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Abstract

Applying econometric techniques to EU28 panel data and controlling for explanatory variables such as road types, we find that increased truck load capacity does not necessarily aggravate road traffic safety. Specifically, heavy trucks do not seem to be linked with greater numbers of traffic fatalities/accidents, medium trucks appear to be the worst performers in terms of fatalities, and light trucks seem to be the worst for accidents. In summary, our results clarify the complex relationship between truck load capacity and road safety, pointing to the existence of a negative correlation for accidents per capita and an inverse U-shaped curve for fatalities per capita.

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... Based on the analysis of vehicle forces, they established a comprehensive climbing performance curve and constructed a relationship model between longitudinal slope gradient, slope length, and speed. Castillo-Manzano et al. [3] studied the performance and safety of vehicle climbing under different loading conditions. Brilon et al. [4] conducted relevant research by simulating traffic modeling on uphill sections. ...
... Existing research primarily focuses on traditional fuel-powered heavy-duty vehicles from the perspective of single factors, analyzing the impact of individual factors, such as grade, slope length, load weight, power-to-weight ratio, and initial climbing speed, on vehicle climbing speed changes [3,5,7]. However, in actual climbing processes, the change in vehicle climbing speed is influenced by multiple factors collectively. ...
... Factors such as the load weight and the power-to-weight ratio, as inherent vehicle characteristics, exert influence throughout the entire climbing process on the experimental route, affecting the vehicle's speed. As shown in Figure 10a, within the range of slope values i ∈ [3,5] and load weight M ∈ [15,50], DV generally exhibits an increasing trend with increasing gradient and load weight, with minor fluctuations observed on the three-dimensional surface. When projecting the three-dimensional image onto the Y-Z plane, as depicted in Figure 10b, DV approximately demonstrates a linear positive correlation with load weight, with the level of dispersion remaining relatively constant as load weight increases. ...
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With the global energy transition and advancements in electric vehicle technology, the use of pure electric heavy-duty vehicles in logistics is rising. However, current highway grade design standards do not fully consider their performance characteristics, making it urgent to establish appropriate grade limits. This study aims to explore the maximum grade and the critical length suitable for pure electric heavy-duty vehicles on highways. A co-simulation platform for pure electric heavy-duty vehicles was built using TruckSim and MATLAB/Simulink. A comparative analysis was conducted on the climbing characteristics of pure electric heavy-duty vehicles and traditional fuel-powered vehicles. Additionally, the climbing speed decay degree (DV) was introduced to investigate the speed variation characteristics of pure electric heavy-duty vehicles under the joint influence of multiple factors. These findings serve as the basis for determining the maximum grade and the critical length applicable to pure electric heavy-duty vehicles on highways. The research findings indicate that, compared to traditional fuel-powered heavy-duty vehicles, pure electric heavy-duty vehicles exhibit smoother acceleration and deceleration processes, smaller speed fluctuations, higher travel speeds, and greater equilibrium speed values during uphill climbing. The power-to-weight ratio has a greater impact on the climbing speed of pure electric heavy-duty vehicles, while the initial vehicle speed has a relatively minor effect. It was observed that the dynamic performance of pure electric heavy-duty vehicles does not align with the maximum grade stipulated by current regulations in China. These research findings provide important reference points for road longitudinal section design and vehicle management in road freight enterprises.
... Looking at the previous studies in the related topic area, researchers have focused on different issues including the modelling of the relationship between weather and road accidents [3]; modelling road accident in the production process [4]; the connection between vehicle insurance and road accidents [5]; the link between vehicle load capacity and road accidents [6]; the effect of cell phones on vehicle accidents [7]; the influence of willingness-to-pay on road accidents [8]; among others. ...
... Remember that the parameter d indicates the degree of persistence and it determines if exogenous shocks in the data will have permanent or transitory effects. Table 4 reports the estimated values of the differencing parameter d in (6) under the three classical assumptions in the unit roots literature: i) no deterministic terms, i.e., imposing that α = β = 0 a priori in (6); ii) with an intercept (only β = 0 a priori), and iii) with an intercept and a linear time trend. If these two coefficients are significant we keep this model, otherwise we move to the model with an intercept, and if this is also insignificant, to the case with no terms. ...
