Investigating the Risk Factors Associated with the Severity of the Pedestrians Injured on Spanish Crosstown Roads

Ride-hailing services: Competition or complement to public transport to reduce accident rates. The case of Madrid

Introduction

The transport and mobility sector is experiencing profound transformations. These changes are mainly due to: environmental awareness, the increase in the population of large urban areas and the size of cities, the aging of the population and the emergence of relevant technological innovations that have changed consumption habits, such as electronic commerce or the sharing economy. The introduction of new services such as Uber or Cabify is transforming urban and metropolitan mobility, which has to adapt to this new scenario and the very concept of mobility.

Objective

Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether ride-hailing platforms substitute or complement public transport to reduce accident rates, considering the two basic transport zones of Madrid: “The Central Almond” and the periphery.

Methods

The data were collected from the 21 districts of Madrid for the period 2013–2019, and they were analyzed by a Random Effects Negative Binominal model.

Results

The results obtained in this study suggest that since the arrival of Uber and Cabify to the municipality of Madrid the number of fatalities and serious injuries in traffic accidents has been reduced. Traffic accidents on weekends and holidays, with at least one serious injury or death, have also been reduced. However, the number of minor injuries has increased in the central districts of Madrid.

Conclusion

Overall, what was found in this study supports the hypothesis that these services replace the urban buses. However, these services improve the supply to users with greater difficulties to access taxis or public transport, constituting an alternative mode of transport for high-risk drivers. Therefore, such findings may be quite useful for policy makers to better define regulatory policies for these services.

The effect of risk perception and other psychological factors on mobile phone use while crossing the street among pedestrians

Pedestrians may be the most vulnerable group among road users, and mobile phone use while crossing the street is ubiquitous worldwide in this information era. However, previous studies have found that such distracting behaviors may increase the risk of injury and death. The present study primarily aimed to explore the effect of reinforcement sensitivity theory components (i.e., Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), Behavioral Approach System (BAS)), risk perception, attitudes towards red light running, and fear of missing out (FoMO) on mobile phone use while crossing the street among pedestrians. Risk perception was measured in three ways (i.e., assessing the probability of a negative outcome (RP-Pro), judging the severity of the consequence (RP-Se), and evaluating the general riskiness of the behavior (RP-Ri)). An online questionnaire survey was conducted, and only valid responses (N = 425) were used for subsequent data analyses. The results indicated significant differences in the responses across the risk perception questions with different focuses. Participants who reported engaging in more distracted street-crossing (i.e., high-risk takers) perceived a significantly lower risk, and this difference did not depend on the focus of risk perception. Three path analysis models with differential risk perception constructs (RP-Pro, RP-Se, and RP-Ri) were developed to examine the relationship between risk perception and distracted street-crossing. The results suggest that the relationship between these two variables does not depend on the focus of the risk perception questions. Moreover, FoMO was a predictor of mobile phone use while crossing the street, while attitudes had both direct and indirect effects on behavior. BIS and BAS had the lowest total effect on mobile phone use among pedestrians. In particular, a direct association between BAS and distracted street-crossing was found only in the model in which risk perception was measured by judging the severity of crashes caused by mobile phone use distraction. This study may be meaningful for understanding the associations between psychological factors and mobile phone use among pedestrians. The implications of the findings for the development of safety interventions are discussed in this study.

The Influence of Built Environment Factors on Elderly Pedestrian Road Safety in Cities: The Experience of Madrid

With the progressive ageing of the population, the study of the relations between road safety and elderly users is becoming increasingly relevant. Although the decline of pedestrian skills in the elderly has been widely studied in the literature, few studies have been devoted to the contributing built environmental factors of the elderly pedestrian collisions, such as the sidewalk density, the presence of traffic lights, or even some indicator related to land use or the socioeconomic features of the urban fabric. This paper contributes to the limited literature on elderly pedestrian safety by applying a negative binomial regression to a set of built environmental variables to study the occurrence of accidents involving elderly and younger (non-elderly) pedestrians in Madrid (Spain) between 2006 and 2018. The model considers a selection of built environmental factors per city district, linked to land use, infrastructure, and socioeconomic indicators. Results have highlighted that the elderly pedestrian collisions could be avoided with the existence of a wider sidewalk in the district and a greater traffic lights density. Unlike younger pedestrian accidents, these accidents are much more favored in ageing districts with higher traffic flows.

