Fatalism and road safety in developing countries, with a focus on Pakistan

Road crashes are a significant problem in developing countries such as Pakistan. Attitudes are among the human factors which influence risky road use and receptiveness to interventions. Fatalism is a set of attitudes known to be important in Pakistan and other developing countries; however it is rarely addressed in the road safety literature. Two broad types of fatalism are “theological fatalism” and “empirical fatalism”, both of which are found in developed countries as well as in developing countries. Where research has been conducted into the issue, fatalism is considered to interfere with messages aimed at improving road safety. Pakistan has a serious road crash problem, and there is sufficient information to suggest that fatalism is an important contributing factor to the problem, but a better understanding of how fatalism operates in Pakistan is needed if effective prevention strategies are to be developed. A proposed study using an anthropological approach is described which will be exploratory in nature and which is aimed at investigating fatalism and related concepts among Pakistani road users and those who develop and implement road safety policy.

Driving performance impairments due to hypovigilance on monotonous roads

Drivers' ability to react to unpredictable events deteriorates when exposed to highly predictable and uneventful driving tasks. Highway design reduces the driving task mainly to a lane-keeping manoeuvre. Such a task is monotonous, providing little stimulation and this contributes to crashes due to inattention. Research has shown that driver's hypovigilance can be assessed with EEG measurements and that driving performance is impaired during prolonged monotonous driving tasks. This paper aims to show that two dimensions of monotony - namely road design and road side variability - decrease vigilance and impair driving performance. This is the first study correlating hypovigilance and driver performance in varied monotonous conditions, particularly on a short time scale (a few seconds). We induced vigilance decrement as assessed with an EEG during a monotonous driving simulator experiment. Road monotony was varied through both road design and road side variability. The driver's decrease in vigilance occurred due to both road design and road scenery monotony and almost independently of the driver's sensation seeking level. Such impairment was also correlated to observable measurements from the driver, the car and the environment. During periods of hypovigilance, the driving performance impairment affected lane positioning, time to lane crossing, blink frequency, heart rate variability and non-specific electrodermal response rates. This work lays the foundation for the development of an in-vehicle device preventing hypovigilance crashes on monotonous roads.

Performance of square and inclined insulated rail joints based on field strain measurements

Insulated rail joints (IRJs) possess lower bending stiffness across the gap containing insulating endpost and hence are subjected to wheel impact. IRJs are either square cut or inclined cut to the longitudinal axis of the rails in a vertical plane. It is generally claimed that the inclined cut IRJs outperformed the square cut IRJs; however, there is a paucity of literature with regard to the relative structural merits of these two designs. This article presents comparative studies of the structural response of these two IRJs to the passage of wheels based on continuously acquired field data from joints strain-gauged closer to the source of impact. Strain signatures are presented in time, frequency, and avelet domains and the peak vertical and shear strains are systematically employed to examine the relative structural merits of the two IRJs subjected to similar real-life loading. It is shown that the inclined IRJs resist the wheel load with higher peak shear strains and lower peak vertical strains than that of the square IRJs.

Impact of urban traffic and climate change on water quality from road runoff

Urban traffic and climate change are two phenomena that have the potential to degrade urban water quality by influencing the build-up and wash-off of pollutants, respectively. However, limited knowledge has made it difficult to establish any link between pollutant buildup and wash-off under such dynamic conditions. In order to safeguard urban water quality, adaptive water quality mitigation measures are required. In this research, pollutant build-up and wash-off have been investigated from a dynamic point of view which incorporated the impacts of changed urban traffic as well as changes in the rainfall characteristics induced by climate change. The study has developed a dynamic object classification system and thereby, conceptualised the study of pollutant build-up and wash-off under future changes in urban traffic and rainfall characteristics. This study has also characterised the buildup and wash-off processes of traffic generated heavy metals, volatile, semi-volatile and non-volatile hydrocarbons under dynamic conditions which enables the development of adaptive mitigation measures for water quality. Additionally, predictive frameworks for the build-up and wash-off of some pollutants have also been developed.

Young, inexperienced and on the road: Do novice drivers comply with road rules?

Young novice drivers are at considerable risk of injury and fatality, particularly when they first drive independently. Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) has been introduced in numerous jurisdictions to allow more driving experience in conditions of reduced risk and increasing driving privileges over a longer duration. Queensland, Australia, enhanced GDL July 2007. Learners must record 100 hours in a logbook (10 hours at night) over 1 year, no mobile handsfree/loudspeaker by driver or any passenger. Provisional 1 (P1) drivers must not carry 2 or more peer passengers 11pm - 5am, no mobile handsfree/loudspeaker by any passenger. Self-reported compliance with new GDL and general road rules has not been examined.

A review of road traffic noise indicators and their correlation with the LA10(18hour)

This paper outlines a study to determine the correlation between the LA10(18hour) and other road traffic noise indicators. It is based on a database comprising of 404 measurement locations including 947 individual days of valid noise measurements across numerous circumstances taken between November 2001 and November 2007. This paper firstly discusses the need and constraints on the indicators and their nature of matching a suitable indicator to the various road traffic noise dynamical characteristics. The paper then presents a statistical analysis of the road traffic noise monitoring data, correlating various indicators with the LA10(18hour) statistical indicator and provides a comprehensive table of linear correlations. There is an extended analysis on relationships across the night time period. The paper concludes with a discussion on the findings.