... Remember that the parameter d indicates the degree of persistence and it determines if exogenous shocks in the data will have permanent or transitory effects. Table 4 reports the estimated values of the differencing parameter d in (6) under the three classical assumptions in the unit roots literature: i) no deterministic terms, i.e., imposing that α = β = 0 a priori in (6); ii) with an intercept (only β = 0 a priori), and iii) with an intercept and a linear time trend. If these two coefficients are significant we keep this model, otherwise we move to the model with an intercept, and if this is also insignificant, to the case with no terms. ...
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This paper deals with the analysis of trends in road accidents on highways in Brazil. We use time series techniques based on fractional integration that allow us to determine if exogenous shocks in the data have transitory or permanent effects depending on the order of integration of the series. Our results indicate that a low degree of long memory was detected in the series with shocks having thus transitory effects over time. We further find that the number of accidents have been reducing over time, though in the presence of negative shocks, the recovery is not going to be immediate due to the long memory nature of the data. Despite the absence of relevant investment relating to infrastructure expansion, it is worth mentioning the consolidation of a nationwide tolled road system in Brazil involving concessions to private administrators, alongside more severe traffic laws that can impose limitations on driving licences.
... Previous analyses of the effects of increasing the maximum weight and size of freight vehicles in Europe conducted by our research group in this line of research suggest that the largest trucks are not necessarily responsible for a higher mortality rate in Europe (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2015;Castillo-Manzano, Castro-Nuño, & Fageda, 2016). We now focus on responding to the following research questions: although part of the literature shows that megatrucks might be more efficient from the economic, logistical, and environmental points of view (Bergqvist & Behrends, 2011;Guzmán, Vassallo, & Hortelano, 2016;McKinnon, 2008;Ortega et al., 2014), can it also be stated that European highways are safer in places where these types of vehicles are allowed to circulate freely? ...
... Earlier researchers agree that differences in truck weight and configuration affect road safety (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Corsi et al., 2012Corsi et al., , 2014Evgenikos et al., 2016). Specifically, much recent literature has addressed the effects of LHVs across Europe and evaluated certain states' experiences of implementing megatrucks or conducting trials; however, these have mostly been published as government or institutional reports (see e.g., ETSC, 2011;ITF, 2010;Knight et al., 2008;TML, 2008), with only a small number of academic papers (Knight, Burgess, Maurer, Jacob, Irzik, Aarts, & Vierth, 2010). ...
... The motorization variable is generally not statistically significant. As argued by Castillo-Manzano et al. (2016), the sign of the effect of the motorization variable on safety outcomes may vary depending on the country's GDP level. The superhighway density variable is negative and statistically significant in most of regressions for traffic fatalities. ...
Article
Introduction: The European Union (EU) has developed different strategies to internalize the costs of excessive motor traffic in the road freight transport sector. One of these is a relaxation of restrictions on the size and load capacity of trucks that circulate between member States and a proposal has been made for Longer and Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) to be allowed to circulate across borders. LHVs are the so-called "megatrucks" (i.e., trucks with a length of 25 meters and a weight of 60 tonnes). Megatrucks have allowed to circulate for decades in some European countries such as Norway, Finland, and Sweden, world leaders in traffic accident prevention, although the impact that cross-border traffic would have on road safety is still unknown. Methods: This article provides an econometric analysis of the potential impact on road safety of allowing the circulation of "megatrucks" throughout the EU. Results: The findings show that countries that currently allow megatrucks to circulate present lower traffic accident and fatality levels, on average. Conclusions: The circulation of this type of vehicle is only advisable in countries where there is a certain degree of maturity and demonstrated achievements in the field of road safety. Practical applications: European countries that have allowed megatruck circulation obtaining better road safety outcomes in terms of accidents, although the accident lethality rate seems to be higher. Consequently, introducing megatruck circulation requires a prior proper preparation and examination.
... Recent literature strongly points towards the importance of explicitly considering different stakeholders' perspectives, in order to reduce congestion and environmental nuisances, as well as to increase the safety of road traffic in cities [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Castillo-Manzano et al. [9] investigated the relationship between truck load capacity and traffic accidents in the European Union, and highlight that light goods trucks are the worst performers in terms of traffic accidents, and they are often used for city logistics purposes. Darbyshire and Young [10] and Hill and LaVela [11] point out that heavy traffic at 10 m distance generates about 80 dB of noise. ...
