Evaluation of post-license advanced driver training in Italy

Post-license advanced driver training addresses different categories of road users such as: novice drivers, professional drivers, company employers and recidivists. These training courses can be carried out on-track or on the road. On-track courses allow participants to gain knowledge on driving physics and experience limits in a safe road environment. On-road courses are more focused on hazard perception and situation awareness. Although extensive research has been done in this field, knowledge of the effects of these courses on road accident risk remains unclear. Previous evaluation of on-track courses did not always show a positive effect on crash rate. For example, post-license training focused on mastery of driving skills can lead to an increase of accident risk, especially on young males. However, research identified several factors that may enhance the effectiveness of driving training. In Europe a new framework for driver education and training has been proposed based on a safe driver hierarchical model (the GADGET model) and the development of a strategy for continuous learning. According to this framework, an evaluation study of on-track post-license advanced driver training has been undertaken in Italy with the main goal of assessing the safety effects of these courses and identifying training aspects to be improved. Besides crash rate, the study aims at assessing also driver behavior, knowledge of risks, self-evaluation and training quality. This paper presents the results of the possible effects of advanced driver training on driving behavior, considering in particular the number and type of violations. For each driver, data on age, gender and driving violations history were extracted from the platform and the national violations database. Three cases were addressed through a before-after analysis with control group. Case 1 considers all drivers who attended an ADT course. Case 2 aimed at understanding the effects of the courses on a specific target group: the traffic violators. Case 3 is similar to Case 2, however the control group was selected in a way that drivers characteristics and the violation rate was similar to the violation rate of the treatment group in the before period. The significance of the differences highlighted was assessed through appropriate statistical tests (i.e. paired t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test). The study showed in general a higher propensity to commit traffic violations after attending an ADT course. These results are in contrast to what expected and show the necessity to diversify the training classes according to the different needs of participant

Advancements in Road Safety Management Analysis

Road Safety Management (RSM) can be briefly defined as the tasks of preparing and implementing road safety policies. Many studies have been carried out on RSM, trying to identify success factors and reference best practice examples, but the complexity of the subject and the difficulty of quantitative data collection make it difficult a clear and comprehensive understanding. According to the EC-funded DACOTA research project, the weakest components of RSM systems in Europe are policy implementation and funding and the lack of knowledge-based road safety policy making. The main objective of the research, undertaken within the FERSI's working group on Road Safety Management (RSM), is to better investigate in several European countries those two RSM key functions: funding and research. Particularly the study aims at 1) exploring the existing structures, processes and factors affecting funding and research performances; 2) defining an assessment framework able to measure single country performances with reference to the efficiency and effectiveness of road safety funding and research, possibly shifting from a qualitative to a more quantitative approach. Based on the available knowledge on these two topics (research and funding), an assessment framework is defined and a set of qualitative and quantitative indicators for funding and research performance measurement is proposed. A desk analysis aiming at collecting available data useful to estimate the proposed indicators is conducted and a preliminary analysis with this subset of indicators is undertaken. A subset of research indicators (bibliometric) are used to estimate road safety research outputs performance of a country in terms of productivity and quality of research and international collaboration activities. Preliminary results show a positive correlation among them, even if the linear correlation turns to be not so strong. Countries are ranked on the basis of a composite index of all the three indicators

A methodology to assess pedestrian crossing safety

Purpose: The safety level of a pedestrian crossing is affected by infrastructure characteristics and vehicular and pedestrian traffic level. This paper presents a methodology that allows assessing the safety level of a pedestrian crossing, regulated or not by traffic light, in an urban area according to the features of the crossing. Methods: A hierarchical structure representing factors influencing crossing safety has been developed and the relative contributions of each factor were calculated using AHP method. A composite index for crossing safety and specific indexes for main aspects included in the assessment have been developed. Results: Main assessment aspects are: Spatial and Temporal Design, Day-time and Night-time Visibility and Accessibility. Night-time Visibility resulted to have the higher weight (about 41%). Conclusion: Developed indexes allow ranking of pedestrian crossings and assigning intervention priorities, highlighting the aspects which are to be enhanced. The methodology has been used for the evaluation of 215 pedestrian crossings in 17 European cities for the Pedestrian Crossing Assessment Project co-financed by FIA Foundation. © 2010 The Author(s)

A methodology to explore the road safety impact of fitness to drive solutions for commercial drivers: The PANACEA project

