Scientists Test System To Steer Drivers Away From Dangerous Weather

Each of the test cars driving around Detroit contains onboard equipment that collects, stores, and transmits weather data. In the future, such onboard equipment will be much smaller and integrated into the car design instead of taking up trunk space. (Credit: Copyright UCAR, photo by Michael Chapman)

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are testing an innovative technological system in the Detroit area this month that ultimately will help protect drivers from being surprised by black ice, fog, and other hazardous weather conditions.

The prototype system is designed to gather detailed information about weather and road conditions from moving vehicles. Within about a decade, it should enable motor vehicles equipped with wireless technology to transmit automated updates about local conditions to a central database, which will then relay alerts to other drivers in the area.

“The goal is to reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths by getting drivers the information they need about nearby hazards,” says Sheldon Drobot, the NCAR program manager in charge of the project. “The system will tell drivers what they can expect to run into in the next few seconds and minutes, giving them a critical chance to slow down or take other action.”

NCAR’s road weather system is part of IntelliDrive(SM), a national initiative overseen by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use new technologies to make driving safer and improve mobility. Officials envision that, over the next 10 years or so, motor vehicles will begin to automatically communicate with each other and central databases, alerting drivers to threats that range from adverse road conditions to nearby vehicles that are moving erratically or are running through a red light. The goal of the DOT is to reduce motor vehicle accidents by 90 percent by 2030.

The national program brings together federal and state transportation officials, motor vehicle manufacturers, engineering and planning firms, consumer electronics companies, and others.

An estimated 1.5 million motor vehicle accidents annually are associated with poor weather, resulting in about 7,400 deaths and 690,000 injuries, according to a 2004 National Research Council report, “Where the Weather Meets the Road.” The report called for improving safety by establishing a nationwide observation system to monitor weather conditions along roads and warn drivers about potential hazards.

For the road weather portion of IntelliDrive, vehicles will use sensors to measure atmospheric conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity. An onboard digital memory device will record that information, along with indirect signs of road conditions, such as windshield wipers being switched on or activation of the antilock braking system.

The information will be transmitted to a central database, where it will be integrated with other local weather data and traffic observations, as well as details about road material and alignment. The processed data will then be used to update motorists in the area when hazards are present and, when appropriate, suggest alternate routes.

The incoming data would be anonymous. Officials are working on guidelines to allow drivers to opt out of the system for privacy considerations.

In addition to providing motorist warnings, such a system will alert emergency managers to hazardous driving conditions and enable state highway departments to efficiently keep roads clear of snow. It can also help meteorologists refine their forecasts by providing them with continual updates about local weather conditions.

Motor vehicle manufacturers plan to install the onboard equipment in every new vehicle sold in the United States within a few years as part of a voluntary program to improve driving safety.

On the prowl for bad weather

NCAR scientists and engineers are testing the weather piece of the system by collecting information from 11 specially equipped cars in the Detroit area. Test drivers are on the prowl for adverse conditions, especially heavy rain and snow. Engineers will analyze the reliability of the system by comparing data from the cars with other observations from radars and weather satellites. They will also look at whether different models of cars-in this case, Jeep Cherokees, Ford Edges, and a Nissan Altima – produce comparable measurements of weather and road conditions.

The tests, which began early this month and will run for about two weeks, will help the NCAR team refine its software to accurately process data from motor vehicles. In the future, the team also hopes to study which types of weather information will be most useful and how that information can be clearly and safely communicated to drivers, possibly through a visual display or audio alert.

“The results look very encouraging,” Drobot says. “The tests show that cars can indeed communicate critical information about weather conditions and road hazards.”

Processing a deluge of observations

One of the biggest challenges for NCAR is to determine how to process the enormous amounts of data that could be generated by about 300 million motor vehicles. The center has worked with the Department of Defense, the aviation industry, and other organizations to analyze complex weather observations. But the new system incorporates information from far more sources, and those sources are moving.

NCAR engineers are developing mathematical formulas and other techniques to accurately interpret the information and eliminate misleading indicators. If a driver, for example, turns on the windshield wipers in clear weather to clean the windshield, the NCAR data system will identify that action as an outlier rather than issuing a false alert about precipitation.

