Despite evidence suggesting that road traffic is a major threat to biodiversity loss, very little is known about its actual impact on wildlife populations in South Africa. Globally, road density and traffic volumes are increasing, and although huge budgets are devoted to the construction and upgrading of roads, there is little or no allocation to mitigation measures for protecting fauna in most countries, particularly Africa. Further, no global standardised protocol exists for the rapid assessment of roadkill or the most economical and efficient approach for assessing roadkill rates. Using vehicle field trials, the reliability of detecting artificially deployed roadkill was assessed. Roadkill detection rates decreased significantly at speeds >50 km/h and were also significantly influenced by light conditions (i.e. detection success was greater when the sun was high) and the position of the roadkill on the road (i.e. smaller roadkill on verges were often missed). These results suggest that roadkill sampling was most effective between 1.5 hours after dawn and 1.5 hours before dusk and that driving at slower speeds (<50 km.h⁻ₑ) was required to detect roadkill. This protocol was implemented across three ecological seasons on a 100 km paved road and a 20 km unpaved road in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Driven daily over a 120-day period (three periods consisting each of 40 days), a total of 1,027 roadkill were recorded. These comprised 162 species from all terrestrial vertebrate groups with birds being the most commonly encountered roadkill (50% of all incidents). The high numbers of vertebrates identified as roadkill suggests that road traffic could have potentially unsustainable impacts on wildlife populations and hence the biodiversity of the area. Seventeen variables were identified as possible determinants of roadkill occurrence with season, rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature, habitat type, grass height, grass density, fence type and vehicle type significantly influencing roadkill numbers. Significantly more roadkill were detected on the paved road (9.91/100km) than on the unpaved road (1.8/100km) probably because of greater traffic volumes and the increased speed that vehicles travelled on the paved road. Warmer temperatures and increased rainfall in the preceding 24 hours also increased road mortality numbers as animals tended to become more active during these times. Interestingly, more roadkill was detected in open roadside habitats compared to dense roadside habitats on both the paved and unpaved roads and when grass on the roadside verge was of intermediate height. Open habitat possibly may provide a natural corridor for wildlife which ultimately end up on the road. Roadkill numbers increased when certain other physical barriers, such as cattle fences, were present, probably because these barriers were more penetrable than electric fencing. A series of mitigation measures are proposed to reduce the impacts of roads on wildlife in South Africa. These mitigation measures highlight the need to address the balance between the development of a country’s transport infrastructure and the conservation of its fauna. It is important that research on the impacts of roads becomes standardised to enable robust statistical comparisons which will provide a greater understanding of the potential threats to vertebrate biodiversity

Although a handful of experiments have utilized indirect feedback in attempts to reduce speeding on roadways, fewer experiments have utilized direct feedback as a means to reduce incidences of speeding. The current study evaluated the effects of direct and individualized feedback provided by a large electronic feedback sign that displayed the speed of oncoming vehicles as they approached the sign along the roadways of a college campus. The effects of the sign were evaluated using a non-simultaneous multiple baseline experimental design employing two control conditions and intervention phase. Each condition was implemented at three sites on the college campus. The results showed that intervention produced significant decreases in both measures of vehicle speeds at each site, relative to measures collected during both control conditions.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a relação de características das vias com os acidentes de trânsito. A principal motivação para o desenvolvimento deste estudo está na ampla variedade de características que podem ter influência nos acidentes e na complexidade da relação entre elas, que pode tornar a análise distinta em cada caso. As vantagens decorrentes da adoção de ações baseadas no gerenciamento de riscos e no tratamento preventivo da segurança viária priorizam atuações sobre veículos e, em especial, sobre o esquema viário como alternativa viável para reduzir o peso do fator humano nos acidentes. Para isso foi elaborado um longo referencial teórico, enumerando potenciais características e as relacionando com acidentes, ressaltando a importância de avaliar e tratar aspectos concatenados ao veículo e à via, com o intuito de conseguir uma análise mais eficaz nas condições de segurança e contribuindo nas áreas acadêmica e profissional fornecendo dados e informações para ajudar na identificação e escolhas de características que mais influenciem a segurança. Também foi desenvolvido um estudo de caso, considerando a Autoestrada Grajaú-Jacarepaguá (Avenida Menezes Cortes), localizada na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A partir de dois bancos de dados de acidentes, fornecidos pela Companhia de Engenharia de Tráfego do Rio de Janeiro (CET-Rio) e uma investigação de campo realizada na autoestrada, foram identificadas relações dos acidentes com as características viárias. Concluiu-se que as características das vias têm grande relevância sobre os acidentes ocorridos. Os resultados indicam que a consistência geométrica está relacionada aos acidentes de trânsito, porém ainda não existe um modelo de previsão que ajude a entender tal comportamento. De forma geral, as atividades de reconstrução e manutenção da via também dão apoio nas questões de segurança de tráfego. Apesar das limitações, espera-se que o estudo apresentado nesse projeto sirva como referência para futuras intervenções e melhorias das vias. / This study aims at analyzing a relationship of influence between the accidents and the road characteristics. The main study motivation is on the wide variety of characteristics that may influence the accidents, which can make the analysis distinct in each case. The advantages from the adoption of actions based on road safety risk management and the preventive treatment prioritize interventions on vehicles and, in particular, on the road system as a viable alternative to reduce the role of the human factor in accidents. For this, a long theoretical framework was developed, enumerating potential characteristics and relating them to accidents, emphasizing the importance of evaluating e treating related to the vehicle and to the highway to achieve a more effective analysis in safety conditions and contributing in the academic and professional areas providing data and information to help in the identification and selection of characteristics that influence the safety. Also, a case study was prepared, considering the Grajaú-Jacarepaguá Highway (Menezes Cortes Avenue), located in Rio de Janeiro. Based on two accidents databases provided by Agency of Engineering of Traffic of Rio de Janeiro (CET-Rio) and a highway field investigation, some relationships of accidents with roads characteristics were identified. It can be concluded that roads characteristics have great relevance on the occurred accidents. The results indicate that geometric consistency have a relationship with traffic accidents, however there isn\'t still a predictive model to support the understanding of this behavior. In general, the reconstruction and maintenance activities also support traffic safety issues. Despite the limitations, it is expected that the presented study in this project will serve as a reference for the future interventions and improvements of roads.

