Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges

Interchanges are a key and the most complex element of a road infrastructure. The safety and functionality of interchanges determine the traffic conditions and safety of the entire road network. This applies particularly to motorways and expressways, for which they are the only way to access and exchange traffic. A big problem in Poland is the lack of comprehensive tools for designers at individual stages of the design process. This applies to guidelines or other documents regarding the location, choice of interchanges type and selection of design pa-rameters. This does not provide sufficient material for designing safe and functional interchanges. This situation results in numerous hazards that occur on existing interchanges and errors that are still being made at all stages of the design process. Consequently, there is a risk of accidents in the area of interchanges, which often have serious consequences. The purpose of the research presented in the article is to identify main groups of hazards on the interchanges and to classify them based on field tests and audits of project documentation. The prepared classification uses the results of analyzing data on road accidents. As part of the research, a database was built that includes in-formation on road accidents and traffic, as well as data on all existing interchanges on motorways and express-ways in Poland. These data includes: interchange type, length of exit and entry lanes, total interchanges length, type of cross-section on main roads and ramps. The number and type of ramps occurring at a given interchange as well as the type of intersections, if any, were also taken into account. Based on the assessment, the level of safety was determined for individual types of interchanges. Then, the impact of selected road and traffic factors on safety was presented. The critical elements of interchanges are entries, exits, weaving sections and intersections. Assumptions were also adopted for the classification of identified haz-ards. A comprehensive safety assessment for interchanges allowed the development of assumptions for their design guidelines. On the basis of database exploration and field research, the main problems and hazards regarding the functioning of interchanges were identified

Is rosuvastatin better than atorvastatin and simvastatin in the prevention of in-stent restenosis and atherosclerosis progression in patients after superficial femoral artery stenting due to chronic lower limb ischaemia? The preliminary case-control study

Introduction. Statins effect on the outcome of endovascular intervention due to chronic lower limb ischaemia (CLLI) is still uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of statin type on the late outcome of superficial femoral artery (SFA) stenting in patients with CLLI. Material and methods. Retrospective analysis of the medical documentation of 275 consecutive patients treated with SFA stenting due to CLLI, including 125 (45%) patients with critical limb ischaemia (CLI). Measured outcomes were: target lesion revascularization (TLR), target extremity revascularization (TER), and target limb amputation (TLA). Results. Statins were used by 267 (97%) of the patients, respectively: atorvastatin (n = 191, 70%), simvastatin (n = 31, 11%) and rosuvastatin (n = 45, 16%). During the 675.0 ± 569.7 days of follow-up, TLR was required by 79 (29%) patients, TER by 109 (39%), and TLA by 27 (10%). Patients treated with rosuvastatin in comparison with those treated with atorvastatin, in spite of greater initial LDL and triglyceride levels, required TER (p = 0.01) and TLR (p = 0.03) less frequently. The risk of TER in patients treated with rosuvastatin was significantly (p = 0.016) lower than in individuals treated with atorvastatin and simvastatin, as shown in the Kaplan-Meier analysis. Cox’s proportional hazards regression showed that therapy with rosuvastatin was the strongest factor (HR 0.40 ± 95% CI; 0.2-0.81) decreasing the likelihood of TER. Conclusions. Rosuvastatin after SFA stenting seems to have the strongest effect on reduction in reintervention risk but without influence on limb salvage.

Assessment of the Influence of Road Infrastructure Parameters on the Behaviour of Drivers and Pedestrians in Pedestrian Crossing Areas

Pedestrians are participants and, most likely, fatalities in every third road traffic accident in Poland. Over 30% of all fatalities on Polish roads are pedestrians. Accidents with pedestrians are very often the result of various factors related to the infrastructure and behaviour of pedestrians and drivers. The objective of the work was to assess driver and pedestrian behaviour in pedestrian crossing areas. The research also served as a pilot study for similar work to be conducted across Poland, and constituted the basis for monitoring the behaviour of road users in the area of pedestrian crossings. Parameters which must be analysed were identified on the basis of field studies. Principles of selecting test sites were adopted, and measurement methods for pedestrian crossing areas are presented. The influence of the location of the selected test cross-section infrastructure parameters on the behaviour of road users in pedestrian crossing areas is demonstrated. The results of the study will be used as a basis for new solutions involving pedestrian crossing infrastructure designed to improve pedestrian safety. The results were also used in formulating new regulations for the design and maintenance of pedestrian crossings and recommendations for road safety auditors

