•The implementation status of six road traffic regulatory factors was assessed using the Confirmatory Factor Analysis.•Factor analysis found all six factors linked to road traffic safety.•Major ...regulatory factors include seatbelts, helmets, licenses, drunk driving regulations, and insufficient penalties for violations.•A conducive road traffic regulation and effective enforcement are needed to reduce road traffic accidents.•A model to improve road traffic safety is proposed.
In the context of developing countries like Nepal, enhancing road traffic safety (RTS) requires prioritizing aspects such as road safety management, infrastructure improvement, vehicle safety, and promoting safer road user behavior. Importantly, establishing a conducive legal framework and ensuring effective enforcement are crucial for improving RTS. This study aims to analyze the enforcement status of road traffic regulatory factors and provide suggestions for improvement. A set of structured questionnaires comprising thirty items measuring six dimensions of road traffic regulation was developed to gather data from 396 Nepal traffic police officers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed to construct the measurement model. The statistical analysis revealed that road traffic regulatory factors such as seatbelt, helmet, and license laws, along with insufficient penalties for violations related to drunk and distracted driving, speeding, and mobile phone use contribute to road traffic accidents. The findings highlight the pressing need for effective implementation of traffic regulations. To improve road safety in Nepal stricter penalties for drunk driving, speeding, and mobile phone use, advancing vehicle safety technology, formulating transportation safety policies, accrediting pre-hospital care providers, and safety auditing in road planning, construction, and operation are vital. The model developed herein provides valuable insights to policymakers to reinforce prevailing regulations for reducing traffic-related fatalities not only for Nepal but also for other countries encountering similar road safety challenges.
Vehicle speed prediction is quite essential for many intelligent vehicular and transportation applications. Accurate on-road vehicle speed prediction is challenging because individual vehicle speed ...is affected by many factors related to driver–vehicle–road–traffic system, e.g. the traffic conditions, vehicle type, and driver's behavior, in either a deterministic or stochastic way. Also machine learning makes vehicle speed predictions more accessible by exploring the potential relationship between the vehicle speed and its main factors based on the historical driving data in the context of vehicular networks. This study proposes a novel data-driven vehicle speed prediction method based on back propagation-long short-term memory (BP-LSTM) algorithms for long-term individual vehicle speed prediction along the planned route. Also Pearson correlation coefficient is adopted to analyse the correlation of driver–vehicle–road–traffic historical characteristic parameters for the enhancement of the model's computing efficiency. Finally, a real natural driving data in Nanjing is used to evaluate the prediction performance with a result that the proposed vehicle speed prediction method outperforms other ones in terms of prediction accuracy. Moreover, based on the predicted vehicle speed, this work studies and analyses its effectiveness in two scenarios of energy consumption prediction and travel time prediction.
Road traffic is an important contributor to CO2 emissions. Previous studies lack enough spatiotemporal resolution in emission calculation at the road level and ignore the impact of the built ...environment on road traffic emissions. Therefore, this study develops a bottom-up methodology based on the traffic trajectory data to analyze the CO2 emission characteristics of road traffic with a high level of spatial-temporal resolution in Shenzhen. Then, the effects of built environment factors on road traffic emissions are investigated using multiscale geographically weighted regression. The results show a highly detailed map of CO2 emissions with high temporal (hour) and space (road) resolutions. The emission characteristics reflect the spatial non-equilibrium in road traffic CO2 emissions. In addition, six factors, including population density, number of workplaces, number of dwellings, density of main road, access to metro stations, and access to bus stops, have a significant effect on road traffic CO2 emissions. Finally, the policy suggestions are proposed for the reduction of road traffic CO2 emissions.
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•A vehicle trajectory-based CO2 emission model is proposed.•The proposed approach can estimate CO2 emissions with high spatial-temporal resolution.•The emission characteristics reflect the spatial non-equilibrium in road traffic CO2 emissions.•Multiscale geographically weighted regression is applied to analyze key driving factors.•The effects of the driving factors on road traffic CO2 emissions are diverse in different areas.
Introduction:Road Expansion and motorization, in the country has been accompanied by a rise in road accidents leading to road traffic injuries (RTIs). Today RTIs are one of the leading causes of ...deaths, disabilities, and hospitalizations with severe socioeconomic costs across the world. The aim of the study is to determine the pattern, severity and outcome of injuries amongst road traffic accident victims.
Materials & Methods: An observational study was carried out at casualty department of Cumilla Medical College Hospital, from April 2020 to September 2020. Total 192 patients following RTIs were included in this study. After history taking, clinical examination and collection of investigation reports, data was analyzed by using SPSS-23.
Results: Out of 192 patients, 33.3% of the patients belonged to age group 21-30 years, 71.4% were male. More than two third (67.2%) patients accident took place in high way and 62 (32.8%) in other areas. According to pattern of victims 111(57.8%) patients was found in pedestrian of victims, 48(25.0%) in driver and 33(17.2%) in passenger. In injury severity score, 98(51.0%) patients were found minor injuries followed by 57(29.7%) moderate, 22(11.5%) serious and 15(7.8%) severe injuries. Ninety (46.9%) patients were found transfer for definitive care followed by 52(27.1%) discharge after Rx, 30(15.6%) wound infection, 18(9.4%) referred to higher center and 2(1.0%) death.
