Traffic speeds associated with implementation of 80 mph speed limits on West Texas rural interstates

Problem

In 2006 Texas raised the daytime speed limit for passenger vehicles on segments of I-10 and I-20 from 75 to 80 mph. Methods: Traffic speeds were measured before and 3, 12, and 16 months after the limit was changed. Results: During the 16-month period following the speed limit increase, mean speeds of passenger vehicles on I-20 increased by 9 mph relative to the comparison road, where no speed limit change occurred and traffic speeds declined. On I-10 mean speeds increased by 4 mph relative to the comparison road. Limiting the analysis to the month before the speed limit change and 1 year later, the proportion of drivers exceeding 80 mph was 18 times higher on I-20 and 2 times higher on I-10. Discussion: The smaller speed increases on I-10 may be related to its proximity to the U.S. border with Mexico. Highly visible border patrol activity coincided with posting of the higher speed limit. Long-term monitoring in other states suggests that traffic speeds in Texas are likely to continue to increase. Impact on Industry: The present study adds to the wealth of evidence that increased speed limits lead to increased travel speeds. The primary countermeasures to reduce the risk of speed-related crashes include highly visible police traffic enforcement and the use of speed cameras accompanied by publicity.     

高等级公路车速管理研究

高等级公路交通事故中约1/3与车速直接相关.为保证高等级公路行车安全,车速管理非常必要.从我国高等级公路管理现状出发,根据对我国高等级公路车辆实际运行特征和运行车速的实地调查,笔者对高等级公路车速限制的设定、发布及实施进行了研究,提出了应根据公路、交通、气象、历史事故数据等条件动态确定限制车速的概念,并就高等级公路车速管理的实施进行了探讨,重点强调了道路设计和交通安全文化建设在实施车速管理中的重要性.     

双车道山区公路反向连续弯道危险区域研究

为定量分析双车道山区公路小半径反向连续弯道危险区域,以福州市森林公园至鼓岭道路的一个反向连续弯道为研究对象,采用路侧激光交通调查仪采集以小型车为主的交通流参数,并用摄像法和人工记录法获取小型车辆左前轮的行驶轨迹偏移量值;根据实测数据和断面位置的标定值,建立行驶轨迹偏移量、断面位置和行驶速度的三维关系模型;根据关系模型计算出不同速度下危险区域的长度和面积。结果表明:当车辆速度大于临界值时,危险区域的长度、面积与速度间存在二次多项式关系,随着车辆速度的增长,危险区域的范围不断扩大,危险等级不断上升。根据危险区域的变化情况,建议该路段的限速值为20～27 km/h。     

Characteristics of speeders

OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics of speeders, defined as drivers of vehicles traveling at least 15 mph above the posted speed limit and relatively faster than surrounding vehicles. METHODS: Vehicle speeds were recorded on 13 roads in Virginia with speed limits ranging from 40 to 55 mph. Speeders were compared with slower drivers, defined as drivers of adjacent vehicles traveling no more than 5 mph above the speed limit. License plates were used to identify vehicle owners; owners were inferred to have been driving if observed gender and estimated age matched those of the registered owner. For these drivers, information on exact driver age and gender, vehicle make and model, and driving record was obtained from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. RESULTS: Five percent of the vehicles observed were traveling at least 15 mph above the limit, and 3% qualified as speeders, as defined in this study. Speeders were younger than drivers in the comparison group, drove newer vehicles, and had more speeding violations and other moving violations on their records. They also had 60% more crashes. DISCUSSION: Speeders are a high-risk group. Their speeding behavior is not likely to be controlled without vigorous, consistent enforcement, including the use of automated technology.     

基于速度的交通事故分析

速度对交通事故的发生以及严重程度有着直接影响 ,是道路交通事故的重要诱因之一.为了准确地反映速度与事故之间的关系,减轻由于速度因素所造成的交通事故的损失,笔者对国内外速度与交通安全的情况进行分析;研究了平均速度与事故危险性、速度离散度与事故率以及速度与事故严重性的关系;提出了加强速度管理,控制交通流平均速度和减小相邻路段的速度差值的对策.基于速度的交通事故分析,建议采用85%位车速作为控制速度的上限值;提出限速措施,以达到减少交通事故及其损失的目的.     