In Europe, one in four road deaths occurred in an accident involving a goods vehicle in 2018 (ETSC 2020). Commercial drivers are at higher risk for suffering from physiological, psychological and prescribed medication and illicit drug use, including alcohol misuse. Fitness to drive or driver state monitoring systems integrate technologies able to detect altered driver states and provide them feedback. They constitute an emerging phenomenon, and their effects on changing people's behaviour to drive more safely, and in general, their impact on road safety should be better investigated. The scope of this paper is to present a methodology able to simulate different scenarios to understand how a driver state monitoring system can support improving road safety in the European Union. A conceptual framework is presented to support the definition of the impact assessment methodology and is applied to the PANACEA European research project. The project develops an integrated solution for driving ability assessment of commercial drivers, paired with a countermeasure and coaching solution. The PANACEA system uses algorithms and technologies for detecting, monitoring and assessing alcohol consumption, licit (barbituric) and illicit (methadone substitute) drugs, fatigue and cognitive load (Commercial Health Toolkits (CHTs)). It also provides strategic, tactical and operational countermeasures that will be tested and evaluated to assess their effectiveness and acceptance by the system's users. The methodology presented is able to assess both a single and multiple countermeasures among those developed within the project. Different scenarios have been considered by modifying the variables according to the screening prevalence, solution acceptance level, driving context and time. The methodology uses the results from the project pilot studies in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of CHTs and countermeasures results in combination with evidence from the existing literature

Road Safety Capacity Building in Belarus through the development of Road Safety Master Courses

Abstract The risk of traffic fatalities varies significantly across high, medium and low-income countries. Among the reasons for this in the latter ones, there is often a lack of road safety knowledge and political will. Road safety is a multidisciplinary topic and requires trained professionals able to identify and implement efficient measures in the areas of engineering, enforcement, education and emergency services, taking into consideration social and economic aspects as well. However, in some Eastern Europe Countries there are potential barriers to train adequately professionals, generally due to a lack of specialised training and training standardization. Such an example can be seen in Belarus where, although road safety is a key issue, it is not managed on an evidence-based approach and there seems to be insufficient funding for related research. An initiative towards increasing knowledge capacity is the Be-Safe project (EC Tempus), a joint effort between three EU Universities and four Belarusian Universities. The objective of this paper is to describe the methodology carried out in Be-Safe to develop and test for two years two 1st level Road Safety Master Courses (60 ECTS) in Belarus according to the Bologna process requirements. Initially, a User Needs Analysis was carried out to understand local conditions and needs in terms of teaching and research on road safety. The analysis highlighted a lack of research due to insufficient funding, linguistic barriers and inadequate international relationships. This isolation led to a need of updating contents and methods of courses for students as well as research topics. Then, expected learning outcomes and Masters' curricula, one for the Technical Universities and one for the Economics Universities, were defined and developed respectively. Finally, Masters' courses in four Belarusian Universities were tested. Quality results were ensured through a Quality Board and assessment tools to monitor the Masters' process as a whole

Lo sviluppo dei sistemi di trasporto stradale e dell’incidentalità nei paesi a basso e medio reddito

Questo articolo presenta lo sviluppo dei sistemi di trasporto stradale e dell’incidentalità nei paesi a basso e medio reddito, prendendo l’Africa come un caso di studio, basato sui risultati del progetto SaferAfrica. Il Progetto SaferAfrica mira a stabilire una piattaforma di dialogo tra Africa ed Europa. Ciò è incentrato sulle questioni di sicurezza stradale e di gestione del traffico con l’obiettivo principale di fornire raccomandazioni per l’aggiornamento del piano d’azione per la sicurezza stradale africana, nonché di supportare i responsabili politici e le parti interessate con prove su fattori di rischio critici, azioni correlate e buone pratiche tratte da dati e conoscenze di qualità. Successivamente, il documento si focalizza sulla relazione tra della sicurezza stradale e livelli di reddito, la sicurezza stradale e livello di motorizzazione, e il trend di lungo periodo degli incidenti stradali nei paesi a basso e medio reddito.This paper presents the development of road transport systems and road traffic crashes rates in developing countries, taking Africa as a case study based on the results of the SaferAfrica project. The SaferAfrica EC funded project aims at establishing a Dialogue Platform between Africa and Europe. This is focused on road safety and traffic management issues with the main objective of providing recommendations to update the African Road Safety Action Plan, as well as supporting policymakers and stakeholders with evidence on critical risk factors, related actions, and good practices drawn from high-quality data and knowledge. Subsequently, the paper focuses on the relationship between road safety and income levels, road safety and the level of motorization, and the long- term trend of road accidents in low- and middle-income countries

Identifying barriers to the potential implementation of road safety good practices in Africa

Africa is the worst performing Continent in road safety and year after year the situation worsens. To reverse this trend, it is essential to bear in mind that road safety problems in Africa should be preferably considered in their own context, as well as the proposed solutions to address them. Towards this direction, the objective of this paper is to present the development of the SaferAfrica Transferability Audit within the EU funded SaferAfrica project, and its pilot application to identify the barriers to the potential implementation of good road safety practices in five selected African Countries (Tunisia, Kenya, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and South Africa). The proposed tool allows assessing whether the implementation of a given road safety intervention may face problems within one (or more) of the three domains of the Road Safety Space: Society/Culture, Economy, and Institutions. A total of 14 responses were obtained from stakeholders of the five countries. The stakeholders surveyed have different backgrounds: public employees, academics and non-governmental organizations participants. Cameroon had the largest participation, with a total of eight responses; two responses were received from Burkina Faso and Tunisia, each; and only one response was received from Kenya and South Africa. With a total of five responses, the Safer Road Users pillar of the African Road Safety Action Plan was the one with the highest participation. Economy issues are the most challenging for transferability of road safety interventions in Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia, while in Burkina Faso and Cameroon it is Society/Culture