Driving Performance Evaluation of Shuttle Buses: A Case Study of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

The risky behaviours of bus drivers are of great concern to public health and environmental sustainability, especially for the buses operated between cities. With this in mind, the present study examined the distribution of risky behaviours among bus drivers, and the contributing factors to risky performance. To achieve this, 1648 records of GPS trajectory data and 8281 records of advance warning message data from Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge shuttle buses were obtained. The temporal and spatial distribution of risky behaviours was analysed. A random parameters negative binomial model was developed to further investigate the relationship between speed-related factors and risky behaviours. The results indicated that the warning of safety distance, lane departure, forward collision, and distraction were more likely to occur on weekdays. The period between 14 and 16 o’clock obtained the highest frequency of safety distance and lane departure warnings. Regarding the model estimation results, indicators reflecting average speed, acceleration, and number of trips per day showed a statistically significant impact on safety distance and lane departure warnings. Also, the acceleration of bus drivers showed a mixed impact on lane departure warnings. Corresponding implications were discussed according to the findings to reduce the frequency of risky behaviours in shuttle bus operations.

Understanding Traffic Accidents among Young Drivers in Qatar

Young drivers are generally associated with risky driving behaviors that can lead to crash involvement. Many self-report measurement scales are used to assess such risky behaviors. This study is aimed to understand the risky driving behaviors of young adults in Qatar and how such behaviors are associated with crash involvement. This was achieved through the usage of validated self-report measurement scales adopted for the Arabic context. A nationwide cross-sectional and exploratory study was conducted in Qatar from January to April 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the survey was conducted online. Therefore, respondents were selected conveniently. Hence, the study adopted a non-probability sampling method in which convenience and snowball sampling were used. A total of 253 completed questionnaires were received, of which 57.3% were female, and 42.7% were male. Approximately 55.8% of these young drivers were involved in traffic accidents after obtaining their driving license. On average, most young drivers do have some risky driving behavior accompanied by a low tendency to violate traffic laws, and their driving style is not significantly controlled by their personality on the road. The older young drivers are more involved in traffic accidents than the younger drivers, i.e., around 1.5 times more likely. Moreover, a young male driver is 3.2 times less likely to be involved in traffic accidents than a female driver. In addition, males are only 0.309 times as likely as females to be involved in an accident and have approximately a 70% lower likelihood of having an accident versus females. The analysis is complemented with the association between young drivers' demographic background and psychosocial-behavioral parameters (linking risky driving behavior, personality, and obligation effects on crash involvement). Some interventions are required to improve driving behavior, such as driving apps that are able to monitor and provide corrective feedback.

The Effect of Geometric Road Conditions on Safety Performance of Abu Dhabi Road Intersections

Abu Dhabi’s government has taken several initiatives to improve the safety of the city’s highways, such as reducing traffic accident occurrence, red light violations, and property damage associated with traffic accidents. However, the intersections are still associated with many severe accidents, property damage associated with accidents, and red light violations. To help authorities pinpoint the major contributors to the deterioration of the safety performance of the signalized junctions, this study employed a negative binomial regression model to investigate the effect of geometric road conditions (in terms of the number of lanes of streets found in four-leg, three-leg, and different types of intersection) on property damage, red light violations, and severe accidents as safety performance indicators. The research found that, in both three-leg and four-leg intersections, most accidents and traffic light violations occur when minor streets pass through the intersection. This can be solved by converting these minor streets into major streets by increasing the number of lanes. This way, the capability of the minor street’s handling of increased traffic from the major streets significantly increases. The results also show that traffic speed is a major contributor to safety performance deterioration in these intersections. This can be solved by posting speed limits at these intersections. Results have also shown that, in Direction 1, when the main street passes through the intersection, the property damage type of accident is significantly high. This may be due to the presence of a potentially hazardous property or road design flaws on that side of the road. This effect needs further investigation to determine the hazardous property or the road design flaws causing these accidents.

Drinking and Night-Time Driving May Increase the Risk of Severe Health Outcomes: A 5-Year Retrospective Study of Traffic Injuries among International Travelers at a University Hospital Emergency Center in Thailand

Road traffic injury (RTI) is a leading cause of death in developing countries. This burden affects not only locals, but also international travelers. Data on international travelers with RTIs in Thailand, especially from a medical perspective, are limited. This study aimed to analyze the factors associated with severe health outcomes following RTIs among international travelers at a university hospital emergency center in Thailand from January 2015 to December 2019. The retrieved data consisted of demographics, risks, preventive factors, and health outcomes. The severity of outcome was classified as fatality, hospitalization, or non-severe. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to identify the possible determinants of severity of health outcome among international travelers with RTI. A total of 720 travelers with RTIs (69% males; 82.5% were Southeast Asian) were included, with a mean age of 28.5 years. Of these, 144 (20%) had severe health outcomes: 64 (9%) fatalities and 80 (11%) hospitalizations. The level of severity of outcome was not associated with travelers’ demographics, but was associated with conventional risk factors, i.e., motorcycle use, alcohol/drug use, night-time driving, and less use of seatbelt/helmet. In a multinomial logistic regression analysis, alcohol drinking (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.41–4.55) and night-time driving (AOR 2.54, 95% CI 1.36–4.75) were associated with hospitalization. Patients who had a history of tetanus vaccination were less likely to die (AOR 0.37, 95% CI 0.17–0.81). In conclusion, one-fifth of RTIs resulted in severe health outcomes, and 9% were fatal. Road safety campaigns in Thailand should target travelers of all nationalities. Interventions that enhance travelers’ safety practices and proper preparation for road accidents should be explored further.

