Managing trafic safety : an approach to the evaluation of new vehicle safety systems

Road traffic crashes are killing more than one million road users per year, worldwide. Preventive measures to decrease this number are warranted. Relevant measures can be to introduce systematic road traffic safety management and to improve the safety pro- perties of components in the road transport system. The so called Vision Zero, a holistic system to improve road safety, is built around the general idea to build a ‘‘safe system” based on knowledge regarding human capacity and where no predicted crash or collision results in death or serious injury. A Vision Zero model for safe traffic has been developed to illustrate how different system components interact. The aim of this thesis was to investigate how two vehicle safety systems, electronic stability control (ESC) and intelligent seat belt reminders (SBR), could deliver improved road traffic safety. Further the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach was investigated as a systematic mean for the evaluation of effects of new safety technologies. The studies were mainly based on data in the form of police records and field observa- tions. For some aspects, in depth studies of fatal road crashes were used. ESC systems were focused in two studies. The first study only investigated crash involvement independent of injury outcome level. In that study, a positive effect of ESC was found both overall and for accidents on wet, icy, and/or snowy roads. In a later study with a larger data set, the effect of ESC in crashes with various injury severities was investigated. The overall effectiveness on all injury crash types was found to be 16.7% (95% C.I. 7.4–25.0%), while for serious and fatal crashes, the effectiveness was 21.6% (8.8–34.4%). The highest effects were found on serious and fatal loss-of-control type crashes on wet roads where the effect was 56.2% (32.7–79.7%) and on roads covered with ice or snow where the effect was 49.2% (19.0–79.4%). It was estimated that for Sweden, that at the time had a total of around 500 vehicle-related deaths annually, 80-100 fatalities could have been avoided if all cars had had ESC. The effect of SBRs to increase the use of seat belts was studied in eleven cities in Europe, five of them in Sweden. The seat belt use rate in cars without SBR ranged from 69.6% to 96.9%. In cars with SBR, the seat belt wearing ranged from 92.6% to 99.8%. Considering all data, SBR increases seat belt use in traffic with 82.2% (73.6-90.8%). The fourth study includes an analysis of how safety aspects can be put into the Vision Zero model for safe traffic. An important finding was that the model was helpful in the understanding of how road traffic safety aspects performed and interrelated. In the last study, fatal crashes of modern cars were studied. The focus was on ESC and SBR. ESC reduced fatal loss-of-control crashes with 74%. Of the nine, loss-of-control cases in cars with ESC, only one occurred under normal driving conditions. The other cases were related to very low friction, loss-of-control initiated beside the road surface, or related to extreme speeding. Seat belt use in fatal crashes was 74% for cars without SBR and 93% for cars with SBR. The studies in this thesis illustrate how important it was to follow the introduction of new safety technologies, and this from many aspects, all the way to the ultimate goal to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries. The Vision Zero model was helpful in defining how safety parameters interact. Plan-Do-Check-Act was found to be a valuable approach. As safety systems become more sophisticated and fatality rates diminish, better evaluation processes will be needed

System design for a solar powered thermal storage – to obtain reduction of demand side power peaks

Master's thesis Renewable Energy ENE500 - University of Agder 2019Demand side management is an efficiency tool to manage the consumption of energy. In this thesis a load controller is developedand used to store self-produced renewable energy as hot water in a domestic hot water heater. There are challenges associated with the grid,which is operating near max capacity. Instead of expandingthe grid and make huge investments to handle grid peak periods, the power consumption can be controlled and utilized better. To utilize all of the self-produced energy, an accontroller is installed and monitoredfrom a computer. A sensor for the temperature, a valve controllerand information about self-produced solar powerare installed for the domestic hot water heater andareset up in a programto drive the system. Information about the grid peak period are used to choose when the heating element is turned onto raise the temperature. The valve is dischargingthe tank based on a water consumption profilefor an average house. The minimum temperature is set to avoid bacteria and avoid affecting the end user. The results show that up to 8.9kWh is storedas hot water each daywhich means the grid is reduced with the same amount of energy. The energy isstored duringlow grid load periods and used in the peak periods to obtain reduction of demand sidepower peaks.In this setup,PV system has maximum capacity of 1 kWand it could be installed more PV panels to reduce the grid loadevenmore. The test results showthatit is possible to reducethe load on grid in peaksbetween 27.9 to 54.3%,depending on the self-produced powerfrom the PVsystem. Demand side management has the ability to deliver technical and economic benefits to customers as well as network operators

ISO 39001 road traffic safety management system, performance recording, and reporting