“It’s not enough to process the information almost instantaneously,” says William Mahoney, who oversees the system’s development for NCAR. “It needs to be cleaned up, sent through a quality control process, blended with traditional weather data, and eventually delivered back to drivers who are counting on the system to accurately guide them through potentially dangerous conditions.”

IntelliDrive is a service mark of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Source :ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2009)

Speed bumps to get new role as a source of green energy

Moving vehicles will generate electricity for street lights and road signs in a London trial

Rhodri Phillips

The Observer, Sunday 8 February 2009

“Green” speed bumps that will generate electricity as cars drive over them are to be introduced on Britain’s roads. The hi-tech “sleeping policemen” will power street lights, traffic lights and road signs in a pilot scheme in London that could be rolled out nationwide.

Speed bumps have long been the bane of motorists’ lives, but these will capture the kinetic energy of vehicles.

Peter Hughes, the designer behind the idea, said: “They are speed bumps, but they are not like conventional speed bumps. They don’t damage your car or waste petrol when you drive over them – and they have the added advantage that they produce energy free of charge.” An engineer who formerly advised the United Nations on renewable energy sources, Hughes added: “If it [the energy] wasn’t harnessed by the speed bumps, it would go to waste.”

The ramps – which cost between £20,000 and £55,000, depending on size – consist of a series of panels set in a pad virtually flush to the road. As the traffic passes over it, the panels go up and down, setting a cog in motion under the road. This then turns a motor, which produces mechanical energy. A steady stream of traffic passing over the bump can generate 10-36kW of power.

The bumps can each produce between £1 and £3.60 of energy an hour for up to 16 hours a day, or between £5,840 and £21,024 a year. Energy not used immediately can be stored or fed into the national grid.

“With a steady flow of traffic, four of the ramps used as speed bumps would be enough to power all the street lights, traffic lights and road signs for a mile-long stretch of street. The ramp is silent, comfortable and safe for vehicles. It is not only green energy; it is free energy, once you have paid for the capital cost of the equipment,” said Hughes. “The full potential of this is absolutely enormous.” Hughes claims that 10 ramps could generate the same power as one wind turbine.

The “electro-kinetic road ramp” system can either be raised to act as a speed bump or laid flat, so that drivers don’t realise they are passing over it.

A spokesman for Ealing council in west London confirmed that £150,000 of funding had been secured for the scheme: “The money is there for the scheme in 2009-10,” she said. “The details – how many speed bumps there will be and where they will be – still needs to be finalised. It is an innovative idea. We are excited to be part of it.”

Hughes said he had been in talks with more than 200 councils interested in introducing the system, as well supermarket chain Morrisons about a flat version of the ramp at its depot in Sittingbourne, Kent.

Speed humps were introduced in the UK in 1981. There are an estimated 30,000 in London and at least that number in the rest of the country. Conventional speed humps cost about £2,000 each.

A nightclub opened in Rotterdam in the Netherlands last year that is run partly on energy generated by people dancing. Last year, it was also reported that pedestrians’ footsteps could be used to power lighting at shopping centres.

(Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk)

(Picture : http://www.cartoonstock.com)

Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang di Garut

(Foto: Mansyur Hidayat/ detikcom)

Sumber berita : detiknews.com

Senin, 26/01/2009 05:52 WIB
Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang di Garut
Nograhany Widhi K – detikNews

Jakarta – Bus Kramat Jati masuk jurang di Malangbong, Garut. Peristiwa itu terjadi Senin (26/1/2009) di pagi buta, pukul 04.00 WIB.

“Iya, di daerah Lewo, Kecamatan Malangbong,” ujar petugas bantuan jaga Polsek Malangbong, Ahmad, ketika dihubungi detikcom hari ini, pukul 05.45 WIB.

Menurut dia, semua petugas sedang menuju ke lapangan. Ahmad juga belum mengetahui apakah ada korban jiwa yang timbul dalam kecelakaan ini.