Evaluation of Street Lighting Efficiency Using a Mobile Measurement System

The issue concerns the initial stage of work on a method for performing a rapid assessment of the energy efficiency and illuminance of a street lighting installation. The proposed method is based on simultaneous measurement of illuminance from three lux meters placed on the roof of the vehicle. The data are acquired in road traffic, while the vehicle is driving. The proposed solution will allow in the future to quickly and reproducibly obtain data about the lighting parameters of the studied road section. The illumination values are localised using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Based on the collected measurement data, with the use of terrain maps, geographic information system (GIS) data and installation design documentation, it will be possible to determine in detail the parameters of energy efficiency indicators for a selected section of the street for the entire street according to the EN13201-5 standard. Preliminary tests were conducted on a section of about one kilometer of street illuminated in class C3. Detailed measurements reveal high variation of obtained energy indicators DP and DE for each road section. The reason for this condition is the variation of power, installation geometry and the presence of obstacles to light

Why are Trees Still Such a Major Hazard to Drivers in Poland?

AbstractRoadside trees are one of Poland's most serious road safety issues. Since 2009 more than 2800 people have been killed as a result of tree collisions; this represents about 15% of all of Poland's accident fatalities between 2009 and 2013. In some of the country's regions striking a tree caused more than 30% of all road accident fatalities. With no proper regulations, guidelines or examples of good practice, roadside environments are posing a serious danger to safety. Trees pose a particular hazard. The paper analyses and evaluates the following factors which cause safety risks on roadsides with trees: strategic level (historic factors – tree alleys, high vehicle speeds, lack of road safety standards), tactical level (region, road class, length of road sections with trees, type of section, time), operational level (road narrowing forcing drivers to use the oncoming traffic lane, limited visibility at junctions and exits).The paper will present ways to eliminate risks caused by roadside trees and how effective they are in reference to the three levels: strategic level (ensuring that road layouts are clear and homogenous, vehicles remain in their lane, building safe roadside environments, securing hazardous objects), tactical level (building a new road, cutting down trees, putting in safety barriers, speed management, hazard notification), operational level (improving visibility using special marking or cutting down trees where they affect visibility at junctions, using the “2-1” layout, speed reduction, special marking).Understanding the effects of roads or roadsides on safety requires a detailed study. Sections of national and regional roads were used as a basis for building models to describe the effects of selected road and traffic factors on road safety measures

Assessing the Risk in Urban Public Transport for Epidemiologic Factors

Pandemics have presented new challenges for public transport organisers and operators. New diseases (e.g., influenza H1N1, severe acute respiratory syndrome—SARS, as well as, more recently, SARS-CoV-2) increase the need for new protection measures to prevent epidemic outbreaks in public transport infrastructure. The authors’ goal is to present a set of actions in the area of public transport that are adjusted to different levels of epidemic development. The goal goes back to the following question: how can the highest possible level of passenger safety be ensured and the losses suffered by urban public transport companies kept as low as possible? The sets of pro-active measures for selected epidemic scenarios presented in the article may offer support to local authorities and public transport operators. In the next steps, it is important to develop and implement tools for public transport management to ensure safety and tackle epidemic hazards