... Cities strongly rely on efficient urban logistics to ensure their attractiveness, quality of life, and economic development. In the same time, they strive to ensure livable and safe environments around its road network, where the increased presence of light and heavy good vehicles raises questions of both safety and environmental impacts [9,10,15]. Recent literature have well-recognized the need to consider different stakeholders' perspectives on these issues, in order to achieve the desired outcomes [3][4][5][6][7][8]. In this paper, we have defined the sustainable routing that integrates route sustainability into Table 7 summarizes the results. ...
... Cities strongly rely on efficient urban logistics to ensure their attractiveness, quality of life, and economic development. In the same time, they strive to ensure livable and safe environments around its road network, where the increased presence of light and heavy good vehicles raises questions of both safety and environmental impacts [9,10,15]. Recent literature have well-recognized the need to consider different stakeholders' perspectives on these issues, in order to achieve the desired outcomes [3][4][5][6][7][8]. In this paper, we have defined the sustainable routing that integrates route sustainability into arc traversal cost, based on the adopted multi-criterial decision-making approach. ...
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Cities strongly rely on efficient urban logistics to ensure their attractiveness, quality of life, and economic development. In the same time, they strive to ensure livable and safe environments around its road network, where the increased presence of light and heavy goods vehicles raises questions of regarding safety and environmental impacts. Recent literature has well-recognized the need to consider different stakeholders’ perspectives on these issues, in order to achieve desired outcomes. In this paper, we introduce a collaborative stakeholders’ decision-making approach for sustainable urban logistics, and demonstrate its applicability on a real-life example. The suggested approach extends existing route planning approaches by considering route sustainability as a part of an arc’s traversal cost. The integration of route sustainability is based on the adoption of a multi-criterial decision-making approach, with the possibility of including different stakeholders’ points of view, and evaluating the sustainability cost concerning the route’s spatial context. To demonstrate the applicability of the suggested approach, we extract the route sustainability cost from the traffic sign database, and implement the findings on a real-life example. Furthermore, the suggested approach exhibits a high level of transferability to various local contexts, where local stakeholders might have a different view on the route sustainability than is the case in our example.
... Drowsy driving can lead to severe property damages, injuries and fatalities, but is usually under-reported (Anund et al., 2011;Sagberg, 1999;Tefft, 2012). Many previous studies have focused on drowsy driving problem among truck drivers which suggest driver demographics, lifestyle and work-rest patterns are the main factors that contribute to driver alertness (confer Table 1) (Duke et al., 2010;Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Teoh et al., 2017;Meng et al., 2015;Kanazawa et al., 2006;Papadakaki et al., 2008;Tzamalouka et al., 2005). ...
... In contrast to India, the previous studies across the globe have elucidated the dimensions of drowsiness problem among commercial or Heavy Vehicle (HV) drivers to some extent (Duke et al., 2010;Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Teoh et al., 2017;Meng et al., 2015;Kanazawa et al., 2006). Based on the literature, the major contributing factors to drowsiness problem among drivers are discussed in the following sub-sections. ...
Article
The aim of the study is to identify and model the role of payment incentives, driver work-rest patterns and other lifestyle habits influencing the drowsy driving behavior among long-haul truck drivers. To achieve this aim, this study targeted two main objectives: (1) to examine the significant differences between the groups of drowsy and non-drowsy drivers based on the opportunities of monetary incentives and (2) to examine the role of different factors: driver demographics, work-rest patterns, lifestyle and occupational characteristics particularly incentives associated with driving in causing driver sleepiness among Indian truck drivers. The study is based on interview responses from 453 long-haul truck drivers approached in three Indian cities – Mumbai, Indore and Nagpur. Initial principal component analysis of the responses related to financial incentives (occupational characteristics) resulted into two correlated factors: (i) willingness to earn extra payments if offered (WEP) and (ii) incentives available in the current driving experience (ICD) that influence driver work-rest patterns and alertness while driving. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference among the groups of sleepy and non-sleepy drivers due to these factors (WEP and ICD). Finally, a logistic regression model showed that long driving duration, working days per week, rest patterns, insufficient sleeping hours and history of violations were found significantly associated with drowsy driving among the long-haul truck drivers. Increase in consumption of caffeine and tobacco indicated reduction in driver alertness. According to the model results, the odds of drowsy driving were 77% less for drivers between 46 and 55 years compared to the young drivers (<25 years). Driving under the influence of financial incentives was observed to increase the odds of falling asleep by 1.58 times among the truck drivers. This was apparently the most interesting and intriguing result of the study indicating the need for further research on the influence of financial or socio-economic motivations to sleepiness.