Loop closure detection on a suburban road network using a continuous appearance-based trajectory

This paper presents a novel technique for performing SLAM along a continuous trajectory of appearance. Derived from components of FastSLAM and FAB-MAP, the new system dubbed Continuous Appearance-based Trajectory SLAM (CAT-SLAM) augments appearancebased place recognition with particle-filter based ‘pose filtering’ within a probabilistic framework, without calculating global feature geometry or performing 3D map construction. For loop closure detection CAT-SLAM updates in constant time regardless of map size. We evaluate the effectiveness of CAT-SLAM on a 16km outdoor road network and determine its loop closure performance relative to FAB-MAP. CAT-SLAM recognizes 3 times the number of loop closures for the case where no false positives occur, demonstrating its potential use for robust loop closure detection in large environments.

Young, inexperienced and on the road : do novice drivers comply with road rules?

The graduated driver licensing (GDL) program in Queensland, Australia, was considerably enhanced in July 2007. This paper explores the compliance of young Learner and Provisional (intermediate) drivers with current GDL requirements and general road rules. Unsupervised driving, Learner logbook accuracy, and experiences of punishment avoidance were explored, along with speeding as a Provisional driver. Participants (609 females; M = 17.43 years) self-reported sociodemographic characteristics, driving behaviours and licensing experiences as Learners. A subset of participants (238 females, 105 males) completed another survey six months later exploring their Provisional behaviours and experiences. While the majority of the participants reported compliance with both the GDL requirements and general road rules such as stopping at red lights on their Learner licence; a considerable proportion reported speeding. Furthermore, they reported becoming less compliant during the Provisional phase, particularly with speed limits. Self-reported speeding was predicted by younger age at licensure, being in a relationship, driving unsupervised, submitting inaccurate Learner logbooks, and speeding as a Learner. Enforcement and education countermeasures should focus upon curtailing noncompliance, targeting speeding in particular. Novice drivers should be encouraged to comply with all road rules, including speed limits, and safe driving behaviours should be developed and reinforced during the Learner and early Provisional periods. Novice drivers have been found to model their parents’ driving, and parents are pivotal in regulating novice driving. It is vital young novice drivers and parents alike are encouraged to comply with all road rules, including GDL requirements.

Source characterisation of road dust based on chemical and mineralogical composition

Road dust contain potentially toxic pollutants originating from a range of anthropogenic sources common to urban land uses and soil inputs from surrounding areas. The research study analysed the mineralogy and morphology of dust samples from road surfaces from different land uses and background soil samples to characterise the relative source contributions to road dust. The road dust consist primarily of soil derived minerals (60%) with quartz averaging 40-50% and remainder being clay forming minerals of albite, microcline, chlorite and muscovite originating from surrounding soils. About 2% was organic matter primarily originating from plant matter. Potentially toxic pollutants represented about 30% of the build-up. These pollutants consist of brake and tire wear, combustion emissions and fly ash from asphalt. Heavy metals such as Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr and Cd primarily originate from vehicular traffic while Fe, Al and Mn primarily originate from surrounding soils. The research study confirmed the significant contribution of vehicular traffic to dust deposited on urban road surfaces.

Role of solids in heavy metals build-up on urban road surfaces

Solids are widely identified as a carrier of harmful pollutants in stormwater runoff exerting a significant risk to receiving waters. This paper outlines the findings of an in-depth investigation on heavy metal adsorption to solids surfaces. Pollutant build-up samples collected from sixteen road sites in residential, industrial and commercial land uses were separated into four particle size ranges and analysed for a range of physico-chemical parameters and nine heavy metals including Iron (Fe), Aluminum (Al), Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Copper (Cu). High specific surface area (SSA) and total organic carbon (TOC) content in finer particle size ranges was noted, thus confirming strong correlations with heavy metals. Based on their physico-chemical characteristics, two different types of solids originating from traffic and soil sources were identified. Solids generated by traffic were associated with high loads of heavy metals such as Cd and Cr with strong correlation with SSA. This suggested the existence of surface dependent bonds such as cation exchange between heavy metals and solids. In contrast, Fe, Al and Mn which can be attributed to soil inputs showed strong correlation with TOC suggesting strong bonds such as chemsorption. Zn was found to be primarily attached to solids by bonding with the oxides of Fe, Al and Mn. The data analysis also confirmed the predominance of the finer fraction, with 70% of the solids being finer than 150 µm and containing 60% of the heavy metal pollutant load.

