Background: Speeds influence road safety by reducing both the likelihood and severities of vehicle-vehicle conflicts and conflicts among vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. Guidelines for setting speed limits can be derived from the safe system principles in which safe speeds are scientifically set at a point which will eliminate deaths and serious injuries.Method: This paper analyzes the potential road safety benefits of reducing current unsafe speed limits in low- and middle- income countries to recommended safe system speeds (i.e. 30kph for urban roads, 70kph for rural roads and 90kph for motorways) based on Nilsson’s power model. These benefits are calculated in terms of reductions in crashes and injured victims for different injury severity levels and road environment. Economic benefits of reducing fatalities and serious injuries are also estimated based on the iRAP methodology.Findings: The results indicate significantly high reductions in road trauma resulting from the reduction in speed limits with fatal crashes reducing by 4% to 44% depending on the road environment and region. The highest benefits are estimated to be on urban roads owing to the greatest proportional drop in speed limits in this environment. Regional analyses indicate that South Asia region has the greatest potential reductions for all types of crashes and injuries on rural and urban roads, while Europe and Central Asia region has the greatest potential reductions on motorways. A total of US$ 91 billion or 0·37% of GDP in LMICs is estimated to be saved from the reduction in fatalities and serious injuries, with Africa region having the highest economic benefit relative to its GDP (0·47% of GDP).Interpretation: Reducing current unsafe speed limits to recommended safe system speeds will deliver substantial reductions in road crashes and injuries of all severities in all road environments. In practice, it is recommended that this be accompanied by effective sustainable speed management measures including suitable engineering treatments, automated speed enforcement, police enforcement and vehicle technologies such as speed limiters to ensure drivers’ compliance and achieve profound road safety benefits.Funding Information: Preparation of this paper was supported by two of the donors to the Global Road Safety Facility: UK Aid and Bloomberg PhilanthropiesDeclaration of Interests: None.
Many jurisdictions globally have adopted a zero road trauma target by 2050 and an interim target of a 50% reduction by 2030. The objective of this study was to investigate what the road system will need to look like in order to achieve these respective targets. Utilising human tolerance to injury as the key design factor, this study defined the combination of vehicle, infrastructure, and travel speed requirements to manage crash energy in order to: 1. prevent all fatalities and serious injuries by 2050 in an Ultimate Safe System scenario; and 2. significantly reduce fatalities and severe injuries by 2030 in an Interim Safe System scenario. Victoria, Australia and its Movement and Place (M&P) framework was employed as a case study. With the vehicle and infrastructure countermeasures currently available coupled with appropriate travel speeds it is possible to construct an Ultimate Safe System that can manage crash forces to achieve zero trauma and an Interim Safe System that can significantly reduce the most severe injuries in Victoria. This study has demonstrated a potential pathway from the current situation to 2030 and then 2050 that can achieve safety targets while meeting the core objectives of the transport system.
Endeavours to address fatigue as a factor in traffic crashes rest in part on an uncomfortable combination of disagreements and agreements. On the one hand there is extensive disagreement regarding the definition of fatigue, and there are significant differences in the criteria applied to crash characteristics to determine whether fatigue was a likely causal contributor. On the other hand, despite the disagreements, there is broad agreement that driver fatigue is a major contributor to road trauma and that it must be addressed. Fatigue is well recognized as a major contributor in road safety circles. Fatigue is often promoted to the public as a contributing factor in crashes. In almost every jurisdiction a significant proportion of the road network is rural and typically fatal crashes are over-represented on the rural component of the network, including crashes for which fatigue is identified as a factor.
Background Children are a high-risk group vulnerable to the effects of chronic aircraft noise exposure. This study examines the effects of aircraft noise exposure on children's health and cognition around London Heathrow airport and tests sustained attention as an underlying mechanism of effects of noise on reading and examines the way children adapt to continued exposure to aircraft noise.
Safe System and Vision Zero principles are being successfully applied and strongly promoted, yet many countries are not embracing them. Two additional advocacy challenges for road safety are created by the Safe System approach, despite its value. While agreeing with the Vision Zero moral objective of zero deaths on the roads, with many audiences this may not be the most effective basis for advocacy for a Safe System approach. In addition, the objective of zero deaths is seen as currently inappropriate and out of step with the many other life threatening problems LMICs face. Alternatives for promotion of the Safe System approach are available in terms of economic costs, social consequences, and the success of road safety interventions beyond the traditional behaviour change approaches. Language: en
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