As exhaust emissions of particles and volatile organic compounds (VOC) from road vehicles have progressively come under greater control, non-exhaust emissions have become an increasing proportion of ...the total emissions, and in many countries now exceed exhaust emissions. Non-exhaust particle emissions arise from abrasion of the brakes and tyres and wear of the road surface, as well as from resuspension of road dusts. The national emissions, particle size distributions and chemical composition of each of these sources is reviewed. Most estimates of airborne concentrations derive from the use of chemical tracers of specific emissions; the tracers and airborne concentrations estimated from their use are considered. Particle size distributions have been measured both in the laboratory and in field studies, and generally show particles to be in both the coarse (PM2.5-10) and fine (PM2.5) fractions, with a larger proportion in the former. The introduction of battery electric vehicles is concluded to have only a small effect on overall road traffic particle emissions. Approaches to numerical modelling of non-exhaust particles in the atmosphere are reviewed. Abatement measures include engineering controls, especially for brake wear, improved materials (e.g. for tyre wear) and road surface cleaning and dust suppressants for resuspension. Emissions from solvents in screen wash and de-icers now dominate VOC emissions from traffic in the UK, and exhibit a very different composition to exhaust VOC emissions. Likely future trends in non-exhaust particle emissions are described.
•Non-exhaust particle and VOC emissions now frequently exceed exhaust emissions.•Particles are present in both fine and (mainly) coarse fractions.•Emissions are quantifiable in the atmosphere through chemical tracers.•Mitigation options for emissions reduction are discussed.•Likely future trends in emissions are examined.
BackgroundRoad traffic injuries (RTIs) are a priority public health problem in the Republic of North Macedonia (Macedonia). The main objective is to analyze the burden and trend of RTIs in Macedonia ...before and through the period of the Decade of action for road safety 2011–2020.MethodsThe burden and trend of RTIs on a national level have been estimated in a retrospective study of available data in the last 12 years, applying the WHO standard method and software application. Data from the Ministry of Internal affairs, State Statistical Office, and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations have been used.ResultsThe estimated burden of RTIs in 2017 is 4.894 DALYs (3.157 YLLs and 1.737 YLDs) which is lower than in 2009 with 5.391 DALYs (3.201 YLLs and 2.190 YLDs), with a strong correlation with sex and age. The burden is significantly higher in males, with three times more DALYs lost than in females (χ2 = 28, df = 1, p < 0,01). The most vulnerable are the young at 15–29 years age group with over 40% of RTIs DALYs lost.ConclusionThere is decreasing in the burden of RTIs in 2017 compared with the burden before the Decade of action for road safety 2011–2020 started. Cooperation among all relevant sectors for preventive activities implementation is essential. Macedonia has comprehensive laws which address all RTIs risk factors, but the legislation enforcement is not on a satisfactory level.
Walking is a basic form of activity for every human being and has many advantages, including health, economic and environmental benefits. Every journey made using various means of transport begins ...and ends on foot. As is well known, the group of road users particularly exposed to the risk of serious injury in road accidents, apart from cyclists, also includes pedestrians. These are the so-called vulnerable road users. Pedestrians are a group of road users that is often deprecated by many drivers of motor vehicles, but very important in road traffic. Pedestrian injuries and pedestrian fatalities have enormous social and economic consequences. The problem of high pedes-trian risk on Polish roads is well known and has been widely described in the scientific literature last few years. However, the reasons for this state of affairs have not been fully explained, as evidenced by the statistics of road traffic incidents. Despite many studies in this area, the causes indicated in the research often differ depending on the area of analysis, the environment in which the incident took place, location, participants of the incident, environmental conditions, behaviorism and many other features. Therefore, the main goal of the article was to determine the factors influencing the formation of fatalities in road traffic accidents among pedestrians in acci-dents involving pedestrians and motor vehicles in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland) in 2016-2021. The logit model presented in the article allowed for the conclusion that the main attributes influencing the increasing the risk of pedestrian death in road accidents involving a pedestrian with a motor vehicle include such features as driving under the influence of alcohol by the driver, exceeding the speed limit by the vehicle driver, when the road incident involves a heavy vehicle (truck, bus), a pedestrian is a male, pedestrian is over 60 years old, is under the influence of alcohol, the incident took place outside built-up area, at night, i.e. from 10:00 p.m. up to 6:00 a.m, in other than good weather conditions. The obtained results can be used in various activities, campaigns aimed at improving the safety of pedestrian traffic in the area of the analysis.