Adoption of innovative products on Australian road infrastructure projects

Product innovation is an important contributor to the performance of infrastructure projects in the construction industry. Maximizing the potential for innovative product adoption is a challenging task due to the complexities of the construction innovation system. A qualitative methodology involving interviews with major construction project stakeholders is employed to address the research question: ‘What are the main obstacles to the adoption of innovative products in the road industry?’ The characteristics of six key product innovation obstacles in Australian road projects are described. The six key obstacles are: project goal misalignment, client pressures, weak contractual relations, lack of product trialling, inflexible product specifications and product liability concerns. A snapshot of the dynamics underlying these obstacles is provided. There are few such assessments in the literature, despite the imperative to improve construction innovation rates globally in order to deliver road infrastructure projects of increasing size and complexity. Key obstacles are interpreted through an open innovation construct, providing direction for policy to enhance the uptake of innovation across the construction product supply network. Early evidence suggests the usefulness of an open innovation construct that integrates three conceptual lenses: network governance, absorptive capacity and knowledge intermediation, in order to interpret product adoption obstacles in the context of Australian road infrastructure projects. The paper also provides practical advice and direction for government and industry organizations that wish to promote the flow of innovative product knowledge across the construction supply network.

“They’re lunatics on the road” : Exploring the normative influences of parents, friends, and police on young novices’ risky driving decisions

Purpose: Young novice drivers experience significantly greater risk of being injured or killed in car crashes than older more experienced drivers. This research utilised a qualitative approach guided by the framework of Akers’ social learning theory. It explored young novice drivers’ perspectives on risky driving including rewards and punishments expected from and administered by parents, friends, and police, imitation of parents’ and friends’ driving, and advantages and disadvantages of risky driving. Methods: Twenty-one young drivers (12 females, 9 males) aged 16–25 years (M = 17.71 years, SD = 2.15) with a Learner (n = 11) or Provisional (n = 10) driver licence participated in individual or small group interviews. Findings and conclusions: Content analysis supported four themes: (1) rewards and (2) punishments for risky driving, and the influence of (3) parents and (4) friends. The young novice drivers differed in their vulnerability to the negative influences of friends and parents, with some novices advising they were able to resist risky normative influences whilst others felt they could not. The authority of the police as enforcers of road rules was either accepted and respected or seen as being used to persecute young novices. These findings suggest that road safety interventions should consider the normative influence of parents and friends on the risky and safe behaviour of young novices. Police were also seen as influential upon behaviour. Future research should explore the complicated relationship between parents, friends, the police, young novices, and their risky driving behaviour.

Empirical IEEE 802.11p performance evaluation on test tracks

IEEE 802.11p is the new standard for inter-vehicular communications (IVC) using the 5.9 GHz frequency band; it is planned to be widely deployed to enable cooperative systems. 802.11p uses and performance have been studied theoretically and in simulations over the past years. Unfortunately, many of these results have not been confirmed by on-tracks experimentation. In this paper, we describe field trials of 802.11p technology with our test vehicles. Metrics such as maximum range, latency and frame loss are examined.

Coping with aggressive driving : driver accounts of how they manage themselves and others to reduce conflict on the road

Dealing with the aggression of other drivers on the road is an important skill given that driving is a common activity for adults in highly motorised countries. Even though incidents of extreme aggression on the road (such as assault) are reportedly rare, milder forms, some of them dangerous (such as tailgating or deliberately following too closely) are apparently common, and may be increasing. At the very least, this is likely to render the driving environment more stressful, and at worst elevates the risk of crashing by increasing both the level of risky driving behaviours and the likelihood of responses that escalate the situation. Thus the need for drivers to manage incidents of conflict is likely to become increasingly important. However, little research examines how drivers manage their own or others’ aggressive driving behaviour. Recently greater attention has been paid to driver cognitions, especially the attributions that drivers make about other drivers, that then might influence their own driving responses, particularly aggressive or risky ones. The study reported below was the first in a larger exploration of aggressive driving that focussed on driver cognitions, emotions and underlying motivations for aggressive behaviours on the road. Qualitative, in-depth interviews of drivers (n = 30, aged 18-49 years) were subjected to thematic analysis to investigate driver experiences with aggressive driving. Two main themes were identified from these accounts: driver management of self; and driver attempts to influence or manage other drivers. This paper describes the subthemes falling under the management of self main theme. These subthemes were labelled ‘being magnanimous’, ‘chilling out’, ‘slowing down’, and ‘apology/acknowledgment’. ‘Being magnanimous’ referred to situations where the respondent perceived him/herself to be a recipient of another’s aggressive driving and made a deliberate choice not to respond. However, a characteristic of this sub-theme was that this choice was underpinned by the adoption of morally superior stance, or sense of magnanimity. ‘Chilling out’ was a more general response to both the milder aggressive behaviours of other drivers and the general frustrations of driving. ‘Slowing down’ referred to reducing one’s speed in response to the perceived aggressive driving, often tailgating, of another. This subtheme appeared to consist of two separate underlying motivations. One of these was a genuine concern for one’s own safety while the other was more aimed at “getting back” at the other driver. ‘Apology’ referred to how drivers modified their more negative reactions and responses when another driver made gestures that acknowledged their having made a mistake, indicated an apology, or acknowledged the recipient driver. These sub-themes are discussed in relation to their implications for understanding aggressive driving and intervening to reduce it.