雨天环境下的交通流影响研究

为降低雨天环境下高速公路事故发生率,提升高速公路在恶劣环境下的交通安全管理水平,首先,利用元胞自动机(CA)中的NaSch模型,构建交通仿真环境,研究雨天环境下高速公路限速策略;其次,通过分析雨天环境下的交通流影响因素,构建考虑雨天环境下驾驶人心理特性的NaSch模型,进而建立雨天环境下的道路交通流模型;最后,在4种不同降雨强度下,选取平均密度、平均车间距、累积排队长度等作为道路交通运行水平评价指标,通过模拟仿真试验研究不同降雨强度下道路交通运行水平的变化趋势,进而确定不同降雨强度下的限速策略。结果表明:降雨强度越高,道路的适应性下降速度越快,交通运行状况的恶化速度越快;随着降雨强度降低,道路对高限速的适应性显著好转,而对低限速的适应性一直处于较低的状态;在高降雨强度水平下,根据限速值可以将道路情况分为适宜限速区、低限速区,而在中、低降雨强度水平下,可以将道路情况分为高限速区、适宜限速区、低限速区。     

Effectiveness of traffic management in Salt Lake City, Utah

PROBLEM: The effectiveness of speed humps, 14 ft (4.3 m) wide by 3.5 in (8.9 cm) high, and tables, 22 ft (6.7 m) wide, on 12 streets in Salt Lake City, Utah was investigated. Mean and 85th percentile spot speeds, speed limit compliance, motor-vehicle crashes, and resident opinions were considered. METHOD: Spot speeds were collected at 18 "between-hump" locations. Motor-vehicle crash data were obtained for "before" and "after" periods of equal duration. A total of 436 residents were surveyed; 184 responded. RESULTS: The mean and 85th percentile speeds decreased at 14 and 15 locations, respectively. The average reduction in the 85th percentile speed (3.4 mph or 5.4 km/h) was significant in flat and rolling terrain, but not on uphill or downhill segments. The number of sites with 50% speed limit compliance increased from 4 to 12. The number of motor-vehicle crashes decreased from 10 to 9; the change was not significant, but injury crashes decreased from five to one. Regarding the residents, 30% were positive, 25% were negative, and 45% offered suggestions, some of which were conflicting. DISCUSSION: Further study is needed on speed hump spacing and speed tables in hilly terrain. Example results should be shared with residents to inform their decision-making. SUMMARY: At least 78% of the sites experienced a decrease in the mean or 85th percentile speed, or an increase in speed limit compliance. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: These findings should be useful to agencies that are planning or implementing traffic calming projects, and to analysts.     

铁路线路设置曲线限速对列车运行能耗影响分析

基于列车运行功能转化方程,对铁路选线设计中设置小半径曲线引起限速时的列车运行能耗特点及列车减速距离对列车能耗的影响进行分析,得出限速对列车运行能耗影响的量化结果,以及减速、加速距离是影响限速条件下列车运行能耗的主要参数等结论,以期为铁路线路选线提供能耗影响参考,或应用于铁路建设项目线路方案选择的节能评价.     

均匀流送风对喷烤漆房污染物扩散研究

喷烤漆房内的污染物传播及火灾控制是喷烤漆房设计和使用时的重中之重,设计有效、合理的通风系统可很好地规避这一问题.以某喷烤漆房为原型建立了物理模型,应用数值模拟方法构建了喷漆过程中污染物扩散过程,并研究了产生均匀流的通风系统设计以及不同均匀流速对污染物扩散的影响规律.研究表明,采用纤维布形式可简单高效地构建静压箱结构形成...     

外置式排风罩条缝口开口面积与气流均匀性研究

在外置式风罩罩口上设置条缝是用来提高和保证罩口气流均匀性的方法之一。在以往研究的基础上,对设置多大面积的条缝最有利于形成均匀的吸气气流进行了实验研究。实验通过改变条缝开口面积和总吸风量,测试该条件下风罩各条缝处风速,对比每组实验风速的均匀程度,从而反推使罩口实现均匀气流的条缝开口面积和风量条件。实验结果表明,条缝开口面积总和等于1倍罩内吸风口面积能够使风罩形成较好的均匀气流,从能量消耗的角度看也较为节能。风量的变化对这一结论并无影响。     

Measures of speeding from a GPS-based travel behavior survey

Objective: Lacking information about actual driving speed on most roads in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region, we determine car speeds using observations from a Global Positioning System (GPS)-based travel survey. Speed of travel determines the likelihood and consequences of collisions. We identify the road segments where speeding occurs. This article then analyzes the relationship between link length, traveler characteristics, and speeding using GPS data collected from 152 individuals over a 7-day period as part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul Travel Behavior Inventory.