Traffic safety has shifted from being a solely individual issue to also include responsibilities from those organizations that influences the use and quality of the road transport system. This chapter explores the background of this and presents how ISO 39001 has been introduced as a tool to manage traffic safety in organisations. Further it is setting organizational road traffic safety into context of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, the Stockholm declaration and the decision of the United Nations general Assembly. The chapter also discusses how a value chain analysis can help organisations in understanding and tackling their road safety footprint and part of their sustainability reporting

Analysis of bicycle crashes in Sweden involving injuries with high risk of health loss

Objective: The objectives of the present article were to (a) describe the main characteristics of bicycle crashes with regard to the road environment, crash opponent, cyclist, and crash dynamics; (b) compare individuals who describe their health after the crash as declined with those who describe their health as not affected; and (c) compare the number of injured cyclists who describe their health as declined after the crash with the predicted number of permanent medical impairments within the same population. Methods: A sample of individuals with specific injury diagnoses was drawn from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition (STRADA) database (n = 2,678). A survey form was used to collect additional information about the crash and the health-related outcomes. The predicted number of impaired individuals was calculated by accumulating the risk for all individuals to sustain at least a 1% permanent medical impairment, based on the injured body region and injury severity. Results: Nine hundred forty-seven individuals (36%) responded, of whom 44% reported declined health after the crash. The majority (68%) were injured in single bicycle crashes, 17% in collisions with motor vehicles, and 11% in collisions with another cyclist or pedestrian. Most single bicycle crashes related to loss of control (46%), mainly due to skidding on winter surface conditions (14%), followed by loss of control during braking (6%). There was no significant difference in crash distribution comparing all crashes with crashes among people with declined health. The predicted number of impaired individuals (n = 427) corresponded well with the number of individuals self-reporting declined health (n = 421). Conclusions: The types of crashes leading to health loss do not substantially differ from those that do not result in health loss. Two thirds of injuries leading to health loss occur in single bicycle crashes. In addition to separating cyclists from motorized traffic, other preventive strategies are needed

Politiets bruk av fysisk makt

Rapporten er en kartlegging og testing av politiets kunnskaper og ferdigheter i pågripelses- og kontrollteknikker. For å svare på problemstillingen ble det gjennomført en kvantitativ spørreundersøkelse og en praktisk test av ferdigheter. Som statens legitime maktutøver må politiet alltid være i stand til å bruke makt på en måte som er hensynsfull, legitim og nødvendig. Resultatene fra den praktiske testen viser blant annet at innsatspersonellets ferdigheter i å utføre arrestasjonsteknikk er lavt. Rapporten har klare anbefalinger i hvordan kunnskap- og ferdighetsnivået kan økes. Som vedlegg til rapporten er det tre appendiks som går dypere i noen fagspesifikke og tekniske problemstillinger knyttet til problemområdet. I appendiks 1 presenteres en medisinsk evaluering av politiets arrestasjonsteknikker. I appendiks 2 er det en nordisk sammenlikning av fokuset helse- og skaderisiko i tilknytning til arrestasjonsteknikk. Det siste appendikset belyser teknikkene halsgrep, mageleie og sideleie

Automated vehicles: How do they relate to vision zero

The Swedish Transport Administration (STA) work to reduce the number of suicides in the transport system. Fatalities, i.e., on roads, railways, and bridges, originate from either accidents or suicides, natural death excluded. Knowing the correct manner of death is needed to work with optimal prevention strategies. The aims are to separate fatalities due to suicides, follow the development, and implement measures for suicide prevention. Methods are developed for suicide classification and criteria for the selection in which suicides were suspected. Fatalities in level one and two of five were classified as suicides. Data from the STA\u27s databases are used and so are data from the psychosocial investigations done by a trained investigator in the topic and with clinical experience from counselling at hospitals. 2129 persons died on the roads in Sweden, 10% (206 persons) were classified as suicides. 336 persons died after being hit by trains, 85% (284 persons) were suicides. 130 persons died by jumping from bridges. The number of suicides increases with population density. Suicide in the transport system is a major problem; firstly personal tragedies, it is also a work environment problem for truck and train drivers and for the emergency staff. It generates delays and costs for passenger and cargo transport. By analyzing the results of countermeasures in the form of obstructive barriers, the physical environment can be improved and high-risk areas can be accentuated. Restricting access to the means of suicide is important in suicide prevention. Strategies for the STA include suicide prevention in the design of new roads, railways, and bridges, as well as by identifying and reducing existing high-risk locations. Sharing the results with other authorities and organizations and cooperation within suicide prevention missions are vital for the enhancement of the overall suicide prevention work in society