“Korban sudah ada yang dibawa ke Puskesmas Malangbong,” ujarnya. (nwk/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 06:07 WIB
Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang di Garut
Banyak Korban Luka Parah, 1 Orang Dikabarkan Tewas
Nograhany Widhi K – detikNews

Jakarta – Bus Kramat Jati yang masuk jurang di Malangbong, Garut memakan korban sedikitnya 1 orang tewas. Sekitar 7 korban lainnya yang dibawa ke Puskesmas Malangbong luka parah.

Informasi ini dihimpun dari karyawan Puskesmas Malangbong Ujang yang dihubungi detikcom, Senin (26/1/2009) pukul 06.00 WIB.

“Barusan 7 orang (yang dibawa ke Puskesmas). Masih menunggu yang lain,” ujar Ujang.

Ketika ditanya ada atau tidaknya korban jiwa, Ujang mengatakan,”Baru tahu 1 orang (yang tewas). Banyak yang luka parah,” imbuh dia.

Menurut informasi yang didapatnya, jurang tempat Bus Kramat Jati itu terjatuh cukup dalam. “Ini baru dalam penindakan,” tandas Ujang. (nwk/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 07:19 WIB
Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang di Garut, Korban Tewas Jadi 4 Orang
Nograhany Widhi K – detikNews

Jakarta – Korban Kramat Jati yang masuk jurang di Malangbong, Garut yang sudah dievakuasi ke Puskesmas Malangbong sudah 25 orang. 4 Orang di antaranya sudah meninggal.

“Sementara yang terdaftar di Puskesmas 25 orang, meninggal 4 orang. Ada 4 orang lagi yang tergencet di badan bus,” ujar petugas Polsek Malangbong Aiptu Budiono ketika dihubungi detikcom, Senin (26/1/2009).

Budiono mengatakan tidak tahu persis berapa orang penumpang yang terdapat di bus Kramat Jati itu.

“Belum tahu persis. Karena lokasinya jauh dari lokasi,” ujarnya.

Bus Kramat Jati masuk jurang di Malangbong, di daerah Lewo, hari ini sekitar pukul 04.00 WIB. Hingga pukul 07.15 WIB, evakuasi korban dan bus masih dilakukan. (nwk/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 07:31 WIB
Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang Kedalaman 100 M di Garut
Nograhany Widhi K – detikNews

Jakarta – Bus Kramat Jati yang masuk jurang di Malangbong, Garut masih dalam proses evakuasi. Bus itu masuk dalam jurang yang dalamnya 100 meter.

“Infonya, busnya masuk ke sawah, kurang lebih 100 meter dari jalan raya,” ujar petugas Polsek Malangbong Aiptu Budiono ketika dihubungi detikcom, Senin (26/1/2009).

Hingga pukul 07.15 WIB, masih dilakukan evakuasi 4 korban yang menurutnya tergencet badan bus. Sedangkan alat derek, imbuh dia, masih lama untuk datang ke lokasi.

“Memanggil alat derek kurang lebih dua jam,” kata dia.

Lalu lintas di sekitar lokasi, terpantau masih mengalir dan tidak macet.

Bus Kramat Jati masuk jurang di daerah Lewo, Malangbong, hari ini sekitar pukul 04.00 WIB. (nwk/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 08:08 WIB
Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang di Garut
Korban Luka Berat Dirujuk ke RS di Bandung dan Tasikmalaya
Nograhany Widhi K – detikNews

Jakarta – Korban luka berat Bus Kramat Jati yang jatuh ke jurang di Malangbong, Garut dirujuk ke RS di Bandung dan Tasikmalaya. Rata-rata korban luka berat mengalami luka di kepala, patah pinggang dan patah kaki.

Demikian disampaikan petugas Puskesmas Malangbong, Budi ketika dihubungi detikcom, Senin (26/1/2009).

“Korban luka berat sudah dirujuk, rata-rata ke RS di Bandung. Ada yang ke Tasik,” ujar dia.

Sedangkan yang luka ringan, imbuh dia, masih ada 10 orang yang dirawat di Puskesmas. “Mereka dijahit karena luka sobek,” imbuh dia.

