Accident risk for and accident factors regarding non-motorized road - PDF document

Accident risk for and accident factors regarding non-motorized road users in Denmark – a central road safety challenge with deficient data Niels Agerholm Camilla Sloth Andersen Associate Professor PhD Candidate Aalborg University Aalborg University ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 1 of Agenda • International perspective • The Danish situation • The data problem • Safety improvements • Summary ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 2 of

An international perspective ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 3 of Fatalities in an international perspective • 1.3 million fatalities each year (2011) • Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) have a high share of these • 22% were pedestrians • 5% were cyclists • 19% were unspecified (most were reasonable pedestrians) • Significant variations around the world • ~500,000 pedestrian fatalities/year ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 4 of

Pedestrian fatalities: who and how? • Majority +40 years old • Males are 2.5 times more exposed • Clear socio-economic skewness • Rural-Urban distribution is unclear • About 70% when crossing the road ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 5 of Main reasons • Inappropriate speed causes the fatalities • High BAC among (grown-up) pedestrian fatalities • Poor pedestrian facilities • Inadequate visibility ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 6 of

Why is speeding crucial? Road safety and speed are close Pedestrian fatalities connected •Too high speed increase the risk substantial •Braking distance increase by the square of the speed increase •The energy in a collision increases similar •The reaction time is unchanged Rosen, Stigson, Sander, 2011 •Speed variation increases a lot ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 7 of Injured in an international perspective • +50 million injured each year (2011) • Highly uncertain number • VRU have reasonable a very high share of these • Dark figures are considerable ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 8 of

The Danish situation ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 9 of ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 10 of

The Danish road infrastructure • 5.6 million inhabitants 43,000 km 2 • • Road network: • State: 3,800 km (1,022 km with freeway) • Municipalities: 68,600 km • Personal transportation: • 0.4 personal car/inhabitant • 2 nd highest cyclist share in the world ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 11 of 3 statistically approaches – 3 different results • Police-reported injured (official accident statistics) • Injured healthcare-reported • Injured pedestrians without counterpart ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 12 of

Police-reported injured and fatalities ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 13 of What show the official statistics in Denmark? • The fatality rate (all fatalities) has decreased significant the last 5 years • 407 (2008) to 167 (2012) (212 in 2013) • 29% of the fatalities were non-motorised road users (NMRU) : pedestrian: 17% ; cyclists: 12% (2010-2012) ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 14 of

What show the official statistics in Denmark? • Undoubtedly a significant reduction in the number of fatalities ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ • NMRU increase their share � � � � ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 15 of What shows the official statistics in Denmark? • Injured NMRU seems to be a declining problem? ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 16 of

Healthcare-reported injured • A pedestrian is only an injury regarding traffic accident if there is a counterpart! ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 17 of Injured cyclists • Significant dark figures (95.2% in total) • 77% are single accidents (dark figure: 99.4%) ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 18 of

Injured pedestrians – the real story? • 1,400 injured pedestrians with counterpart • Pedestrian in single accidents: • ~11,000 injured on the road network in 2011 • Skid and fall accidents • Bumpy surfaces • Lack of marked kerbs • Insufficient lighting • (alcohol?) ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 19 of Solutions? ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 20 of

Solutions can be divided into 3 types • NMRU injured due to counterparts • Single cyclist accidents • Single pedestrian accidents ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 21 of NMRU injured due to counterparts • Traditional engineering solutions • Reduced speeding • Focus on alcohol • More visibility: • Day time running light on bikes • All time use of reflectors • Better street light • ITS • Loss-reducing measures: • Mandatory bicycle helmets • Speed calming (for cars and bikes!) ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 22 of

Single cyclist accidents • Traditional engineering solutions • Better street light • Focus on alcohol use • Loss-reducing measures: • Bicycle helmets • Focus on electrical bikes ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 23 of Single pedestrian accidents • Traditional engineering solutions • Keep the surface on an acceptable level • Better street light ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 24 of

Summary Number of injured Development in the last Sufficient decade tools NMRU injured due Moderate (although Slightly decreasing Yes to counterparts still serious) Single cyclist Very high Unchanged Partly accidents Single pedestrian High Unknown No accidents ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 25 of Summary • Official accident reports are (more or less) useless regarding NMRU • We have many tools to cope with injured with counterparts • We have few tools to cope with single cyclist accidents • We have virtually no tools (or we cannot afford) to cope with single pedestrian accidents • NMRU in single accidents need more attention in the future! ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 26 of

Thank You ☺ Niels Agerholm Traffic Research Group Aalborg University +45 61 78 04 55 na@civil.aau.dk ICTCT Ribeirão Preto 2014 Niels Agerholm – Camilla Sloth Andersen – Traffic Research Group – Aalborg University No. 27 of