title: Can cyclist safety be improved with intelligent transport systems?
abstract: In recent years, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have assisted in the decrease of road traffic fatalities, particularly amongst passenger car occupants. Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) such as pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists, however, have not been that much in focus when developing ITS. Therefore, there is a clear need for ITS which specifically address VRUs as an integrated element of the traffic system. This paper presents the results of a quantitative safety impact assessment of five systems that were estimated to have high potential to improve the safety of cyclists, namely: Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Bicycle to Vehicle communication (B2V), Intersection safety (INS), Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System+Emergency Braking (PCDS+EBR) and VRU Beacon System (VBS). An ex-ante assessment method proposed by Kulmala (2010) targeted to assess the effects of ITS for cars was applied and further developed in this study to assess the safety impacts of ITS specifically designed for VRUs. The main results of the assessment showed that all investigated systems affect cyclist safety in a positive way by preventing fatalities and injuries. The estimates considering 2012 accident data and full penetration showed that the highest effects could be obtained by the implementation of PCDS+EBR and B2V, whereas VBS had the lowest effect. The estimated yearly reduction in cyclist fatalities in the EU-28 varied between 77 and 286 per system. A forecast for 2030, taking into accounts the estimated accident trends and penetration rates, showed the highest effects for PCDS+EBR and BSD.
authors.affiliation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland. Electronic address: anne.silla@vtt.fi.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silla
authors.affiliation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland. Electronic address: lars.leden@ltu.se.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leden
authors.affiliation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland. Electronic address: pirkko.rama@vtt.fi.
authors.forename: Pirkko
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rämä
authors.affiliation: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland. Electronic address: johan.scholliers@vtt.fi.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scholliers
authors.affiliation: TNO, PO Box 49, 2600 AA Delft, The Netherlands. Electronic address: martijnvn@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Martijn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Noort
authors.affiliation: FACTUM Chaloupka & Risser OG, Danhausergasse 6/4, 1040 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: daniel.bell@factum.at.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000639:trends; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003199:Computer Systems; D006801:Humans; D011482:Protective Devices; D012449:Safety; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Assessment; Cyclists; ITS; Safety