In Spain, the presence of sport and recreational cyclists on rural roads has increased notably in recent years. In fact, the number offederation licences reached 75,638 cyclists and 3,634 cycling clubs in 2020. As the number of cyclists on these roads has increased, so has the number of accidents. Despite regulations, information campaigns and measures t.aken by the Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic in recent years, the number of crashes involving cyclists in rural environments remains plateaued at near 50 cyclist fatalities per year. Most Spanish rural roads do not have specifi.c infrastructure for cyclists - e.g. cycle lanes. Theo. cyclists and drivers share the road and interact; being the overtaking manoeuvre one of the most dangerous interactions. These interactions imply risk of rear-end and side-on collisions with cyclists and head-on collisions with oncoming vehicles during the overtaking manoeuvre. Since traffic crashes and risk exposure are highly correlated, every interaction between cyclists and/or with motorised vehicles increases the likelihood of a traffic crash. Consequently, to properly assess road safety on rural roads, an adequate estimation of cycle
volume is needed. On the other band, cyclists may ride in groups in different confi.gurations (in-line or two-abreast), which can also affect the traftic operation by creating queues and increasing the delay time of m.otorised vehicles. Therefore, determining the volume of cyclists on a rural road segment is a necessary challenge in order to integrate them into safety and traffic operation analyses. Cycle volume is of great interest for many applications. In fact, knowing the spatial and temporal distribution of cycle volume across a road network. can help engineers to plan and manage these roads, improving road safety and traffic operation. Furthermore, knowing cycle volume can also help motorised drivers. Waming drivers about the presence of cycl:ists before reaching them improves road safety, as drivers can adapt their behaviour to interact with cyclists more safely. One tool to inform drivers of the presence of cyclists in this environment is the use of vertical signs. These systems have evolved in recent years, from simple static signs (infomring ofthe possible presence of cyclists), to the implementation of active and intelligent signs. Active or dyn.amic signs alert drivers about
the presence of cyclists in real time, raising their level of attention. This is extremely important, since driver inattention or speeding was present in half of crashes involving cyclists on Spanish rural roads.
There are many technologies for cyclist detection. Most of them have been used in urban areas, where cyclists have specific facilities. However, rural roads present particu1arities duc to the type of infrastructure, users, and how they interact. For this reason, the main objective of this study is to analyse what challenges existing counting systems must overcome in order to be effective on rural environment. The analysis will consider the particular characteristics of the phenomenon tobe detected, both the characteristics ofthe cyclists themselves and of the road.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:82530 |
| Date | 03 January 2023 |
| Creators | Lopez, Griselda, Moll, Sara, Vacalebri, Francisco, Garcia, Alfredo |
| Publisher | Technische Universität Dresden |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:conferenceObject, info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-813602, qucosa:81360 |
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