Safety PL– A Support Tool for Road Safety Impact Assessment

AbstractPublished on 19 November 2008, the European Union's Directive 2008/96/EC is one of the most important EU documents setting out a road safety orientation, in particular, road infrastructure safety management. It identifies four main areas of activity: road safety impact assessment, road safety audit, ranking of high accident concentration sections and network safety ranking and road infrastructure safety inspection.The Directive was implemented in Poland under the Act of 13 April 2012 “on amending the Public Roads Act and some other Acts”. The Act implements three of the Directive's four actions: road safety assessment, road safety audit, ranking of sections and network ranking. The Directive is further implemented under documents issued by the Director of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA).In 2011 the GDDKiA commissioned the Gdansk University of Technology and Krakow University of Technology to prepare an Instruction for Road Safety Assessment. The document helps with conducting the procedure for all newly designed national roads. Having implemented these guidelines, the GDDKiA, in an effort to improve design quality, requires designers to prepare such assessments for all planned and newly designed national roads.The road safety assessment uses a generalised model of linear regression to estimate the relations between selected road and traffic factors and selected road safety measures (number of accidents, injuries, fatalities and accident costs). The procedure comprises around twelve steps and differs depending on the type of road (class G, GP, A and S roads) and cross-section (1×2, 2×2, 2×3). It includes a number of variables representing road location, year of analysis and roadside.The authors of this article present a concept of implementing computational procedures previously used for a road safety impact assessment in the PTV Visum application. As a result, it will be possible to include models used for assessing selected road safety measures into the traffic volume forecast tool. Thanks to this it will be possible to calculate the number of accidents, victims and accident costs for all analysed variants of traffic spatial distribution. By automating this process, we will be able to speed up work and reduce analytical errors

Assessing unsignalised pedestrian crossings

The lack of pedestrian safety on crossings is a complex problem and one that is influenced by a number of factors such as the law, road traffic culture, the road and traffic. This paper will focus on the last two by presenting a method for assessing pedestrian crossings for their geometry and roadside using data from 930 pedestrian crossings in Warsaw. The authors of this paper have attempted to systematise the process of assessment of the existing crossings safety. It should be noted that the actions taken in the field of safety assessments were carried out consecutively with a team of lighting experts whose task was to assess the impact of lighting elements on the level of pedestrian safety. The paper will describe the successive steps of the method: detailed safety inspection of crossings, identification of pedestrian hazards, including an assessment of the required sight distance in relation to actual vehicle speeds and safety improvement recommendations. Because not all data were available during the site inspection and seemed to be necessary for the assessment, efforts were made to obtain information about the road traffic volume (from a Warsaw transport model) and the traffic volume of pedestrians and cyclists by age group (own measurements conducted). In addition, the method of required visibility was developed by the authors, taking into account the position of a pedestrian at a distance of 1m from the edge of the road at drivers’ speed of V85. The authors will present the preliminary results of work on modelling the effects of selected road and traffic parameters on road safety. The authors will also present the results of analyses looking at the methodology of systematic studies of pedestrian behaviour and the pedestrian-driver relation for 70 locations: cities, small towns and outside built-up areas. The effect of the location of the measurement cross-section, type of cross-section and other selected parameters on driver and pedestrian behaviour at and around pedestrian crossings is demonstrated. Driver behaviour was analysed for pedestrians approaching the crossing, waiting at the edge of the road and in the absence of a pedestrian near the crossing

Pedestrian Safety at Midblock Crossings on Dual Carriageway Roads in Polish Cities

Road crossings across two or more lanes in one direction are particularly dangerous due to limited sight distance and high vehicle speeds. To improve their safety, road authorities should provide safety treatments. These may include additional measures to reduce speed and narrow the road cross-section and the introduction of active pedestrian crossings. Equipped with flashing lights activated automatically when a pedestrian is detected, the crossings are painted red and have an anti-skid surface on approaches. The article presents an analysis of road user behaviour at pedestrian crossings on dual carriageways with a varying provision of road safety measures in some Polish cities. It also evaluates the effectiveness of the measures over time. The study was conducted before, immediately after and one year after the additional signage was introduced. The evaluation is based on how vehicle speeds changed before the pedestrian crossing, how pedestrians behaved versus the vehicle and their readiness to cross the street. The number of conflicts on selected crossings was also evaluated. The safety treatments under analysis were found to be less effective than the traditional pedestrian safety measures such as speed cushions or roads narrowed to one lane. This suggests that if used on dual carriageways the measures should only be temporary and should ultimately be replaced with traffic lights or a grade separated solution (a footbridge or tunnel) on exits from urban areas. No clear-cut conclusions about pedestrian safety can be drawn based on the traffic conflicts in question. The article is divided into the following sections: introduction with a review of the literature on pedestrian and driver behaviour studies at pedestrian crossings, including midblock crossings and dual carriageways; a description of the research method and test sites, the results, discussion of the results and conclusion