mortality. The mGCS and the Rotterdam CT scores were predictive of in-hospital mortality independently.

Changes in Transportation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From a Survey of Middle-Aged and Older Floridians

The pandemic’s numerous effects on everyday life include reductions in driving and changes in the use of other transportation modes, like getting rides from family and friends, walking, and biking. Aside from broad patterns, however, little is known about these changes, including how they affected different groups of the population and how they felt about them. Our study addresses these issues using data collected from an online survey of over 4,000 Floridians aged 50 or older, conducted between December 2020 and April 2021 and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation to support its aging road user program, Safe Mobility for Life. Changes in driving and in rides from family and friends were more striking than those in other transportation modes. Nearly 30 percent of respondents decreased their driving during the pandemic, while 20 percent got fewer rides from family and 25 percent got fewer rides from friends. In contrast, only 11 percent decreased their walking, and the same percentage increased it. Less common were changes in biking, with percent 7 decreasing and only 4 percent increasing it. Multivariate analyses revealed that these changes were influenced by gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, and health. Further insight was gained from analysis of an open-ended item, revealing positive and negative assessments of the changes. Positive assessments centered on feeling satisfied with working at home, spending more time outdoors, having more free time, and saving money. Negative assessments centered on social isolation, dissatisfaction with government responses to the pandemic, and reduced transportation options.