Methods: To investigate the relationship, we employed an algorithm and process to accurately match the GPS data with geographic information system (GIS) databases. Comparing actual travel speed from GPS data with posted speed limits, we measure where and when speeding occurs and by whom. We posit that link length and demographics shape the decision to speed.

Results: Speeding is widespread under both high speed limits (e.g., 60?mph [97?km/h]) and low speed limits (less than 25?mph [40?km/h]); in contrast, speeding is less common at 30–35?mph (48–56?km/h). The results suggest that driving patterns depend on the road type. We also find that when there are many intersections, the average link speed (and speeding) drops. Long links are conducive to speeding. Younger drivers and more educated drivers also speed more, and speeding occurs more often in the evening.

Conclusions: Road design and link length (or its converse, frequency of intersections) affect the likelihood of speeding. Use of increasingly available GPS data allows more systematic empirical analysis of designs and topologies that are conducive to road safety.     

基于速度特征指标的高速公路线形一致性综合评价

为量化评价已建和拟建高速公路交通安全性,以实测运行车速数据和事故率数据为基础,根据公路空间属性的变化,采用不定长法进行路段划分。考虑不同路段车速协调性和连续性的需求,引入客货差极差比、车速降低系数、路段车速离散度等车速特征指标。通过对运行车速特征指标与事故率的相关性分析,采用多元回归的方法建立了高速公路线形设计一致性综合评价模型,同时结合事故多发点改善效果的显著性,确定我国高速公路安全性服务水平,在此基础上提出线形设计一致性评价标准和评价方法。太旧高速公路的实例应用结果表明,该方法可准确有效地评价线形设计一致性。     

The effect of speed limit reductions in urban areas on cyclists’ injuries in collisions with cars

Abstract

Objective: Impact speed is one of the most important factors explaining the severity of injuries to cyclists when they collide with passenger cars. To reduce injury severity (especially for vulnerable road users), since 2008, Swedish municipalities have the authority to lower the speed limit to 30 or 40?km/h in urban areas as appropriate. The aim of this study was to evaluate how this speed limit reduction has influenced the injury severity for cyclists in this type of collision.

Method: Data from 1,953 collisions between bicycles and passenger cars were collected using information from third-party-liability insurance claims from 2005 to 2017. The change of speed limit distribution, influenced by the reduction of speed limits in urban areas, where car-to-cyclist collisions occurred was studied. Following that, injury severity for cyclists was evaluated regarding collisions occurring in areas with different speed limits.

Results: The results show that, in collisions with cars, cyclists have a significantly lower risk of a moderate-to-fatal (MAIS 2+) injury when the speed limit is 30–40?km/h compared to 50–60?km/h. During the last decade, while the speed-limit has been lowered on many road-sections in urban areas from 50–60?km/h to 30–40?km/h the risk of a cyclist getting a MAIS 2+ injury decreased by 25%. In 2005 to 2011, 16% of the crashes happened on a road with a speed limit of 30–40?km/h; in 2016–2017, this percentage had increased to approximately 50%. Thus, in recent years more crashes occurred on roads with lower speed limits, and in these crashes, there was a lower risk of severe injuries to cyclists. Unfortunately, it was not possible to evaluate the risk of a crash for specific speed limits; since one limitation of this study was the lack of exposure data, nor do we know the impact speed or the actual speed of the vehicles.

Conclusions: This study is an important follow-up on the implementation of measures that can influence bicycle safety. The insurance data used, made it possible to quantify a positive effect on injury severity for cyclists in passenger car-to-cyclist collisions when the speed limit was reduced in urban areas. Insurance claims cover collisions of all crash severity, so they include data covering all types of injuries—not just the most severe/fatal ones. This aspect is especially important in the speed intervals evaluated here, since moderate (MAIS 2) injuries are very frequent in lower-speed crashes and even these injuries can result in long-term consequences.     

