Human factors issues

1
Human factors issues

• A discussion on selected topics
• Rob Methorst
• September 27, 2007

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Outline

• Introduction
• Systems approach to Vulnerable Road Users
• Safety Culture in Hazardous Goods Transport
• Sustainable Road Safety an update

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Systems approach to Vulnerable Road Users

• Issue and reason
• VRU accidents do not follow trends
• Neglected issue in research
• Ageing of the population expected mobility
  restraints and higher risks
• Hidden single accidents (70 of VRU victims (
  40 of all travel victims ER))
• Activities
• 2003 report Vulnerable Road Users
• policy development Vulnerable Road Users,
  particularly re. bicyclist
• COST 358 Pedestrians Quality Needs
• Focus on mobility needs, including safety
• 6 Main elements

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Vulnerable Road Users Pizza model

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Vulnerable Road Users - TRIPOD

• The developers (Prof. Wagenaar) dog had only 3
  legs and was called Driepoot(English Tripod)

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Vulnerable Road Users - perspectives

• Functional perspective
• usage value, what is being offered intrinsic
  quality supply, looking at the system from the
  head
• 2. Perception perspective
• what is being requested subjective quality
  demand, looking at the system from the heart,
  including attitudes towards and of pedestrians.
• 3. Durability and Future Prospects
• whilst 1 and 2 are static quality
  descriptions, 3 refers to a dynamic
  perspective. Durability is, like user value and
  perception value, a relative value and depends on
  current qualities, future social values and
  future use of the physical environment and
  transport system.

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Vulnerable road users Hierarchy of needs

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Vulnerable Road Users Universal Design

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Vulnerable Road Users Cascade approach

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Vulnerable Road Users - Discussion

• What are ideas regarding making the principles
  operational?
• What views and experiences are there in the USA
  regarding systems approach?

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Safety Culture in Hazardous Goods Transport

• Issue feasibility of implementation of Safety
  Care Systems in the Hazardous Goods Transport
  industry.
• Reason pursuit of continuous improvement of
  safety as part of the Dutch policy note on HGT
  catastrophic nature of accidents
• Current situation divers market situation
  overall relatively safe
• Pre-conditioning for measures not yet favourable
• Policy scenarios
• Education, communication and enforcement
• Using market mechanisms

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Safety Culture in HGT divers market

• The market
• International character
• Many different players
• shippers (interests, imago)
• large, medium sized and small transport firms
  (cost control, options for implementing SC)
• mixed and specialised transporters
• rogue drivers and firms from the formal East
  Block
• Charters
• Many different products and clients
• industrial chemicals
• Gasses
• Fuel distribution
• Ammunition and fireworks
• Waste and refuse transport
• Specialised transport vehicles and
  containerization

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Safety Culture in HGT current situation

• Hardly any serious accidents, but clearly a
  public fear - political item.
• Hazardous Goods Traffic is very divers and
  relatively safe. Main distinction
• long distance bulk transport, medium and large
  firms good safety record
• Distribution small firms questionable safety
  record
• Chemical industry (mainly petrochemicals)
  regulate transport safety
• Distribution market parties are not interested in
  implementing Safety Culture

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Safety Culture in HGT - trends

• Trends in Europe and NL
• Internationalisation
• Common Market-effect intake of new EU states and
  other former East European states
• Outsourcing to cheap foreign drivers and small
  companies
• Containerisation
• Development of strong containers for fluids and
  gasses
• Less special demand on driver/transporter skills
  and education
• Fragmentation
• Outsourcing transport by shippers
• Outsourcing transport to former employees

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Safety Culture in HGT towards implementation

• Pre-conditioning for measures
• Vehicle requirements
• License system
• Liability transfer insurance resolutive
  conditions
• Policy scenarios
• there is something for everybody problem
  awareness analysis quick wins tailored
  solutions building on current safety care
  communition and education.
• Market scenario market mechanism incentives
  flanking policy bonus/malus integrated

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Safety Culture - Discussion

• Small companies inherently more unsafe?
• Is outsourcing controllable?
• What real options are there to implement Safety
  Management?

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Sustainable Road Safety an update

• Reason
• ambitious targets limitation of traditional
  approaches re. achievements
• Man is measure of things
• Prevention is better than a curative approach
• Road classification
• Integrated policies
• Safety principles
• See website www.sustainablesafety.nl

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Sustainable Road Safety human centred

• Man is measure of things
• environment (road, vehicle) should conform to
  what humans are capable of and provide protection
• humans should be properly instructed to prepare
  them for safe behaviour
• Humans should eventually be supervised to see
• whether they are safe road users

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Sustainable Road Safety focus on prevention

• Primary preventive approach
• System approach, but focussed on safety
• Prevention of latent errors that can lead to
  dangerous behaviour and ultimately crashes
• Application of 5 safety principles (? 2 new)
• Decentralisation of responsibilities and
  implementation
• Supervision and inspection

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Sustainable Safety - principles

• Functionality of roads
• Roads should either flow (flow roads) or provide
  access (access roads) and are connected by
  distributor roads
• Homogeneity of masses and/or speed and direction
• Vehicles that differ too much in mass or speed
  and that use the same space should be physically
  separated from each other
• Predictability/ recognizability
• Layout of road and predictability of road course
  and road behaviour self explaining roads,
  vehicles and human behaviour
• Forgivingness
• Accidents should not lead to (severe) injury of
  death
• State awareness
• capability or possibility of road users
  estimating own task competency correctly every
  road users should know what his skills are and
  act accordingly

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Sustainable Safety effects and lessons

• Since introduction many improvements
• Road classification
• Traffic Calming gt 50 of urban roads are 30 km/h
• Roundabouts on distributor roads
• Moped from cycle paths to carriage way
• Shared responsibility National Regional Local
  authorities
• Enhanced law enforcement speeds, DUI, safety
  belt, bicycle lights
• Impulse to traffic safety education
• Too little focus on non-infrastructural aspects
  of the vision
• Low cost implementation limits effectiveness

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Sustainable Safety issues

• Basic components
• Infrastructure
• Vehicles
• Education
• Legislation and law enforcement
• Special issues
• Speed management
• Drink-and-drug driving
• Cyclists and pedestrians
• Motorized two-wheelers
• Heavy Goods Vehicles

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Sustainable Safety Light Rail example

• Light rail a come-back in urban areas in EU
• Risk
• Level crossings
• Relatively large mass
• Silent vehicles
• Evasive actions by light rail no option
• Relatively low risk levels for cars,
• but VRU meet high fatality risk levels
• (bike 30x, pedestrian 40x)
• Safety requirements
• Preferably different levels crossing
• If not possible
• distributor road crossing only fully guarded
• Property access roads guarded
• If not possible Light Rail speeds less than 30
  km/h at level crossings

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Sustainable Safety - Discussion

• Second generation policies a bridge too far?
• tackling current problems versus prevention can
  it all be done?
• making safety principles operational?
• preconditions for success?