Drunk Drivers’ Willingness to Use and to Pay for Designated Drivers

While drunk driving accidents, which are a serious problem in Taiwan, have decreased in recent years, cases of drunk driving continue to emerge endlessly, and are a source of traffic risks even when the accidents cause no injuries. In order to prevent drunk driving and reduce car accidents, the government has made laws stricter, and has vigorously promoted “designated drivers”. As the concept of designated drivers is not common in Taiwan, this study mainly explores drunk drivers’ understanding of designated drivers in Nantou County and Taichung City, and investigates the willingness of drunk drivers to use and to pay for designated driving services. This study conducted a questionnaire survey on the drunk drivers of the drunk driving and traffic safety training course held at the Motor Vehicles Office. Double-hurdle and tobit models were applied to investigate the issues mentioned above. According to the test results, the tobit model was superior to the double-hurdle model. The estimation results indicated that distance, age, income, family conditions, and drinking habits influence the willingness to use and to pay for designated drivers. Gender, age, family background, and experience in designated driving cause differences in the willingness to use designated drivers in the two regions. It is expected that the conclusion of this study could provide a direction and reference for the future improvement of designated driving services.

Statistical analysis and accident prediction models leading to pedestrian injuries and deaths on rural roads in Iran

The purpose of this study was to develop models to predict the severity of pedestrian accidents on rural roads of Guilan, Iran. Therefore, the probability of occurrence of any type of accidents was measured using the accident data from March 2014 to March 2019. Eleven independent variables affecting the severity of pedestrian accidents as well as statistical analysis such as the frequency analysis, Friedman test and factor analysis, and modeling including multiple logistic regression and artificial neural networks using multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and radius basis function (RBF) have been used. Results of modeling and analysis of pedestrian accidents in different methods showed each of the methods depending on their function investigated the severity of accidents with different point of view and had different results. As a result, putting the output results together, the best measures can be suggested to increase the safety of pedestrians on the rural roads of Guilan.

Spatio-Semantic Road Space Modeling for Vehicle–Pedestrian Simulation to Test Automated Driving Systems

Automated driving technologies offer the opportunity to substantially reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities. This requires the development of systems that can handle traffic scenarios more reliable than the human driver. The extreme number of traffic scenarios, though, causes enormous challenges in testing and proving the correct system functioning. Due to its efficiency and reproducibility, the test procedure will involve environment simulations to which the system under test is exposed. A combination of traffic, driving and Vulnerable Road User (VRU) simulation is therefore required for a holistic environment simulation. Since these simulators have different requirements and support various formats, a concept for integrated spatio-semantic road space modeling is proposed in this paper. For this purpose, the established standard OpenDRIVE, which describes road networks with their topology for submicroscopic driving simulation and HD maps, is combined with the internationally used semantic 3D city model standard CityGML. Both standards complement each other, and their combination opens the potentials of both application domains—automotive and 3D GIS. As a result, existing HD maps can now be used by model processing tools, enabling their transformation to the target formats of the respective simulators. Based on this, we demonstrate a distributed environment simulation with the submicroscopic driving simulator Virtual Test Drive and the pedestrian simulator MomenTUM at a sensitive crossing in the city of Ingolstadt. Both simulators are coupled at runtime and the architecture supports the integration of automated driving functions.

Analysis of the Risk Factors Affecting the Severity of Traffic Accidents on Spanish Crosstown Roads: The Driver’s Perspective

Globally, road traffic accidents are an important public health concern which needs to be tackled. A multidisciplinary approach is required to understand what causes them and to provide the evidence for policy support. In Spain, one of the roads with the highest fatality rate is the crosstown road, a particular type of rural road in which urban and interurban traffic meet, producing conflicts and interference with the population. This paper contributes to the previous existing research on the Spanish crosstown roads, providing a new vision that had not been analyzed so far: the driver’s perspective. The main purpose of the investigation is to identify the contributing factors that increment the likelihood of a fatal outcome based on single-vehicle crashes, which occurred on Spanish crosstown roads in the period 2006-2016. In order to achieve this aim, 1064 accidents have been analyzed, applying a latent cluster analysis as an initial tool for the fragmentation of crashes. Next, a multinomial logit (MNL) model was applied to find the most important factors involved in driver injury severity. The statistical analysis reveals that factors such as lateral crosstown roads, low traffic volumes, higher percentages of heavy vehicles, wider lanes, the non-existence of road markings, and finally, infractions, increase the severity of the drivers’ injuries.