... In Finland, there has been a stepwise increase in the maximum lengths and gross masses of vehicle combinations that has continued up to year 2019. For example, Castillo-Manzano et al. (2016) found that increased truck load capacity does not seem to be linked with greater numbers of traffic fatalities or accidents. According to Klingender et al. (2009) permitting longer and/or heavier vehicles in road traffic would not inherent an increase of safety risks in general and there could be economic benefits regarding lower accident costs by the usage of such commercial vehicles. ...
Article
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Road safety has progressed positively in many countries, one example being Finland where several major road safety policies were introduced in the 1970s. In Finland, the highest number of road fatalities (1156) was seen in 1972, while in 2003 the number was 379 and, in 2021, 225. This study presents the assessed impacts of 49 key policy actions and decisions related to traffic safety in Finland based on road safety experts’ views, with special focus on years 2004 to 2021, and 1970 to 2003 as background. During the first decade of this millennium, road fatalities reduced but, in the 2010s, safety did not develop as was targeted. Based on experts’ views, the policies during 2010s included controversial policy actions that aimed at reducing road users’ costs instead of going for road safety gains. Policies supporting safe road user behavior, speeds, vehicles and roads need to be further promoted.
... Approximately 1.19 million commuters die in traffic crashes annually, costing countries an average of 3% of their gross domestic product (WHO, 2024). Many of these accidents directly involve logistics operations (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016). For example, research from the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations reveals that the transportation sector in the UK has a work-related fatal injury rate nearly twice the average across all industries (HSE Report, 2023). ...
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This paper addresses the problem of energy-efficient and safe routing of last-mile electric freight vehicles. With the rising environmental footprint of the transportation sector and the growing popularity of E-Commerce, freight companies are likely to benefit from optimal time-window-feasible tours that minimize energy usage while reducing traffic conflicts at intersections and thereby improving safety. We formulate this problem as a Bi-criterion Steiner Traveling Salesperson Problem with Time Windows (BSTSPTW) with energy consumed and the number of left turns at intersections as the two objectives while also considering regenerative braking capabilities. We first discuss an exact mixed-integer programming model with scalarization to enumerate points on the efficiency frontier for small instances. For larger networks, we develop an efficient local search-based heuristic, which uses several operators to intensify and diversify the search process. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed methods using benchmark data and real-world instances from Amazon delivery routes in Austin, US. Comparisons with state-of-the-art solvers shows that our heuristics can generate near-optimal solutions within reasonable time budgets, effectively balancing energy efficiency and safety under practical delivery constraints.
... However, we could not find valid IVs for our models, which means that all our IV candidates (e.g., operating revenue) failed to satisfy relevance and exclusion conditions. Therefore, we instead tried to include control variables that may be theoretically related to our hypothesized variables, such as driver-, vehicle-and environment-related factors (e.g., Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016). This may help release potential endogeneity due to omitted variable bias. ...
... These non-negative count data, with large proportion of zeros, and high probability of low number of speed violations (positive skewness) are best described by an underlying zero-inflated negative binomial distribution. This practice is common across the literature of safe truck driving (Cantor et al. 2013;Castillo-Manzano et al. 2016;De Vries et al. 2017;Miaou 1994). To fit the models to the merged GPS and survey data, we use an extended generalized linear mixed-effects models builder (Skaug et al. 2014) in R version 4.0.3 ...
Article
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This study investigates the effect of safety-specific transformational leadership (SSTL) on the performance outcomes of safe driving and driving productivity in both long and short-haul truck cargo transport. We conduct our study in the context of a hazardous material (HAZMAT) Indian transport company using a sample of 1,196 trips across 104 unique routes, and driven by 71 truck drivers over a 30-month span. We establish that SSTL is beneficial for truck driving productivity as it positively influences driving productivity in long-haul trips. There is no conclusive evidence of a negative effect on the productivity in short-haul trips. Furthermore, our results show that more experienced drivers are also more likely to indulge in risky driving behavior. Our findings have immediate practical applications for transport companies that wish to promote operational safety, while safeguarding and even improving operational productivity.
