Periodic Reporting for period 3 - InDeV (InDeV: In-Depth understanding of accident causation for Vulnerable road users)
Berichtszeitraum: 2018-05-01 bis 2018-10-31
The main objective of the InDeV project is to develop a tool-box for in-depth analysis of accident causation for Vulnerable Road Users based on a combined use of accident databases, in-depth accident investigations, surrogate safety indicators, self-reported accidents and naturalistic behavioural data. The proposed approach focuses on the process of accident development, thus overcoming the main weakness of the traditional accident data based approach that might find correlations between various factors and accident frequency, but not show the causation chains. It will also employ, to a larger extent, observation of critical traffic events that are similar in process to real accidents, but are relatively more frequent and easier to collect in sufficient quantities. The InDeV project includes the following steps: i) review of methods and identification of the critical sites and road user groups; ii) observation studies at the selected sites; iii) development of technical tools for automated behaviour data collection; iv) analysis of the socio-economical costs; v) compilation of the project results and development of the safety analyst tool-box. The project has a clear focus on VRUs and the course of events in accidents they get injured in. It will provide solid knowledge, help to avoid a skewed view on the problem of VRUs’ safety, and facilitate the proposed tailor-made countermeasures for these groups. Moreover, with the use of surrogate safety indicators, there will be no need to wait for accidents to happen in order to learn how to prevent them from happening.
The project work started with overview of the current study methods for Vulnerable Road Users safety, identification of knowledge gaps, availability and quality of the data and technical tolls for the data collection. After that several field studies were initiated. The level of under-reporting of the accidents involving vulnerable road users is studied by means of repeated internet surveys, the results of which are later compared with the official accidents records. Video filming is done at intersections in several EU countries with the goal to test and validate various surrogate (not based on accidents) safety indicators that can be used for more efficient and prompt safety diagnostics. Technical tools for efficient processing of video are being developed, too. A mobile app is being developed for detection of single accidents (such as falls during cycling or walking). A revision of the methods for calculation of the accidents costs is initiated. The work on the final output of the project, a safety diagnosis handbook that summarises the knowledge collected in the project in a practice-oriented way, is in its final stage.
The overview of the current study methods resulted in several extensive literature reviews that provide a very broad and state-of-the-art knowledge on the subject. Overview of the data availability and quality resulted in recommendations for how the collection of the data relevant for safety work should be improved. The project developed technical tools that for efficient processing of the video that was not available for the researchers and practitioners before.