Objectives: During the past 2 decades, there have been large increases in mean horsepower and the mean horsepower-to–vehicle weight ratio for all types of new passenger vehicles in the United States. This study examined the relationship between travel speeds and vehicle power, defined as horsepower per 100 pounds of vehicle weight.
Methods: Speed cameras measured travel speeds and photographed license plates and drivers of passenger vehicles traveling on roadways in Northern Virginia during daytime off-peak hours in spring 2013. The driver licensing agencies in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia provided vehicle information numbers (VINs) by matching license plate numbers with vehicle registration records and provided the age, gender, and ZIP code of the registered owner(s). VINs were decoded to obtain the curb weight and horsepower of vehicles. The study focused on 26,659 observed vehicles for which information on horsepower was available and the observed age and gender of drivers matched vehicle registration records. Log-linear regression estimated the effects of vehicle power on mean travel speeds, and logistic regression estimated the effects of vehicle power on the likelihood of a vehicle traveling over the speed limit and more than 10 mph over the limit.
Results: After controlling for driver characteristics, speed limit, vehicle type, and traffic volume, a 1-unit increase in vehicle power was associated with a 0.7% increase in mean speed, a 2.7% increase in the likelihood of a vehicle exceeding the speed limit by any amount, and an 11.6% increase in the likelihood of a vehicle exceeding the limit by 10 mph. All of these increases were highly significant.
Conclusions: Speeding persists as a major factor in crashes in the United States. There are indications that travel speeds have increased in recent years. The current findings suggest the trend toward substantially more powerful vehicles may be contributing to higher speeds. Given the strong association between travel speed and crash risk and crash severity, this is cause for concern. 相似文献
Effects of hydrocarbon compositions on raw exhaust emissions and combustion processes were studied on an engine test bench. The
optimization of gasoline hydrocarbon composition was discussed. As olefins content increased from 10.0% to 25.0% in volume, the
combustion duration was shortened by about 2 degree crank angle ( CA), and the engine-out THC emission was reduced by about 15%.
On the other hand, as aromatics content changed from 35.0% to 45.0%, the engine-out NOx emissions increased by 4%. An increment
in olefins content resulted in a slight increase in engine-out CO emission, while the aromatics content had little e ect on engine-out total
hydrocarbon (THC) and CO emissions. Over the new European driving cycle (NEDC), the THC, NOx and CO emissions of fuel with
25.0% olefins and 35.0% aromatics were about 45%, 21% and 19% lower than those of fuel with 10.0% olefins and 40.0% aromatics,
respectively. The optimized gasoline compositions for new engines and new vehicles have low aromatics and high olefins contents. 相似文献
We investigate the role of domestic allowance allocation and global emissions constraints for the carbon-market impacts of
linking the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) internationally. Employing a quantitative simulation model of the global carbon
market, we find that the economic benefits from connecting the European ETS to emerging non-EU schemes strongly depend on
the regional allowance allocation of the linking participants: In a world of moderate carbon constraints, an economically
efficient regional allowance allocation induces a much stronger fall in total compliance costs than a sub-optimal (i.e. too
high) domestic allocation of emissions permits. However, a more efficient (i.e. stricter) allocation shifts abatement efforts
and compliance costs to energy-intensive industries which are covered by the domestic ETS. We further find that committing
to ambitious global emissions reduction targets (compatible with stabilizing CO2 concentrations at 450 ppm) induces much stronger regional abatement efforts and substantially higher compliance costs for
the abating regions. In such an ambitious climate policy regime, an efficient domestic allocation of allowances is even more
important from an economic perspective: Here, linking emissions trading schemes diminishes the associated compliance costs
on the largest scale.
An important aspect in the linking of different emissions trading schemes is the degree to which these systems allow (or ban)
external offset project categories. The EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) currently allows the use of credits from energy
and industry projects developed under the Kyoto Protocol’s Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
but excludes the use of carbon credits from forestry projects for compliance in the EU ETS. Forestry credits generated by
the CDM have a limited lifetime and expire at the end of a project’s crediting period, or earlier if the carbon stock for
which the credits have been issued ceases to exist. According to the recently adopted amendment of the EU ETS Directive forestry
credits will remain to be excluded until 2020. The present article reviews how the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement
Scheme (Australia), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (US) and the voluntary scheme of the Chicago Climate Exchange integrate
forestry offsets into the respective system and how they deal with the risk of losing stored and credited biomass. By comparing
the results of different scenarios this article shows how differences in the treatment of forestry offsets could impact the
efforts to link various emission trading systems in future.
This article examines possibilities for linkage between the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and Russia, with
a view to enhancing cooperation on a broader scale than the project-based approaches that have been tested thus far. Three
paths for possible EU-Russia linkage are presented by which the Russian Assigned Amount under the Kyoto Protocol can be greened
in order to stimulate emissions trading: 1. Joint implementation—reductions earned via individual projects in Russia; 2. Greened
allowances or green investment schemes; and 3. Linked cap-and-trade systems, in which a Russian domestic emissions trading
system would link with the European Union Emissions Trading System. The authors conclude that the third option, emissions
trading through linked domestic emissions trading systems, offers the best opportunities at the lowest transaction costs.
The authors discuss useful innovative instruments like call options and slip level arrangements on government-to-government
and business-to-business levels.
Problem: The rollover crash is a serious crash type that often causes higher injury severities. Moreover, factors that contribute to the injury severities of rollover crashes may show instabilities in different vehicle types and time periods, which requires further investigations. This study utilizes the rollover crash data in North Carolina from Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) to study the effect instabilities of factors in vehicle type and time periods in rollover crashes. Methods: The injury severities of drivers are estimated using the random parameters logit (RPL) model with heterogeneity in means and variances. Available factors in HSIS have been categorized into three groups, which are drivers, road, and environment, respectively. This study also justifies the segmentations through transferability tests. The effects of identified significant factors are evaluated using marginal effects. Results: Factors such as FWP (farm, wood, and pasture areas), unhealthy physical condition, impaired physical condition, road adverse, and so forth have shown instabilities in marginal effects among vehicle types and time periods. Practical Applications: The finding of this research could provide important references for policy makers and automobile manufactures to help mitigate the injury severity of rollover crashes. 相似文献
An attempt has been made to produce stable water–diesel emulsion with optimal formulation and process parameters and to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine using this stable water–diesel emulsion. A total of 54 samples were prepared with varying water/diesel ratio, surfactant amount and stirring speed and water separation was recorded after 24 and 48 hr of emulsification. The recorded data were used in artificial neural network (ANN)-particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to find the optimal parameters to produce water–diesel emulsion for engine testing. The predicted optimal parameters were found as 20% water to diesel ratio, 0.9% surfactant and 2200 rpm of stirrer for a water separation of 14.33% in one day with a variation of 6.54% against the actual value of water separation. Water–diesel emulsion fuel exhibited similar fuel properties as base fuel. The peak cylinder gas pressure, peak pressure rise rate and peak heat release rate for water–diesel were found higher as compared to diesel at medium to full engine loads. The improved air-fuel mixing in water–diesel emulsion enhanced brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of engine. The absorption of heat by water droplets present in water–diesel emulsion led to reduced exhaust gas temperature (EGT). With water–diesel emulsion fuel, the mean carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions reduced by 8.80, 39.60, and 26.11%, respectively as compared to diesel. 相似文献