Determining the risk of driver-at-fault events associated with common distraction types using naturalistic driving data

Introduction: Studies thus far have focused on automobile accidents that involve driver distraction. However, it is hard to discern whether distraction played a role if fault designation is missing because an accident could be caused by an unexpected external event over which the driver has no control. This study seeks to determine the effect of distraction in driver-at-fault events. Method: Two generalized linear mixed models, one with at-fault safety critical events (SCE) and the other with all-cause SCEs as the outcomes, were developed to compare the odds associated with common distraction types using data from the SHRP2 naturalistic driving study. Results: Adjusting for environment and driver variation, 6 of 10 common distraction types significantly increased the risk of at-fault SCEs by 20-1330%. The three most hazardous sources of distraction were handling in-cabin objects (OR = 14.3), mobile device use (OR = 2.4), and external distraction (OR = 1.8). Mobile device use and external distraction were also among the most commonly occurring distraction types (10.1% and 11.0%, respectively). Conclusions: Focusing on at-fault events improves our understanding of the role of distraction in potentially avoidable automobile accidents. The in-cabin distraction that requires eye-hand coordination presents the most danger to drivers’ ability in maintaining fault-free, safe driving. Practical Applications: The high risk of at-fault SCEs associated with in-cabin distraction should motivate the smart design of the interior and in-vehicle information system that requires less visual attention and manual effort.     

Deterioration of the useful visual field with ageing during simulated driving in traffic and its possible consequences for road safety

A previous study has shown that the useful visual field deteriorates in a simulated road traffic situation as a function of the driver’s age and of the vehicle’s speed under monotonous conditions [Rogé, J., Pébayle, T., Lambilliotte, E., Spitzenstetter, F., Giselbrecht, D., Muzet, A., 2004. Influence of age, speed and duration of monotonous driving task in traffic on the driver’s useful visual field. Vision Research 44 (23), 2737–2744]. The aim of this new experiment is to study the effects of traffic density and age on the useful visual field of the driver during a simulated driving task with controlled traffic characteristics (speed, number of cars) for all participants. In total, 10 young drivers (m = 28.2 years) and 10 older drivers (m = 51.2 years) followed a car in road traffic at an average speed of 126 km h⁻¹ during two 2 h sessions corresponding to two conditions of traffic (light traffic, with five vehicles around the participant; and heavy traffic, with nine vehicles). While following this vehicle, the driver had to detect changes in the colour of a signal located in the central part of his or her visual field and a signal that appeared at different eccentricities on the rear lights of other vehicles in the traffic. Analysis of the data indicated that age interacted with the location of the peripheral signal and density of traffic interacted with the duration of driving. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of road safety and in terms of models of deterioration of the useful visual field (general interference and tunnel vision).     

Driver-training and emergency brake performance in cars with antilock braking systems

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a two-day post-license driver-training program on brake performance in cars with antilock braking systems (ABS). A trainee group (n = 26) and a control group (n = 13) participated in the experiment. The trainee group were enrolled in a two-day training course that included instruction in a braking technique that may be used in cars with and without ABS. All participants performed emergency brake tests from 80 and 100 km h⁻¹ in an instrumented car before and after the training period. Results indicated the post-training group used a smoother braking profile, were less reliant on ABS activation, had enhanced postural stability, but took about one car length longer to stop from 100 km h⁻¹ compared with the control group. Implications of these results for braking in cars with and without ABS, and for driver education programs in general are discussed.     

Investigating the influence on safety of retrofitting Italian motorways with barriers meeting a new EU standard

Objective: A new European Union (EU) regulation for safety barriers, which is based on performance, has encouraged road agencies to perform an upgrade of old barriers, with the expectation that there will be safety benefits at the retrofitted sites. The new class of barriers was designed and installed in compliance with the 1998 (European Norm) EN 1317 standards for road restraint systems, which lays down common requirements for the testing and certification of road restraint systems in all countries of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Both the older and new barriers are made of steel and are installed in such a way as to avoid vehicle intrusion, but the older ones are thought to be only effective at low speeds and large angles of impact. The new standard seeks to remedy this by providing better protection at higher speeds. This article seeks to quantify the effect on the frequency of fatal and injury crashes of retrofitting motorways with barriers meeting the new standards.

Methods: The estimation of the crash modification was carried out by performing an empirical Bayes before–after analysis based on data from the A18 Messina–Catania motorway in Italy. The methodology has the great advantage to account for the regression to the mean effects. Besides, to account for time trend effects and dispersion of crash data, a modified calibration methodology of safety performance was used.

Results: This study, based on data collected on 76 km of motorway in the period 2000–2012, derived Crash Modification Factor point estimates that indicate reductions of 72% for run-off-road fatal and injury crashes and 38% in total fatal and injury crashes that could be expected by upgrading an old safety barrier by complying with new EU 1317 standards. The estimated benefit-cost ratio of 5.57 for total crashes indicates that the treatment is cost effective.