... Urban centres depend significantly on effective city logistics to maintain their appeal, improve quality of life and foster economic growth. However, the growing presence of light and heavy goods vehicles in city road networks raises concerns regarding safety and environmental impacts [37,64,65]. The recent literature underscores the importance of considering diverse stakeholder perspectives to address these issues effectively [5][6][7][66][67][68]. ...
Article
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The Sustainable Time-Dependent Cheapest Path Problem (STDCPP) entails locating a Hamiltonian path that covers all of the graph’s vertices at the lowest possible total sustainability cost. The issue is inspired by actual city logistics, where it is important to consider the opinions of diverse stakeholders in the light of sustainable urban mobility plans and service viability. To address this issue, this paper suggests a twofold contribution. First, we describe the Sustainable Time-Dependent Cheapest Path Problem and define the complex cost function, which, based on the multi-criteria decision-making approach, integrates the views of different stakeholders and sustainability elements into the route cost calculation. Second, we show that the modified problem satisfies the FIFO (First-In First-Out) property and demonstrate the applicability of the suggested approach on a real-life scenario where route sustainability is extracted from the traffic sign information system available in Flanders, Belgium.
... Meanwhile, the European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO) defined HGV as goods trucks weighing more than 3.5 tons and exceeding the maximum allowed gross weight. These vehicles must not exceed the maximum permissible length of 16.50 m for semitrailers and 18.75 m for road trains, with a total weight of 40 tons (Castillo-Manzano et al. 2016). ...
Article
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The use of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) has grown locally and globally. In this regard, every road user faces a high accident risk and is susceptible to traffic-related injuries and deaths. There is a substantial focus on law enforcement to prevent overloading, speeding, and illegal substance use among drivers. Nonetheless, evidence about the complex causes of HGV accidents is still scarce. Thus, this paper aims to outline the literature related to HGV study and examine factors of HGV accidents. Several factors that significantly contribute to accidents have been identified in the literature review. The study has established three main HGV accident factors with 15 sub-HGV accident factors. The Human Factor was the most dominant, while the Vehicle Factor was the least acclaimed HGV accident factor. The review also found several areas for further empirical improvements by including diverse data sources, a more extensive database, and more advanced data analysis. Moreover, technology advancements are required to capture more detailed and richer data for future studies on HGV. Future studies related to HGV accidents are essential in reducing the fatality rate in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Goal 3 target 6, which reduces the number of individuals killed or wounded in vehicle accidents worldwide.
... Nonetheless, traffic management departments have not focused enough attention on mopeds at signalised intersections and have not taken effective measures to manage mopeds. At signalised intersections, mopeds robbing, encroaching on the driving space of motor vehicles, and occupying motor vehicle lanes are important reasons why the traffic capacity of urban road networks has been reduced and traffic accidents have increased [10][11][12]. To ensure the safety of road users, it is necessary to study the driving characteristics of mopeds at signalised intersections. ...
Article
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Mopeds (electric bicycles and light motorcycles) are commonly used as a personal transportation mode in China. However, the understanding of characteristics of left-turning mopeds at signal-controlled intersections has been relatively limited. To bridge this gap, firstly, this paper proposed a video conversion method of moped movement data acquisition. Then, a method of data accuracy verification was introduced by comparing the results between the field experiment and the video conversion method. Secondly, the ideal traffic space for left-turn mopeds from different entrances was defined to analyse the characteristics of the left-turning mopeds at intersections. Further, three indicators, namely, transverse distance, the proportion of left-turning mopeds with crossing behaviour, and the average number of avoidance behaviour, were proposed and used to analyse the asymmetrical characteristics behaviour, crossing behaviour, and avoidance behaviour. Finally, based on empirical data collected from five signal-controlled intersections, the proposed methods and behaviours were analysed. This paper provides both a valid method of obtaining the position data of mopeds and a reliable basis for improving the safety of left-turning moped riders at urban signal-controlled intersections.
... When trucks and passenger vehicles are mixed in using a freeway service, the state of trafc fow changes signifcantly, and associated negative impact occurs in terms of efciency and safety concerns, especially at freeway entrance and exit ramps. As trucks reduce the overall trafc efciency, mixed trafc may incur trafc congestion, increase the emissions of pollutants, and pose potential safety risks (e.g., [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]). To deal with these negative issues, several truck restriction strategies have been proposed to reduce the adverse impact caused by trucks. ...