Conclusion: The present study shows that fatal accidents mainly affected the young adults in productive age groups and pedestrians. Highways were most commonly affected location. Most of the accidents caused by motorized vehicles.
Medicine Today 2023 Vol.35(2): 109-113
COVID-19 pandemic has quickly propagated all around the world and exerted significant effect on cities and traffic mobility. In this article, traffic data from various sources are analyzed to ...determine the changes of traffic mobility during lockdown in Moscow. The data of State Road Safety Inspectorate (GIBDD) were analyzed reflecting road traffic injuries on Moscow roads during lockdown. Despite the fact that in April 2020 there were significantly fewer vehicles and people on the roads than in 2019, the number of people killed on roadways was by 33% higher than in the previous year. Moreover, in April 2020, the traffic-related mortality rate was 10%, which was by 7.2 p.p. higher than in 2019.
Introduction: This study proves that the procedure of inspecting road traffic accident black spots (RTA BS) needs improvement. This improvement is to involve the tools and insights associated with ...the targeted program approach, as well as a road infrastructure indicator system, and information technology tools. The creation of a road infrastructure indicator system and its comprehensive application, coupled with analytical methods and accident prediction system methods, enables the assessment of measures aimed at reducing the number of RTAs. Accounting for information technology tools and systems (such as the digital traffic safety inquiries desk) is also necessary if traffic safety is to be organized and maintained in a systemic way. Purpose of the study: The study is aimed at finding a new approach to improving the procedure of inspecting RTA black spots. Methods: In the course of the study, we use systemic analysis, analytical methods, traffic safety evaluation based on defining the safety and accident coefficients and revealing RTA black spots, probability theory methods, research results processing, and IT computational methods. Results: We provide a rationale for a comprehensive approach to inspecting RTA black spots within the “traffic participant – vehicle – road – external environment” system. We also demonstrate how a group of parameters can be used for studying the systemic indicators of road infrastructure, in the context of the parameters’ characteristics, as well as the conditions of their use. We determine the capabilities of analytical methods, as well as accident prediction methods, in the context of finding an approach to improving the procedure of inspecting RTA black spots. We propose applying a comprehensive approach to the improvement of the RTA BS inspection procedure.
The purposes of this study were to elucidate the associations between exposure to particulate matter, gaseous pollutants, and road traffic noise and asthma prevalence and to determine the interaction ...between exposure to multiple pollutants and asthma in children. A total of 3,246 children were recruited from 11 kindergartens in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Land use regression (LUR) was used to establish predictive models for estimating individual exposure levels of particulate matter, gaseous pollutants, and the 24 h A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level (LAeq,24). Multiple logistic regression was performed to test the associations between exposure to these environmental factors and asthma prevalence in children. Multiple-exposure models revealed that an interquartile-range (IQR) increase in PM2.5 (1.17 μg/m3) and PM10 (10.69 μg/m3) caused a 1.34-fold (95% confidence interval CI = 1.05–1.70) and 1.17-fold (95% CI = 1.01–1.36) increase in risk of asthma prevalence in children after adjusting for LAeq,24 and NO2. Co-exposure to PM2.5, LAeq,24, and O3, SO2, or CO, as well as co-exposure to PM10, LAeq,24, and CO produced similar findings. Only exposure to one IQR of SO2 (0.15 ppb) was observed a significant association (odds ratio = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.00–1.34) with the asthma prevalence in children after adjusting for PM10 and LAeq,24. Exposure to PM2.5, PM10, and SO2 may be associated with a higher asthma prevalence in children, while other gaseous pollutants and road traffic noise did not demonstrate significant associations. The interaction of exposure to air pollutants and road traffic noise on asthma prevalence in children was not observed in this study.
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•Exposure to PM2.5 is associated with an increased prevalence of asthma in children.•PM10 exposure has a positive association with the asthma prevalence in children.•Only SO2 is one of four gaseous pollutants associated with children asthma.•Road traffic noise is not associated with the asthma prevalence in children.•Interaction between air pollutants and road traffic noise on asthma is not found.
The problem of ensuring road traffic safety is becoming more and more acute and constantly requires measures to improve the systems of such safety. Technical progress, the emergence of a large number ...of vehicles increasingly leads to serious negative consequences. The complexity of the process of ensuring road traffic safety is that measures in this area should be carried out not only unilaterally by public administration agencies, but also by society in the whole.
The purpose of the research is to rethink outdated points of view on the nature and list of really effective means of ensuring road traffic safety in today’s world, as well as to develop the author’s understanding of the term of “administrative and legal means of road traffic safety”.
The conducted research allowed us to formulate the author’s vision of the concept of administrative and legal means of ensuring road traffic safety. It has been determined that modern technical progress requires updating the system of means of administrative and legal provision of road traffic safety. It has been also concluded that the present day requires the subjects of road traffic safety to create appropriate road conditions and to carry out systematic, complex, comprehensive educational work on the compliance with traffic rules.
The emphasis has been placed on the fact that activities on ensuring road traffic safety are not limited to the mechanisms that state authorities are authorized to carry out, but are of comprehensive nature. The compliance with the principles of comprehensiveness and systematization in ensuring road traffic safety are the main postulates in creating safe conditions for road traffic participants.
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.
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.
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