Total yang dilarikan di Puskesmas Malangbong, sekitar 23 orang, termasuk 4 orang korban tewas. (nwk/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 10:07 WIB
Kramat Jati Terjun ke Jurang
Korban Tewas 6 Orang, Luka-luka 30 Orang
Mansyur Hidayat – detikNews

Garut – Korban jiwa akibat kecelakaan bus yang masuk jurang di Garut merangkak naik. Perkembangan terakhir, jumlah penumpang yang tewas mencapai 6 orang.

“Jumlah penumpang ada 36 termasuk awak bus. 6 meninggal, 30 luka,” kata Kapolres Garut AKBP Rusdi Hartono di lokasi kejadian, Jl Raya Malangbong, Kampung Pangkalan Lewo, Sukaratu, Garut, Senin (26/1/2009).

Semua korban tewas dan luka-luka sudah berhasil dievakuasi dari jurang berkedalaman 200 meter itu. Korban tewas ditampung di Puskesamas Malangbong yang berjarak 6 km dari lokasi kecelakaan, sementara korban luka-luka sebagian dibawa ke Puskesmas Limbangan.

Belum ada informasi resmi tentang identitas para korban tewas atau selamat. Namun 2 korban tewas yang terakhir dievakuasi mengenakan berjenis kelamin perempuan dengan usia masing-masing berkisar 35 dan 17 tahun.

Bus Kramat Jati B 7859 AC rute Bandung-Wonogiri terjun bebas ke dalam jurang sekitar pukul 04.30 WIB. Belum ada keterangan penyebab kecelakaan, tetapi cuaca pada saat itu cukup cerah, tanpa kabut yang dapat menghalangi pandangan. (gah/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 10:54 WIB
Kramat Jati Terjun ke Jurang
Tak Ada Jejak Pengereman di Aspal
Mansyur Hidayat – detikNews

Jakarta – Penyebab kecelakaan Bus Kramat Jati yang terjun ke jurang masih belum diketahui. Namun fakta di lapangan menunjukkan tidak ada bekas rem di aspal jalan dekat lokasi kecelakaan.

Pantauan detikcom, Senin (26/1/2009), tidak terlihat ada bekas gesekan ban dengan aspal di jalan yang mengarah ke dalam jurang.

Bus seolah-seolah nyelonong begitu saja ke dalam jurang. Padahal jika sopir sempat mengerem, maka akan ada bekas ban di aspal.

Lokasi kecelakaan memang rawan kecelakaan. Tidak tampak adanya pagar pengaman untuk mencegah kendaraan jatuh ke jurang.

Bus Kramat Jati jurusan Bandung-Wonogiri B 7859 AC jatuh ke jurang yang terletak di Jl Raya Malangbong, Kampung Pangkalan Lewo, Sukaratu, Garut, pukul 04.30 WIB. Pada saat itu bus tengah dalam perjalanan dari Tasik menuju Bandung.

Lalu tanpa diketahui alasannya, bus naas itu terjun ke dalam jurang dengan kedalaman 200 meter. Setelah berguling-guling, akhirmua bus terdampar di dasar jurang dengan posisi miring.
(gah/nwk)

Senin, 26/01/2009 14:28 WIB
Bus Kramat Jati Masuk Jurang
6 Korban Tewas Dimandikan di Puskesmas Malangbong
Mansyur Hidayat – detikNews

Garut – 6 Korban tewas dalam kecelakaan bus Kramat Jati di Malangbong telah dimandikan di Puskesmas Malangbong, Garut, Jabar. Petugas masih menunggu jenazah diambil oleh pihak keluarga.

6 Korban itu adalah sopir bus, Jajang Saeful (45), dan penumpang bus, yakni Muhammad Imam Guzaedi (44), Tukimun (40), Winarsih (37), Karina (14), dan Sisyam (70).

Sementara itu 11 orang mengalami luka berat dan 11 orang lainnya mengalami luka ringan. Korban luka berat telah dirujuk ke RS Hasan Sadikin (RSHS) Bandung dan RSUD Tasikmalaya, termasuk kernet bus, Hartono (40), yang menderita patah tangan dan luka-luka di wajah.