Article
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The increasing number of trucks has a negative impact pertinent to efficiency and safety concerns on the operation of mixed traffic flow along freeways, especially at freeway entrance and exit ramps. To address such issue, this study proposes a simulation-based method for truck-prohibit ramp placement along freeways. The method framework contains two parts: the first part is to generate a set of new truck restriction schemes using simulation experiments, and the second part is to evaluate the generated schemes and find out the current optimal location of truck-prohibit ramps based upon the AHP-TOPSIS method. Three patterns of evaluation indicators are utilized to estimate the performance of freeway service in terms of traffic efficiency, road safety, and accessibility. A case study of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao freeway within Henan Province, China, is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results could provide beneficial insights on the optimal location setting of truck-prohibit ramps to enhance the entire performance of mixed traffic flow along freeways.
... Roughly, UFT emits 6% of all transport GHG, produces 12% of km traveled, and has 4% of urban land reserved for its operations [8]. Light goods trucks, mostly in urban logistics, are serious generators of traffic accidents, noise, and air pollution [9][10][11]. ...
Article
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The last mile presents the logistics chain’s lowest efficiency and highest cost. Thus, the bicycle emerges as a promising alternative in the rising efforts to advance urban logistics sustainability. This research aims to identify factors for successful last-mile cycle logistics implementation in a comparative study of two cities from the Global South and North. Berlin and Sao Paulo cases were analyzed to outline the cycle logistics ecosystem and to derive learnings. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders of each city to gather their perceptions of cycle logistics challenges, social acceptance, green premium, good practices, and main agents, enabling the analysis of each city’s ecosystem and a comparative analysis between them. The systematization of challenges, good practices, and stakeholders’ maps highlighted four aspects for successful cycle logistics implementation: clear identification of demands and challenges; acknowledgment and communication of learnings; advancement of practices addressing local challenges; cooperation between diverse key stakeholders. Ultimately, two relevant takeaways are that cycle logistics has a specific application scope and it is an alternative among many options that, together with the comprehension of local context, is crucial for the cycle logistics development. Still, experiences and exchanges with other cities may leverage implementation success.
... Traffic load plays here an important role, since Slovenia is a typical road transit country. However, studies investigating highway traffic loads (Castillo-Manzano, Castro-Nuño and Fageda 2016) concluded that modern vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies could support the driver with real-time traffic data and thus prevent road network accidents. Such technology can be seen in the Google Maps navigation system, which is, for now, developed only for the highway network. ...
Article
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This paper focuses on the Kras/Carso Food Tour to present the challenges of developing a luxury tourism product. The tour's design followed the current strategy of the Slovenian Tourist Board, which defines specific criteria for a luxury experience. Contextualized by the experiential trends in tourism, the paper juxtaposes the bottom-up and top-down perspectives on luxury experiences. The authors argue that mediation by experts familiar with academic discourses and local culture is beneficial for the development of a successful tourism product. The study contributes to the debates on luxury tourism, which have neglected bottom-up perceptions in tourist discourse and overlooked the dilemmas people face when "luxurifying" their traditions and heritage practices.
... In that case, data availability, data capacity, and computer processing power are the main limiting factors for now. Nonetheless, some authors [50,51] have emphasized that modern vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies could support drivers with real-time traffic data and thus potentially prevent road network crashes. The ideal solution would be integrating such informative spatial data with the vehicle information system. ...
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Despite an improvement in worldwide numbers, road traffic crashes still cause social, psychological, and financial damage and cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product. However, none of the current commercial or open-source navigation systems contain spatial information about road traffic crash hot spots. By developing an algorithm that can adequately predict such spatial patterns, we can bridge these still existing gaps in road traffic safety. To that end, geographically weighted regression and regression tree models were fitted with five uncorrelated (environmental and socioeconomic) road traffic crash predictor variables. Significant regional differences in adverse weather conditions were identified; Slovenia lies at the conjunction of different climatic zones characterized by differences in weather phenomena, which further modify traffic safety. Thus, more attention to speed limits, safety distance, and other vehicles entering and leaving the system could be expected. In order to further improve road safety and better implement globally sustainable development goals, studies with applicative solutions are urgently needed. Modern vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies could soon support drivers with real-time traffic data and thus potentially prevent road network crashes.