驾驶员自身因素对限速标志识别能力的影响分析

以研究城市道路限速标志下驾驶行为的变化为主要目的,基于认知心理学知识,采用实地观测和问卷调查等手段,研究了驾驶员经过限速标志时的心理及反应过程.依据认知工效学中的注意和记忆等机制对驾驶员的限速标志认知过程进行了解析;从驾驶员自身角度分析了影响驾驶员识别限速标志的主要因素;利用因子分析方法对调查数据和调查项目进行统计分析;最终提取了影响驾驶员识别限速标志的6个自身因素为主因子,作为限速标志对驾驶行为影响较大的因素.该研究结果可为城市道路限速标志的设计与设置提供科学依据.     

Reducing the risk of rear-end collisions with infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) integration of variable speed limit control and adaptive cruise control system

Objective: Adaptive cruise control (ACC) has been investigated recently to explore ways to increase traffic capacity, stabilize traffic flow, and improve traffic safety. However, researchers seldom have studied the integration of ACC and roadside control methods such as the variable speed limit (VSL) to improve safety. The primary objective of this study was to develop an infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) integrated system that incorporated both ACC and VSL to reduce rear-end collision risks on freeways.

Methods: The intelligent driver model was firstly modified to simulate ACC behavior and then the VSL strategy used in this article was introduced. Next, the I2V system was proposed to integrate the 2 advanced techniques, ACC and VSL. Four scenarios of no control, VSL only, ACC only, and the I2V system were tested in simulation experiments. Time exposed time to collision (TET) and time integrated time to collision (TIT), 2 surrogate safety measures derived from time to collision (TTC), were used to evaluate safety issues associated with rear-end collisions. The total travel times of each scenario were also compared.

Results: The simulation results indicated that both the VSL-only and ACC-only methods had a positive impact on reducing the TET and TIT values (reduced by 53.0 and 58.6% and 59.0 and 65.3%, respectively). The I2V system combined the advantages of both ACC and VSL to achieve the most safety benefits (reduced by 71.5 and 77.3%, respectively). Sensitivity analysis of the TTC threshold also showed that the I2V system obtained the largest safety benefits with all of the TTC threshold values. The impact of different market penetration rates of ACC vehicles in I2V system indicated that safety benefits increase with an increase in ACC proportions.

Conclusions: Compared to VSL-only and ACC-only scenarios, this integrated I2V system is more effective in reducing rear-end collision risks. The findings of this study provide useful information for traffic agencies to implement novel techniques to improve safety on freeways.     

基于仿真的高速公路紧急事件交通流特征研究

研究高速公路紧急事件下的交通流特征,对于减少高速公路拥挤、降低二次事故、提高通行能力有重要的作用。由于高速公路紧急事件具有偶然性、不可预测性的特点,在实际调研中往往难以及时捕捉到交通事件的相应信息,导致源数据不足进而影响研究的进行。本文通过微观仿真手段,结合实地调研获得紧急状态下车辆运行参数,在AIMSUN仿真环境下加载紧急事件,建立了高速公路微观路段的仿真模型。并将路段平均车速、密度、最大排队长度等作为指标,定昔计算紧急事件下各种交通参数的变化规律。最后与调研结果进行了对比,表明仿真结果与实际情况较为一致。     

一种分析事故车辆超速概率的方法

为分析区间痕迹下事故车辆超速的概率,基于子区间技术建立一种求解方法。首先将输入痕迹区间分成若干子区间,将不同痕迹的子区间组合成若干子空间域;然后将事故再现模型在子空间域上做一阶泰勒展开,并结合区间四则运算法则计算事故再现模型在每一子空间域上的上下界,得到事故再现车速子区间;最后对所得子区间进行分析,取下界大于路段限速值的子区间数除以该数与上界小于路段限速值的子区间数的和的值作为事故车辆超速的概率值。2个数值算例表明:所建方法与蒙特卡罗方法所得概率一致,且所建方法无需对输入痕迹的分布进行假设;一例真实的碰撞事故案例表明:用该方法可解决实际问题,案例中事故车辆超速的概率为53.7%。