Hingga pukul 14.00 WIB, Senin (26/1/2009), proses evakuasi bus Kramat Jati masih berlangsung dengan menggunakan dua buah derek. Kedalaman jurang setinggi 200 meter membuat proses evakuasi menjadi sulit.

Masyarakat masih berkerumun di sekitar lokasi. Akibat kecelakaan ini petugas terpaksa memberlakukan sistem buka tutup di Jl Raya Malangbong arah ke Bandung dan Tasikmalaya. Walau tidak macet total, antrean panjang sempat terjadi. (rdf/sho)

Stop Traffic Crashes: Switch On The Lights

ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — Street lighting provides a simple, low cost means of stemming the global epidemic of road traffic death and injury. Low income countries should consider installing more lights, and high income countries should think carefully before turning any off to reduce carbon emissions, is the advice from a new Cochrane Review.

Street lighting may be considered an obvious means of preventing road traffic crashes, but the scientific evidence for this has been uncertain and many studies are decades out of date. Some even suggest that drivers ‘feel’ safer on better lit roads and may speed up as a result. But a systematic review by Cochrane Researchers now shows that street lighting does indeed reduce crashes and injuries on the roads.

The World Health Organization estimates that 1 million people die each year on the world’s roads and up to an additional 50 million are injured, causing an estimated global bill of $578 billion.

“Road traffic crashes are not just the unfortunate culmination of chance, but are events that can be analysed so that the risk factors are identified and then addressed. Darkness is a risk factor – street lighting is therefore a valuable tool,” said lead researcher, Fiona Beyer, of the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Newcastle in the UK.

The researchers reached their conclusions by pooling data from 14 studies on the effects of street lighting on road safety. They found that street lighting reduced total crashes by between 32% and 55%, and fatal injury crashes by 77%.

Without intervention, the number of deaths due to road traffic crashes is expected to reach 2.3 million by 2020. It is thought that nine out of ten deaths will occur in low and middle income countries. But Beyer says the results may also have implications for policy makers who plan to reduce public street lighting under the premise of cutting carbon emissions and costs.

“In the UK, an increasing number of local councils are looking to turn off some public street lighting in a move to reduce costs and carbon emissions. The potential adverse road safety impact of such a policy should be carefully considered in light of our findings,” said Beyer.

Journal reference:

1. Beyer et al. Street lighting for preventing road traffic injuries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Reviews, 2009, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD004728 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004728.pub2

Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Source : sciencedaily

Car Key Jams Teen Drivers’ Cell Phones

University of Utah engineers developed a new Key2SafeDriving system to prevent teenagers from using cell phones while driving and to reduce cell phone use by adult motorists. Each driver of a car would have their own special key. When the key is extended from the wireless device (sample shown at left), the device sends a signal that displays a stop sign on the cell phone (right) and prevents it from being used to make calls or send text messages. For adult drivers, the system prevents texting and allows calls only on hands-free cell phones. Parents can control the system from a computer. Here, the screen displays safety scores collected by the system based not only on cell phone use, but on driving speed and traffic violations tracked by Global Positioning System satellites. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Utah)

ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2009) — University of Utah researchers have developed an automobile ignition key that prevents teenagers from talking on cell phones or sending text messages while driving.

The university has obtained provisional patents and licensed the invention – Key2SafeDriving – to a private company that hopes to see it on the market within six months at a cost of less than $50 per key plus a yet-undetermined monthly service fee.

“The key to safe driving is to avoid distraction,” says Xuesong Zhou, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering who co-invented the system with Wally Curry, a University of Utah graduate now practicing medicine in Hays, Kan. “We want to provide a simple, cost-effective solution to improve driving safety.”

Zhou notes that “at any given time, about 6 percent of travelers on the road are talking on a cell phone while driving. Also at any given time, 10 percent of teenagers who are driving are talking or texting.” Studies have shown drivers using cell phones are about four times more likely to get in a crash than other drivers.

“As a parent, you want to improve driving safety for your teenagers,” he says. “You also want to reduce your insurance costs for your teen drivers. Using our system you can prove that teen drivers are not talking while driving, which can significantly reduce the risk of getting into a car accident.”