A limited number of studies have assessed the relation between time perspective and posttraumatic stress symptoms. The first aim of this present study is to evaluate the relation between time ...perspective and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a sample of victims of road traffic crashes. Further, we explored the mediating role of traffic locus of control in the relation between time perspective and posttraumatic stress. A sample of 120 participants participated in this study (42.9% women, Mage = 29.15, SD = 11.91). The participants completed scales measuring time perspective, traffic locus of control, and posttraumatic stress symptoms in the last month. The results show that past negative, present fatalistic, present hedonistic time perspectives, and traffic locus of control are positively related to posttraumatic stress symptoms. Moreover, internal traffic locus of control mediated the relations between time perspectives and posttraumatic stress symptoms. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
•Time perspective is associated with PTSD symptoms.•Internal and external traffic locus of control are positively related to PTSD symptoms.•Internal locus of control mediated the relations between TPs and PTSD symptoms.
Road traffic induces air and noise pollution in urban environments having negative impacts on human health. Thus, estimating exposure to road traffic air and noise pollution (hereafter, air and noise ...pollution) is important in order to improve the understanding of human health outcomes in epidemiological studies. The aims of this review are (i) to summarize current practices of modelling and exposure assessment techniques for road traffic air and noise pollution (ii) to highlight the potential of existing tools and techniques for their combined exposure assessment for air and noise together with associated challenges, research gaps and priorities.
The study reviews literature about air and noise pollution from urban road traffic, including other relevant characteristics such as the employed dispersion models, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool, spatial scale of exposure assessment, study location, sample size, type of traffic data and building geometry information.
Deterministic modelling is the most frequently used assessment technique for both air and noise pollution of short-term and long-term exposure. We observed a larger variety among air pollution models as compared to the applied noise models. Correlations between air and noise pollution vary significantly (0.05–0.74) and are affected by several parameters such as traffic attributes, building attributes and meteorology etc. Buildings act as screens for the dispersion of pollution, but the reduction effect is much larger for noise than for air pollution. While, meteorology has a greater influence on air pollution levels as compared to noise, although also important for noise pollution.
There is a significant potential for developing a standard tool to assess combined exposure of traffic related air and noise pollution to facilitate health related studies. GIS, due to its geographic nature, is well established and has a significant capability to simultaneously address both exposures.
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•Review of literature based on air pollution and noise originating from urban road traffic•Discussion of various assessment techniques pertaining to both exposures•Quantification of reported air-noise correlations in the selected studies•Discussion of several parameters and exposure assessment techniques affecting air-noise correlations•Study highlighted potential of a combined tool for simultaneous assessment of both pollution exposures
Introduction: Road traffic accidents are the sixth leading cause of death in India with a greater share of hospitalization, disabilities, deaths and socio-economic losses. Objective: To identify the ...pattern of non-fatal road traffic accidents, socio-demographic profile of accident victims and antecedent factors influencing these road traffic injuries. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted for six months in Puducherry. From existing 27 wards of Lawspet, six wards were selected by simple random sampling technique and all the households in selected wards were included. The minimum required sample size was estimated to be 165 by considering prevalence of non-fatal road traffic accidents in Puducherry as 5.6%. Face-to-face interview with a semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data entry and analysis were performed using Epi-data manager 4.2.0. Results: Total 169 accident victims were included in the study from the households of selected wards. Mean age of the accident victims was found to be 36.2 (11.4) years. Two‑wheeler accidents accounted for 144 (85.2%) and 123 (72.7%) accident victims were drivers at the time of accident. Majority (95.1 %) of the victims did not wear helmet while driving two-wheelers and none of the four-wheel drivers/pillions wore seat belts. Majority of the accidents occurred on usual tar roads 116 (68.6%) and 42 (24.9%) on highways. 102 (60.4%) accidents occurred in bi-directional roads.Conclusion: Simple or minor injuries were high compared to serious injuries requiring hospitalization. Majority of the accidents occurred during Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The accidents exhibited a bimodal distribution with day and night time.