Conclusions: The magnitude of this benefit indicates that the retrofits are cost-effective even for total crashes and should continue in any European country inasmuch as the estimated Crash Modification Factors are based on treatment sites that are reasonably representative of all European motorways.     

基于Logistic的不同车型碰撞行人事故严重程度致因分析

为定量分析不同车型碰撞行人事故严重程度影响因素,以美国北卡罗来纳州2007-2016年人车碰撞事故数据为样本,将其分为小轿车、SUV、货车碰撞行人事故3类,以事故严重程度为因变量,交通参与者属性、道路、环境条件和事故特征为候选自变量,分别建立累计logistic模型进行对比分析,探究人、车、路和环境因素对人车碰撞事故严...     

不同侧压力系数下圆形巷道变形破裂规律分析

为研究侧压力系数对巷道周边岩体稳定性的影响,以一条深埋圆形巷道工程为背景,采用离散颗粒元软件PFC3D分析了5种侧压力系数下巷道周边岩体的应力差、位移、破裂分布模式和微裂纹数等,得到了圆形巷道周边岩体应力、变形和破裂随侧压力系数的变化规律。结果表明,1)随侧压力系数增大,巷道顶底部浅部岩体主应力差先增大后减小,深部岩体主应力差逐渐增大;而巷道两帮浅部岩体主应力差变化较小,深部岩体主应力差先减小后增大。这表明在相同埋深情况下,高侧压力系数不一定会对帮部岩体造成更大的破坏,但更容易使顶板产生高剪应力,不利于顶板岩体的稳定。2)侧压力系数越大,巷道顶板岩体竖向位移就越小,且其由拱顶往外平滑递减的规律性也越不明显,而帮部岩体水平位移变化规律与顶板岩体相反。3)巷道顶底部围岩在侧压力系数较大的情况下较易发生破裂,并随侧压力系数增大,其破裂范围越来越大;巷道两帮岩体则在不同侧压力系数下均会发生破裂,且其破裂范围随侧压力系数增大而略减小。4)不同侧压力系数下,巷道岩体总裂纹数都随开挖时间呈指数增长;且当巷道开挖完成后,岩体总裂纹数与侧压力系数呈抛物线关系。     

多软件联合的煤矿三维数值建模方法及其应用

为了解决复杂三维地质模型构建耗时费力、难度大的问题,提出了一种联合多个软件的复杂三维地质模型快速构建的方法,以钻孔信息为基础资料,利用3DMINE建立岩（煤）层等高线,以dxf文件形式导入GOCAD生成岩（煤）层点阵数据文件,利用SURFER对点阵数据进行网格化处理,导入RHIRO软件之中生成ANSYS可读取的iegs文件,经过ANSYS划分网格后导入FLAC3D中进行数值计算。以山东郓城煤矿的地质模型构建为例进行介绍,给出了以该方法进行地应力反演后得到的区域应力场分布云图。通过多个煤矿应用表明:该方法建模速度快,摒弃了繁杂命令流式建模方法,通过数据的逐步对接,减少了中间过程的人为干扰和误差,兼顾了ANSYS优良的网格划分功能和FLAC3D数值计算能力,且效果较好,可在其他领域和行业复杂地质模型构建中推广使用。     

消费品风险评价的伤害情景与三维矩阵集成方法

通过对比分析美国、欧盟及中国的消费品质量安全风险监管和评估现状,得出我国在消费品法律及标准、伤害监测与事故信息平台及公开、消费品风险辨识及评价程序等方面有待深化研究;基于2012年欧美等国家、地区对我国出口消费品的通报数据的统计分析,识别了主要消费品的隐患及危害类型,给出了伤害情景与三维矩阵集成的消费品风险评价方法,为消费品安全评价提供了新方法、新途径,并以婴儿车为例,进行了应用分析,检验了该方法的可行性。     

Applications of resilience engineering principles in different fields with a focus on industrial systems: A literature review

This paper reviews literature that addresses applications of resilience engineering principles to various fields. Recently the concept has attracted great attention from a technical and industrial perspective. The primary focus of this paper is to review the resilience engineering applications to industrial systems with the purpose of applying them to the chemical industry. A systematic review is performed to classify peer-reviewed journal papers that are associated with resilience engineering applications into three categories: industrial systems, ecological systems, and interlinked systems. The literature in the category of industrial systems is further divided based on the type of approaches such as field studies, case studies, methodologies, and mathematical modeling. After thoroughly analyzing the literature, four key research areas are identified: Considering socio-technical factors for resilience assessment efficiently; Inculcating the possibility of multiple disasters in resilience assessment; Design optimization for resilience enhancement; Efficient restoration strategies. All these research areas have not been explored exclusively for chemical facilities to a great extent. It is concluded that if these research areas are addressed appropriately, it would help in triggering the research pertaining to the application of resilience engineering principles in chemical facilities.