If things go as planned, the Key2SafeDriving system won’t be sold directly to consumers by a manufacturer, but instead the technology may be licensed to cell phone service providers to include in their service plans, says Ronn Hartman, managing partner of Accendo LC. The Kaysville, Utah, company provides early stage business consulting and “seed funding.” It has licensed the Key2SafeDriving technology from the University of Utah and is working to manufacture and commercialize it.

Hartman envisions gaining automobile and insurance industry backing so that Key2SafeDriving data on cell phone use (or non-use) while driving can be compiled into a “safety score” and sent monthly to insurance companies, which then would provide discounts to motorists with good scores.  The score also could include data recorded via Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites on the driver’s speeding, rapid braking or running of lights, which are calculated by comparing the driver’s position with a database of maps, speed limits, stop lights and so on.

How Key2SafeDriving Works

The system includes a device that encloses a car key – one for each teen driver or family member. The device connects wirelessly with each key user’s cell phone via either Bluetooth or RFID (radio-frequency identification) technologies.

To turn on the engine, the driver must either slide the key out or push a button to release it. Then the device sends a signal to the driver’s cell phone, placing it in “driving mode” and displaying a “stop” sign on the phone’s display screen.

While in driving mode, teen drivers cannot use their cell phones to talk or send text messages, except for calling 911 or other numbers pre-approved by the parents – most likely the parents’ own cell numbers.

Incoming calls and texts are automatically answered with a message saying, “I am driving now. I will call you later when I arrive at the destination safely.”

When the engine is turned off, the driver slides the key back into the device, which sends a “car stopped” signal to the cell phone, returning it to normal communication mode.

The device can’t be “tricked” by turning the phone off and on again because the phone will receive the “driving mode” signal whenever the car key is extended.

Adult drivers cannot text or use a handheld cell phone, but the Key2SafeDriving system does allow them to talk using a hands-free cell phone – even though studies by University of Utah psychologists indicate hands-free phones are just as distracting as handheld phones.

Curry agrees that driving while talking on any cell phone “is not safe,” but he says the inventors have to face the practical issue of whether adults would buy a product to completely block their cell phone use while driving.

Limiting some cell calls by adults “is a step in the right direction,” he says.

Zhou says the goal for adults is to improve safety by encouraging them to reduce the time they spend talking while driving. The encouragement could come in the form of insurance discounts by insurers, who would receive monthly scores from Key2SafeDriving showing how well an adult driver avoided talking while driving.

An Invention is Born

The new invention began with Curry, a Salt Lake City native who graduated from the University of Utah with an accounting degree and premedical training in 1993. He returned from the Medical College of Wisconsin for his surgical residency in urology at University Hospital during 1998-2003. He now is a urologist in Hays, Kan.

His concern with driving-while-talking began because, as a doctor, “the hospital is calling me all the time on my cell phone when I’m driving.”

One day while driving home, he saw a teenage girl texting while driving, making him worry about his 12- and 14-year-old daughters, who are approaching driving age.

“I thought, this is crazy, there has got to be something to stop this, because not only is she putting people at risk, but so was I,” Curry says. “It struck me pretty hard that something should be done.”

Curry’s initial idea was a GPS system to detect a moving cell phone and disable it when it moved at driving speeds. Meanwhile, someone else developed a similar system based on the same idea. But it cannot distinguish if the cell phone user is driving a car or is a passenger in a moving car, bus or train – a problem overcome by Key2SafeDriving.

In early 2008, Curry called Larry Reaveley, a civil engineering professor at the University of Utah, who suggested Curry contact Zhou, a specialist in “intelligent” transportation systems. Zhou and Curry then came up with the idea of blocking cell phone usage via a vehicle ignition key.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Utah.

Source : sciencedaily.com

The When, Where, Why Of Road Accidents

A new European research project seeks to find out when, where, how, why and to whom do road accidents and injuries occur. (Credit: iStockphoto/Frances Twitty)

ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2009) — Who knows what ‘aetiology’ means? It’s a branch of science dedicated to finding the causes of something. European researchers have been busy updating the aetiology of road accidents and studying which technologies can make our roads safer for everyone.