Dispositions and Ethics

What is the connection between dispositions and ethics? Some might think very little and those who are interested in dispositions tend to be metaphysicians whose interests are far from value. However, we argue in this paper that dispositions and dispositionality are central to ethics, indeed a precondition. Ethics rests on a number of notions that are either dispositional in nature or involve real dispositions or powers at work. We argue for a dispositional account of value that offers an alternative to the traditional fact-value dichotomy. We explain the place of value within a structure that explains the possibility of ethics. Elsewhere in this structure, we argue that moral responsibility is a precondition for ethics and that it is a dispositional notion depending critically on what Mumford and Anjum have called the dispositional modality. Moral responsibility in turn depends on there being both agency and normativity. We argue that intentionality and agency are preconditions for agency and that value is a precondition of normativity. All these notions are dispositional and make best sense if there are real dispositions or causal powers of agents

Presence-absence of plant habitat specialists in 15 patches of dry calcareous grassland

Background Dry grasslands on calcareous bedrock in warm climates around the Oslo Fjord are naturally fragmented biodiversity hotspots. This habitat geographically coincides with the most densely populated area of Norway. Many habitat specialists, along with the habitat itself, are red-listed because of land-use change, forest encroachment, and invasive species that cause habitat loss and greater isolation of remaining patches. To ensure effective conservation, data on species presences and absences are necessary to quantify states, changes, and extinction risks in specific populations and habitat patches. New information We present presence-absence data of 49 vascular plant species in 15 patches of dry calcareous grassland habitat, surveyed in 2009, 2019, and in 2020. The species are considered to be habitat specialists and, thus, unlikely to occur between the patches. sampling-event, vascular plants, specialist species, presence-absence data, calcareous grassland, habitat patch, GBIFpublishedVersio

In-vitro dissolution of vitreous silicate fibres according to EURIMA test guideline - Results of two Round Robins

The EURIMA (The European Insulation Manufacturers Association) test guideline "In-vitro acellular dissolution of man-made vitreous silicate fibres" provides a state-of-the-art method for measuring in-vitro dissolution rates relevant for evaluating the biopersistence of insulation wool fibres and other vitreous silicate fibres. Based on this guideline two Round Robins were conducted as well as specific investigations on the influence of selected test parameters. Nine and six laboratories, respectively, participated in the two Round Robins. The standard deviation between Kdis results obtained by different laboratories was slightly lower in the second Round Robin ranging from 24 to 61 % (highest for the low-soluble fibres). The relatively high inter-laboratory variation suggests that the equipment, setup and procedures should be specified in much more detail in a future test method. Key parameters to be kept constant are flow rate/surface area and liquid composition, and care should be taken to maintain constant conditions and eliminate outlier measurements. Α laboratory may use the method described in the guideline for quality assurance of maintained biosolubility and for development of alternative fibre modifications as the method is well suited for ranking different fibres with respect to dissolution coefficients within one laboratory. However, caution should be exercised when comparing values obtained by one laboratory to values obtained by another

Ontogeny-Specific Skeletal Deformities in Atlantic Haddock Caused by Larval Oil Exposure

Bone deformities are one of the main effects of crude oil exposure in marine fish larvae. Craniofacial and jaw deformities, if severe enough, may restrict feeding and ultimately kill the developing larvae. This study aimed to examine the impact of dispersed crude oil on bone development in Atlantic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) larvae, a fish species spawning in areas approached for oil and gas exploration in the North Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic haddock larvae were exposed to low (60 μg oil/L), high (600 μg oil/L), or pulsed (0–600, average 60 μg oil/L over time) dispersed crude oil from 0 to 18 days post hatch (dph). Endpoints included survival and growth, bone integrity, and transcriptional parameters, which were assessed during (0–18 dph) and after exposure until the fish reached 8 months of age (243 dph). The results showed that the larvae in the high treatment group had reduction in growth at 2–19, 44, 134, and 243 dph. Craniofacial abnormalities were most severe at 8 and 19 dph. These deformities were not present at 44 dph, possibly because the larvae with deformed jaws failed to feed properly and died. Higher prevalence of spinal deformities was observed in haddocks that survived for 243 dph. Three genes encoding proteins critical for osteoblast function, sp7, postn, and col10a1, were downregulated in the high treatment group larvae. We discuss possible mechanisms of action in the developing larvae after oil exposure. In conclusion, this study shows that larval exposure to oil can potentially have long-term effects on growth and bone integrity in Atlantic haddock.publishedVersio