No description available.

This diploma thesis presents various redesign scenarios of the intersection of Ruprechticka, Michelsky vrch and U Pramenu streets located in Liberec, Czech Republic. The work presented in this thesis is as answer to the current intersection arrangement that does not meet the requirements of a safe traffic crossroad due to its broad, unorganized spatial arrangement. Three redesign options are developed and proposed based on performed traffic volume counts, vehicular speed monitoring, and previous history of traffic accidents in this intersection. Implemented traffic calming measures include significant changes to the lane arrangement and width in the intersection. It is proposed that the U Pramenu street is converted to one-way street to further reduce the overall traffic volume travelling through the intersection. Moreover, all redesign scenarios and strategies focus on improving safety and comfort of pedestrians and persons with disabilities. Finally, a multiple-criteria decision analysis is carried out and the most viable redesign option is selected.

This diploma thesis presents redesign of urban road in municipality Švábenice. The condition of this road is unsuitable. The redesign of horizontal and vertical solution is developed and proposed based on the obtained data. This proposal focuses on improvement of traffic safety. The important part of this redesign was the solution of the unsuitable intersection in the centre of municipality. This intersection was divided to two separate ones. The new proposal improves viewpoint and orientation conditions for drivers. This improves traffic safety in this location. This proposal contains solution of parking, traffic signs, drainage, improving safety and comfort of pedestrians and persons with disabilities. This redesign respects affected lands and their usage. It respects existing engineer networks and requirements of territorial plan of the municipality Švábenice.

This thesis analyzes the specific critical accident points in the district Blansko. The purpose of this thesis is to suggest the organizational, constructional and technical measures needed to reduce the possibility of accidents, thus increasing road safety in these locations.

The thesis deals with the influence of the elements in surrounding the road on the traffic safety, focusing on visual distraction of the driver. Within the theoretical part are characterized transport system and its individual components (driver, environment and road, means of transportation and transport infrastructure) with emphasis on aspects affecting traffic safety and visual perception of the driver. The analytical part draws from video records with driving tests provided by the Institute of Forensic Engineering of Brno University of Technology. They were processed and the data were evaluated to determine mainly the length of individual driver’s gazes on particular elements in surrounding the road and their comparison with the time dedicated to driving. The conclusion of this part is intended for the studies of advertising signs as they are the elements with significant influence on driver’s distraction. Interpretation of the results followed by designing their applications to increase traffic safety is included in the last chapter.

Die Sicherheit des Radverkehrs im innerstädtischen Kontext ist ein bedeutsames Thema. Bislang konzentrierte sich die Betrachtung fast immer nur auf das Unfallgeschehen an Knotenpunkten. Der Bereich der freien Strecke hinsichtlich der Gefährdung der Radfahrer durch überholende Fahrzeuge wurde bisher kaum einbezogen und daher wenig erforscht. Die Arbeit widmet sich der Untersuchung von Abständen beim Überholen von Radfahrern durch motorisierte Fahrzeuge. Zu Beginn wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass die in der Praxis auftretenden Sicherheitsabstände zwischen Fahrzeugen und Radfahrern geringer sind, als die planerisch und rechtlich vorgegebenen Werte. In einem Feldversuch wurden mit einem eigens entwickelten Messverfahren Daten empirisch erhoben und statistisch ausgewertet. Frühere Forschungsarbeiten und geltende Regelwerke sowie rechtliche Festlegungen dienten anschließend als Grundlage und Vergleichsbasis bei der Einschätzung der empirischen Daten. Diese wurden im Messverfahren durch Videoaufnahmen ermittelt. Dabei zeigte sich, dass die gemessenen Werte im Mittel so gut wie immer unter den rechtlich und planerisch angegebenen Werten lagen. Die Fahrzeugführer neigten zu geringen und teilweise zu gefährlichen Sicherheitsabständen. In der Untersuchung wirkten verschiedenste Einflussfaktoren auf die Messdaten. Es konnte herausgefunden werden, dass beispielsweise das Vorhandensein von Gegenverkehr einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Größe des gewählten Abstands hat. / The safety of cycle traffic in urban areas is an important topic. Until now contemplation almost always focused on accident occurances on junctions only. The range of free haul and its danger for cyclists resulting from overtaking vehicles have barely been incorporated and are thus underexplored. This dissertation is dedicated to the observation of safety distances of motorized vehicles, when overtaking cyclists. At the beginning, the assumption is, that the safety margins between vehicles and cyclists, occuring in the field, are smaller than the legitimately predetermined values. With the help of a specially developed measurement method, data was empirical collected and statistically analysed in a field trial. Former researches, valid sets of rules and legal commitments served as a fundament as well as a basis of comparison for the evaluation of empirical data, which was determined by measuring methodes through video footage. It was found that the measured values were almost always below the legally given values and vehicle operators even tended to dangerously reduce their safety margins. During the study, it became obvious that different factors had an effect on the measurement data. For example the decisive influence of oncoming traffic on the amount of clearance.

QC 20101216