... The models were estimated by the standard maximum likelihood methods. The standard errors are robust to heteroscedasticity to address the auto-correlation problem due to repeated trials involving same individuals (Alan Agresti, 2002;Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Fitzharris et al., 2017;Mahajan and Velaga, 2020;Papke, 1996;Pylkkönen et al., 2015). Among all comparable models with the covariates (variables related to glance behavior, driver demographics, drive condition, workload and frequency of using voice assistants), the final model with clustered heterogeneity was chosen with minimum Akaike's information criteria (AIC) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC) values (Haque and Washington, 2014;Washington et al., 2003). ...
Article
Vehicle automation allows drivers to disengage from driving causing a potential decline in their alertness. One of the major challenges of highly automated vehicles is to ensure a timely (with respect to safety and situation awareness) takeover in such conditions. For this purpose, the current study investigated the role of an in-vehicle digital voice-assistant (VA) in conditionally automated vehicles, offering spoken discourse relating specifically to contextual factors, such as the traffic situation and road environment. The study involved twenty-four participants, each taking two drives (counterbalanced): with VA and without VA, in a driving simulator. Participants were required to takeover vehicle control following the issuance of a takeover request (TOR) near the end of each drive. A parametric duration model was adopted to find the key factors determining takeover time (TOT). Paired comparisons showed higher alertness and higher active workload (mean NASA-TLX rating) during automation when accompanied by the VA. Paired t-test comparison of gaze behavior prior to takeover showed significantly higher instances of checking traffic signal, roadside objects, and the roadway during the drive with VA, indicating higher situation awareness. The parametric model indicated that the VA increased the likelihood of making a timely takeover by 39%. There was also some evidence suggesting that male drivers are likely to resume control 1.21 times earlier than female drivers. The study findings highlight the benefits of adopting a digital voice assistant to keep the drivers alert and aware about the recent traffic environment in partially automated vehicles.
... The obtained results indicate that the load capacity of trucks has an impact on road safety, but it is non-linear and depends on the type of road accident. Light trucks perform the worst in terms of the number of road accidents, while medium trucks perform the worst in terms of the number of fatalities in road accidents [34]. On the other hand, heavier-duty vehicles can reduce road traffic by increasing the carrying capacity of fewer vehicles, which may have an impact on road safety [35]. ...
Article
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The development of modern cities is impossible without an increase in the number of construction projects implemented. However, in the conditions of limited spaces, local and national legal regulations, and logistic difficulties, their implementation is becoming a growing challenge. Construction supplies can pose a particular problem. Its planning, organization, and implementation have an impact not only on construction and assembly works, but also on the external environment of the construction site, of which traffic is an important element. The aim of the study was to analyze and answer the question of whether there is a connection between the implementation of construction supplies and the occurrence of road traffic hazards in cities on the example of Szczecin. In addition, the article aims to find solutions to reduce the number of road accidents and increase road safety. The conducted research also revealed the weak points of the system of collecting and analyzing data on road accidents. The research covered selected areas in the center of Szczecin, where construction projects have been implemented since 2016 and road accidents have occurred. The reference year is the year preceding the start of construction. The research on selected construction projects meeting the criteria, carried out in the article has shown that their implementation may have an impact on the level of safety in the areas adjacent to the construction site. However, the unequivocal statement of such relationship must be supported by extended research, covering a greater number of projects, additional consideration of the number of deliveries for supply purposes, and the characteristics of vehicles involved in road incidents.
... Travel time is significant to increase the number of transport cycles [2], namely by optimizing driver behaviour [3], improving topography, and improving the quality of road infrastructure. Research on travel time, speed, and topography include models of geometric road design optimization for in mountain topography [4], the relation between truckload capability and traffic accidents [5], driving behaviour of car users using speed analysis [6], the effect of road and traffic dynamics on the speed adaptation behavior of distracted drivers [7];and a thorough critical review leading to speeding offences by large truck drivers [8]. ...