The problem of women’s “road unsafety” in Africa

Different studies have indicated that demographic factors (i.e., gender, educational level, age) plays a role in driving style. Gender has been considered in relation to risky driving behaviour in young drivers and in general, it has been found that, in terms of risk behaviour in road traffic, males are more willing to take risks than female. The data from the World Health Organization finds that many more males than females are casualties of road traffic crashes in Africa. In addition, while gender issues have been considered in a number of policy areas, little progress has been made in the transport and road safety sector. In this regard, this paper explores the involvement and perception of crash risk, attitudes and behaviours of African women, involvement in road traffic accidents, and the role of women in improving safety conditions in Africa. Several data sources were considered by the study and analysed: Road traffic crash data from the WHO road safety report; data on risk perceptions and attitudes from the international ESRA survey; and data on women's participation in the SaferAfrica dialogue platform. According to WHO data, 70% of the road traffic crash fatalities were male (202,029) and 30% of the fatalities were female (84,665) in Africa. For the descriptive comparison at the country by country level using data from ESRA survey, the results show that gender differences are evident in most countries, dependent on the question being asked. Women make up just 20% of stakeholders in Africa according to data from the SaferAfrica dialogue platform

The role of Insurance companies to road traffic safety in Cameroon

Abstract: Although road safety is generally based on the areas of prevention, there has been an increasing emphasis on the relationship between insurance, road accidents and road safety. This study was designed to investigate the role of insurance companies to road safety in Cameroon. A sample survey data was used to examine the participation of insurance companies to road safety in Cameroon. The qualitative data analysis carried out revealed that Cameroonian insurance companies’ are mostly involved in compensating road victims as way to promote road safety, which is their businesses and their primary objectives are not to reduce road accidents, but however, driver training (the insured), education and publicity and to a lesser extent traffic law enforcement were carried out by to improve road safety. The bonus malus system was identified to be an ineffective policy in promoting road safety due to the instability of the insured. This study has revealed the many different ways by which Cameroon insurance companies could be involved in road safety and in particular the potential benefits of taking part in road safety issues. Consequently, there is an urgent need for active participation of these companies. The usage-based insurance policies appear to be the best ‘good practice’ recommended to Cameroon insurance companies in terms of the level of challenge and level of priority, in addition to its safety and insurance benefit

Management of Road Infrastructure Safety

Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) refers to a set of procedures that support a road authority in decision making related to the improvement of safety on a road network. Some of these procedures can be applied to existing infrastructure, thus enabling a reactive approach; and other procedures are used in early stages of a project's life-cycle allowing a proactive approach. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the most well-known procedures and present a series of recommendations for successful road infrastructure safety management. The work described in the paper was completed by the IRTAD sub-working group on Road Infrastructure Safety Management and presented in detail in the respective Report. The methodology followed on this purpose included the description of the most consolidated RISM procedures, the analysis of the use of RISM procedures worldwide and the identification of possible weaknesses and barriers to their implementation, the provision of good practice examples and the contribution to the scientific assessment of procedures. Specifically, the following RISM procedures were considered: Road Safety Impact Assessment (RIA), Efficiency Assessment Tools (EAT), Road Safety Audit (RSA), Network Operation (NO), Road Infrastructure Safety Performance Indicators (SPI), Network Safety Ranking (NSR), Road Assessment Programs (RAP), Road Safety Inspection (RSI), High Risk Sites (HRS) and In-depth Investigation. Each procedure was described along with tools and data needed for its implementation as well as relevant common practices worldwide. A synthesis summarizing the key information for each procedure was also drafted. Based on a survey on 23 IRTAD member countries from worldwide, the lack of resources or tools is the most commonly stated reason for not applying a RISM procedure. This has been frequently found mainly in European countries. Another common reason is the absence of recommendations/guidelines, especially for SPI, RAP, RSI and RSA. This highlights the importance of the presence of some legislation regulating the application of the procedures. Lack of data was found important mainly for SPI, HRS and EAT. Good practices of road infrastructure safety management have been explored in order to find solutions to the issues highlighted by the survey and provide examples about how these issues have been overcome in some countries. Specifically, issues related to data, legal framework, funding, knowledge, tools and dealing with more RISM procedures were addressed. Finally, nine key messages and six recommendations for better Road Infrastructure Safety Management were developed based on the conclusions made