“When, where, how, why and to whom do road accidents and injuries occur?” These are the sorts of things researchers in the European TRACE project have been asking in their 30-month study of traffic accident causation in Europe.

To get a full aetiological picture of road accidents in Europe, TRACE had to draw on vast data from across Europe and the resourcefulness of its 22 partners in nine countries, including major carmakers like Renault and PSA, industry specialists and research centres.

According to the project, the idea was to learn as much as possible about the nature of risk factors, groups at risk, and specific “conflict driving and accident situations,” and to estimate the safety benefits of a selection of technology-based safety solutions. The various final results of the research should soon be finalised and published, but ICT Results is privy to some highlights.

Small input, big output

Even the smallest improvement of an active or passive safety feature results in better safety, according to the TRACE team who has evaluated safety packages in today’s vehicles – five-star Euro NCAP features, Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), or combinations.

“In general, the safety gains are even higher for higher injury severity levels,” says Yves Page who was TRACE’s coordinator while working at the Laboratory of Accidentology, Biomechanics and Studies of Human Behaviour at PSA Peugeot Citroën Renault.

The difference between a five-star rated car fitted with EBA and ESC and a four-star rated one without these features is striking, he suggests. So-called “injury accidents” would be reduced by 47%, he says, while severe to fatal accidents would be cut by as much as 70%.

Full and future picture

TRACE also scanned the future-scape and evaluated the expected benefits of a number of promising safety and embedded systems, such as tyre pressure monitoring, lane keeping support, cornering brake control, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed adaptation, rear-light brake force display, ‘alcolock’ key, drowsy driver detection, blind-spot detection, and more.

The greatest additional benefits – a 6-10% improvement in terms of injuries – are expected from speed adaptation systems and systems related to collision/crash warnings and prevention, reports TRACE. The drowsy driver and alcohol detection lockout features were appreciable in their benefit, while systems like tyre deflation monitoring and advanced rear- and front-light solutions were less prominent.

TRACE was funded by the ICT strand of the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme for research.

Adapted from materials provided by ICT Results.

Source : sciencedaily.com

Malaysia’s road safety plan

Malaysia intends to continue its progress on improving road safety by introducing a Star-rating system. The new policy will be used to estimate road safety levels in Malaysia. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has said that the coutry’s roads will be rated based on factors like lighting, road surfaces, road width and signage. The intention is to cut road accidents by some 30% using the new system. Asia has a particularly worrying trend with regard to road safety due to a rapid rise in vehicle use, although Malaysia is one of the few Asian nations that has already set tackling this problem as a priority and taken several key steps.

However, the latest accident data in the country suggests that road deaths cost Malaysia’s economy some US$2.6 billion/year. According to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), the country’s road accident fatality rate stood at 3.98/10,000 vehicles in 2006, compared with 0.83/10,000 in Sweden. Malaysia’s death rate was also nearly five times higher than in Sweden. By 2010, the government of Malaysia expects to cut the road fatality rate by 50% through a series of road safety measures.

Source : http://www.worldhighways.com

Calls for ‘speed-limiting’ cars

Speed-limiting devices should be fitted to cars on a voluntary basis to help save lives and cut carbon emissions, according to a new report.

The government’s transport advisers claim the technology would cut road accidents with injuries by 29%.

The device automatically slows a car down to within the limit for the road on which it is being driven.

But campaign group Safe Speed warns against its use, saying it encourages drivers to enter a “zombie mode”.

Ministers are planning to help councils draw up digital maps with details of the legal speed on every road.

The speed-limiting devices will then use satellite positioning to check a vehicle’s location and when its speed exceeds the limit, power will be reduced and the brakes applied if necessary.

The Commission for Integrated Transport and the Motorists’ Forum, which both advise the government, are calling on ministers to promote a wide introduction of the system.

Education ‘important’

John Lewis, from the Motorists’ Forum, told BBC Breakfast he believed the devices would help drivers obey limits and therefore keep their licences.

“But we believe that the system should be a voluntary system, that the drivers decide if they have fitted to their car or not, and that they decide if they want to over-ride the speed limit – that should be their choice,” he said.

There would also be a positive impact on emissions and fuel consumption, he added.