•Smart mobility procedure for traffic noise estimations based on video recordings.•The error in the counting process is 1.3 vehicles each five minutes per direction.•Mean Absolute Error associated ...with the speed estimation process equal to 5 km/h.•Mean Absolute Errors in noise levels estimation are in the range 0.27–0.72 dBA.
Road Traffic Noise is a major concern in Europe, with more than 20% of people exposed to harmful noise levels. Efficient monitoring and assessment of the sound levels in critical areas are crucial to support decision strategies to control/reduce noise exposure. However, continuous and long-time ranged spatio-temporal measurements require high-cost equipment and maintenance duties. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a cost-efficient smart mobility procedure for the estimation of traffic noise levels based on roadside video images. The developed procedure involves an algorithm that extracts traffic volumes, identifies vehicle classes, estimates each vehicle’s speed from video recordings, and a noise assessment component using dynamic microscopic models. These latter are based on existing Noise Emission Models – NEMs, for the assessment of the source sound power levels, coupled with a sound propagation model able to consider each on-road vehicle speed as input and evaluate the equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure levels. The developed approach is characterized by a modular structure that easily allows to replace NEMs and/or incorporate extra variables in the sound propagation model. The procedure is tested on a rural road of a medium-sized city, under different levels of service, and results show that the errors concerning the noise estimations are below 1 dBA, revealing high accuracy.
Background: Road traffic accidents are a major public health problem globally, causing millions of injuries, deaths and disabilities, and a huge loss of financial resources, especially in low- and ...middle-income countries. Aim: To determine the incidence of road traffic injuries and associated mortality from 1997 to 2020 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Methods: This retrospective study used data from the Legal Medicine Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran to estimate the annual rates of road traffic injuries and associated mortality from 21 March 1997 to 20 March 2020. The data were analysed using STATA version 14 and the annual rates are reported per 100 000 population. Results: During the study period, 5 760 835 road traffic injuries and 472 193 deaths were recorded in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mortality rate increased from 22.4 per 100 000 in 1997 to 40 per 100 000 in 2005 and decreased to 18.4 per 100 000 in 2020. The injury rate increased from 111.1 per 100 000 in 1997 to 394.9 per 100 000 in 2005. It decreased in 2006 and 2007 and increased from then until 2010, finally reaching 331.8 per 100 000 in 2020. The male to female ratio for road traffic mortality was 3.9 in 1997 and 4.6 in 2020. The case fatality rate was highest (20.1%) in 1997 and decreased to 5.6% in 2020. Conclusion: Continuous interventions are needed to reduce the burden of road traffic injuries and associated mortality in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This paper presents an advanced urban traffic density estimation solution using the latest deep learning techniques to intelligently process ultrahigh-resolution traffic videos taken from an unmanned ...aerial vehicle (UAV). We first capture nearly an hour-long ultrahigh-resolution traffic video at five busy road intersections of a modern megacity by flying a UAV during the rush hours. We then randomly sampled over 17 K 512×512 pixel image patches from the video frames and manually annotated over 64 K vehicles to form a dataset for this paper, which will also be made available to the research community for research purposes. Our innovative urban traffics analysis solution consists of an advanced deep neural network (DNN) based vehicle detection and localization, type (car, bus, and truck) recognition, tracking, and vehicle counting over time. We will present extensive experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution. We will show that our enhanced single shot multibox detector (Enhanced-SSD) outperforms other DNN-based techniques and that deep learning techniques are more effective than traditional computer vision techniques in traffic video analysis. We will also show that ultrahigh-resolution video provides more information that enables more accurate vehicle detection and recognition than lower resolution contents. This paper not only demonstrates the advantages of using the latest technological advancements (ultrahigh-resolution video and UAV), but also provides an advanced DNN-based solution for exploiting these technological advancements for urban traffic density estimation.
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