Identification and comparative analysis of factors influencing road safety in US regions and in Polish voivodeships

Analyses of road safety at national level have been run for many years and large number of publications concerning them appeared so far. How interdisciplinary the issue is, has been shown by literature studies done by the author of the paper. It appears that economists, mathematicians, doctors as well as engineers have studied the issue. It is not an easy one, as results of many analyses lead to conflicting conclusions and often fail to provide straightforward answers to questions asked. The administrative actions taken to improve road safety, uniform for the whole country, frequently fail to give expected results, including Poland’s case. Therefore there is a need to analyse what makes some provinces, and not the others, report improvement in road safety. This paper presents part of the work on author’s doctoral thesis, which analyses how regional characteristics may impact road safety in respective regions. However, during collection of data for the purpose of the doctoral thesis it turned out that many variables mentioned in literature as significant had not been collected on regional level in Europe, including Poland. There are, though, available data on respective American states, so the search for the best describing independent variables started from the analyses of US data. The analyses showed the impact of factors such as annual income per capita, transport activity, density of population, seatbelt rates, road and vehicle density, rate of doctors

Problems in training and examining of cyclists in Poland

Abstract: The article presents a diagnosis of the problems that affect the quality of the level training and examination of cyclists in Poland. The first part presents statistics on accidents involving cyclists in Poland in the recent years. The current system of training and examining cyclists as well as teachers and instructors is described successively. Additionally, examples of good practice that are used by countries with highly developed cycling culture are shown. Based on the assessment of the current state of affairs and the analysis of the issues, appropriate conclusions were drawn, and recommendations were proposed. They can contribute to the awareness of the need to change the approach in the Polish cycling education system and ultimately to increase the cyclist's sense of safety in road traffic, thus reducing the number of injuries and fatalities. Keywords: Cycling safety; Cyclist; Bicycle training; Training of cyclists; Examining of cyclists; Cycling education; Cycling licence; Cycling proficiency test

Macro Models of Vehicle Kilometres Travelled

There are a number of ways to measure transport of which kilometres travelled is the most frequent macro indicator (at country level). It is used to estimate projected fuel consumption, potential number of vehicles, amount and type of exhaust fumes emissions and the number of road accidents and casualties. The paper presents macro models of vehicle kilometres travelled, built on the basis of data from some fifty countries worldwide. Next, the resulting model was calibrated for the conditions in Poland.

The effects of selected factors on regional road fatalities – analysis of the Łódź region

Analysis of regional accident records shows that a country’s national road safety programme does not have the same effect in each of its regions. What may be a serious problem in one region may be of marginal significance in another. Polish and international experience shows that main risk groups and types of accidents related to the level of development and quality of the road network differ from region to region. The conclusion is that a centrally run road safety policy does not always produce the expected outcomes. This suggests that more can be achieved with a combination of strategic (national) road safety management and tactical (regional) and operational (local) road safety efforts. Poland’s regional road safety programmes were found to lack an analysis of the effects of selected factors on safety or fatality forecast based on mathematical models. This calls for a scientific tool to support regional road safety management. The article uses the example of the region of Łódź to present the main road safety problems, analyse safety based on risk assessment, present the effects of selected factors on road user safety and forecast fatalities for different scenarios of treatments

Testing the durability and function of road traffic management devices

Traffic management measures (vertical signs and horizontal marking, reflective elements) are used for guiding vehicles optically, indicating road mileage, marking objects in road gauge, marking vehicle and pedestrian safeguards and driver information and warning. This paper presents a synthesis of a literature study and the results of research conducted under stage one of the project LifeRoSE. The requirements for different traffic management measurements are described as well as durability and functionality tests and analysis of factors which influence durability and functionality of these measurements

Modelling fatalities on regional road networks

During the last decade Poland’s road fatalities went down by 44%. The trend differs from region to region. Effective road safety management in regions requires tools for forecasting road safety measures and identifying factors influencing road fatality numbers. Mathematical models can provide such tools. They take into account local characteristics such as: demography, economy, infrastructure and motorization. Such models could be used for better regional road safety management. This paper presents an attempt to build such models used for forecasting road fatalities in EU regions and Polish voivodships

Mathematical models as practical tool for road fatalities forecasts on road network in regions

The analysis of national data on the number of deaths showed that in Poland from 2010 to 2016 it was possible to reduce the number of fatalities by about 22%. The tendency of changes in the number of fatalities, however, is not homogeneous. When data of individual voivodships is analyzed, the situation is different. The largest reduction in fatalities in the analyzed period of time concerned voivodship Świętokrzyskie, where there was more than 45% drop in the number of fatalities. The following voivodships: Łódzkie, Lubelskie and Podkarpackie recorded a decrease in over 30% of fatalities. Unfortunately, at the end of the classification there were four voivodships with a fall below 8%, and what is disturbing voivodship Lubuskie recorded a nearly 5% increase in the number of fatalities. The current traffic safety management at the level of voivodships is often the implementation of central recommendations, which, as results from the analysis of statistical data, are not equally effective in every province. Therefore, models for forecasting changes in road safety are required. Taking into account local characteristics and implemented actions can be used to manage security more effectively at the regional level. This paper presents examples of the use of mathematical models to predict the number of fatalities in individual voivodships depending on the adopted action scenarios. Regression models were developed, taking into account demographic, infrastructural, economic and automotive factors. It turned out that in individual voivodships, various factors affect the level of road safety on roads differently. Therefore, an individual approach to each voivodship is important in order to reliably forecast the level of security

Analysis of the influence of unprotected road users’ behavior on their safety level on pedestrian crossings without traffic lights

Tematem artykułu jest identyfikacja czynników i zależności oddziaływających na zachowanie uczestników ruchu drogowego w kontekście poziomu bezpieczeństwa w obrębie przejść dla pieszych bez sygnalizacji świetlnej. Stosowanie odpowiednio oznakowanych przejść dla pieszych stanowi podstawowy środek ułatwiający przechodzenie pieszych przez jezdnię. Jednak bezwzględna pewność pieszych i rowerzystów o możliwości przekroczenia jezdni w sposób całkowicie bezpieczny może doprowadzać do występowania konfliktów, których skutkiem są zdarzenia drogowe w obrębie przejść. W przedstawionym artykule przybliżono analizę zachowań niechronionych użytkowników drogi w trzech wybranych lokalizacjach oraz identyfikacje problemów występujących w danym obszarze. Następnie przedstawiono możliwe do wprowadzenia koncepcje poprawy bezpieczeństwa w oparciu o przeprowadzone badania zachowań uczestników ruchu.The article is to identify factors and dependencies which influence to road users behavior in terms of safety level in the pedestrian crossings without traffic lights. Properly marked crossings is the basic means to facilitate the crossing pedestrian across the road. However, the absolute certainty that pedestrians and cyclists can cross the road in perfect safety may lead to conflicts resulting traffic incidents on pedestrian crossings. The article presents the behavior analysis of the unprotected road users in three selected locations and the identification of problems in a given area. On the basis of a research on the behavior of road users possible concepts of safety improvement have been presented