Jon York, fleet manager for British Gas, whose vans are already limited to 70mph, told BBC Radio 5 Live the system had reduced road incidents for the company.

But he said the introduction of technology had to be combined with safety education.

“It does aid road safety, it does reduce incidents, but it is part of a wide-ranging number of initiatives within British Gas and one of those is driver training because you have to change people’s behaviour.”

Overtaking worries

But Claire Armstrong, from the road safety campaign group Safe Speed, said that the devices could be dangerous.

She said truck drivers using speed-limiting devices had been shown to “go into fatigue mode or zombie mode” and stopped paying attention to the road.

“That makes it highly dangerous in those scenarios. So you’ve taken the responsibility away from the driver and that is not [good] for road safety.”

Derek Charters, from the Motor Industry Research Association, has extensively tested speed-limiting technology.

He believes that if all cars were fitted with the system, safety would be improved, and that vehicles without it present a greater danger.

“The last thing you need is one car to be overtaking and then pull back in, in front of the cars in front, because that braking event will then cause everybody to start to slow down, which will then compress the traffic, which then causes an incident,” he said.

Motoring journalist Quentin Willson said he also believed taking away driver control was a “really, really bad thing”.

“Remotely policing the roads from satellites in the sky – I would worry about it an awful lot.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk

US Roads Safer

The number of people killed in traffic crashes in the US during 2008 is expected to drop to the lowest level since records began. Early projections show a fall of nearly 10% drop in highway traffic deaths in the first 10 months of this year. This new fatality data marks the first time the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been able to project fatality figures prior to the end of the calendar year. Early estimates show that 31,110 people died on the nation’s roads from January-October, compared to 34,502 in 2007 during that same 10 month time period. In addition, the fatality rate per 160 million vehicles km travelled for the first nine months of 2008 is 1.28, compared to 1.37 for 2007.

The information has been collated using new electronic data gathering techniques and according to US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, this shows how the Department of Transportation is working to make projections in near real time to… “give safety professionals the data they need to keep motorists safe. For the second year in a row we are seeing historic lows in deaths on our nation’s roads,” Peters said. “While we are encouraged by these declines, our work is not nearly complete in making our safe transportation network even safer.”

NHTSA annually collects crash statistics from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to produce annual reports on traffic fatality trends. The agency intends to update 2008 estimates regularly as more data becomes available. The final counts for 2008 will be made available in the summer of 2009.

Source : http://www.worldhighways.com

Traffic Violations Detected In A Flash

ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2008) — VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Emtele Ltd are developing movable traffic surveillance equipment capable of automatically measuring the speed and height of passing vehicles and the distances between them as well as assessing the condition of brakes in heavy vehicles. In the future, the equipment will also be able to measure the weight of a moving vehicle and the friction of the road surface.

The innovative automated traffic surveillance solution is based on machine vision technology developed by VTT and communication technology and information distibution technology provided by Emtele Ltd. Emtele’s data transfer solution gives the police and other road authorities direct access to the data captured by the road side unit.

In the first phase, the police staff at a control station can observe and analyse possible traffic violations from the data provided by the equipment. The equipment will be further developed so that in the future, the data collected can be directly sent to a mobile terminal of local police vehicles.

The Finnish Traffic Police is participating in the project in an advisory board and as a road safety and enforcement expert. The participation of the police administration in the project negotiation group allows the end user perspective to be considered from early stage of the project.

The surveillance equipment is being developed within the framework of the EU-funded project called ASSET-Road. The project aims to improve road safety through measures that improve observance of traffic rules and regulations. Moreover, the intention is to elaborate for public authorities new innovative solutions and technology to gather traffic data and utilise it in traffic enforcement and surveillance.

VTT is also investigating the utilisation of RFID technology as an electronic number plate where the tags imitate electronic license plate. When these tags are mounted on a vehicle, an RFID reader can then identify each vehicle according its identity code.

There are three different surveillance equipment prototypes being developed in the project, designed to enhance traffic surveillance in Finland, Germany and France. The project has a total budget of 8.1 million Euros, of which the Finnish partners account for 1.4 million Euros.

Adapted from materials provided by Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).

Source : sciencedaily.com