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Coal hauling is the key to sustainable coal supply, especially for electricity supply and other economic sectors. This paper aims to optimize coal haul trip times based on the topography of specific roads and their impact on air pollution. To measure it, we need the right concept using a representative tool. The use of methods in the research data analysis is a topographic analysis using GPS Garmin, GPS tracker, Smart GPS tracker system software, KML (Keyhole Markup Language), and Google earth pro. For air pollution based on previous studies.Analysis of travel time optimization based on special road topography in coal-hauling includes applying the planned speed of coal-hauling is 40 km/hour for trucks with loaded and 60 km/hour for trucks without load, there was a decrease in travel time ranging from 31.4%-40% for trucks with loaded and trucks without load by 25.5%-31.7%. Analysis of the sensitivity of straight road slope resulting in a 4-6 minute reduction in travel time. Optimizing the travel time can increase by four travel cycles. Environmentally-conscious vertical grade construction is practical and economically profitable. Controlling speed reduction will mitigate the detrimental environmental effects of truck movements.
... The importance of the human factor has served as a reference for a large number of researchers, who are concerned to know the effect on road traffic collision indicators after the implementation of different legislative measures aimed at controlling the behaviour of drivers (Albalate, 2008;Castillo-Manzano and Castro-Nuño, 2012;Novoa et al., 2010). Likewise, the influence of other elements has promoted the analysis of the relationship between road traffic collisions and other variables such as: vehicle fleet conditions (Aparicio-Izquierdo et al., 2013;Blows et al., 2003), infrastructure quality (Albalate and Bel, 2012;Albalate et al., 2013;Rivas-Ruiz et al., 2007), weather conditions (Eisenberg, 2004;Nguyen-Hoang and Yeung, 2014), the level of economic development (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Kopits and Cropper, 2005;Traynor, 2008), and/or economic conditions (Elvik, 2015;Nguyen-Hoang and Yeung, 2014) or sociodemographic characteristics (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2015;Eksler et al., 2008;Noland and Adediji, 2018;Noland and Quddus, 2004). ...
Article
Background Road traffic collisions represent a public health problem in Chile, with fatality rates higher than in most OECD countries. This research investigates how various factors affect fatalities and injuries rates in Chile in the period 2000–2017 and calculates them for each region, originated by their specific characteristics. Methods An econometric analysis with panel data corresponding to the period 2000–2017 was carried out. We analysed the influence of several factors such as legislative changes and quality of road infrastructure on the risks of mortality and injury in Chile. Results Changes in the Traffic Law and the population density were the determining factors with the greatest incidence on the risks of fatalities and injuries. The implementation of the Zero Tolerance Law had a positive effect on the reduction of mortality and injury rates per vehicle. However, the quality of rural roads had a mixed effect depending on the factor analysed. Moreover, the estimations indicated that the effectiveness of the investment that has been made in Chilean roads was not as expected. The regional characteristics of the different regions caused the existence of interregional inequalities on the risks of fatalities and injuries. Conclusions The road traffic collisions rate is a complex public health problem. It is affected by many factors. Policy makers responsible for road safety in Chile must continue to improve legislation to achieve a reduction in collisions on their rural roads.
... One way of reducing emissions is to explore the possibilities with HCT as a solution from a socio-economic and environmental perspective [6]. Strict requirements for permission to use HCVs, increased carefulness when driving larger and heavier vehicles, and driving on larger and safer roads while utilising greater safety equipment are also possible factors for a reduced risk and, thus, increased safety for the largest vehicles, resulting in decreased accident costs in total [7,[14][15][16][17][18]. It can also be seen that the largest vehicles in Alberta, Canada, have a 58% lower risk for accidents than standard semi-trailer combinations [19]. ...
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The objective of the paper is to analyse the potential of introducing High Capacity Transport (HCT) within a comprehensive line-haul network. Barriers and enablers have been identified, and a cost benefit model has been developed. The model considers environmental performance, socioeconomic costs and operational costs and has been applied to a Swedish context and case study. The findings reveal that HCT can contribute to the development of road transportation in the perspectives of energy consumption and emission releases. It can further strengthen the trade and competitiveness of Swedish hauliers, as the introduction can provide a more cost-efficient system for all actors, including the transporter. However, the potential is largest when longer vehicles are meticulously and scrupulously introduced on a designated network alone.
... However, Steer et al. [24] conclude that empirical evidence shows lower actual modal shift than desk studies have estimated. Several studies conclude that there is no clear evidence that LHVs would decrease road safety, and LHVs might even improve safety due to reduced truck mileage [9,25,26]. The impact of LHVs on the road infrastructure depends on the axle weights, number of axles and tyres. ...
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Abstract Finnish government allowed in October 2013 operating high capacity vehicles (HCV) with a maximum weight limit of 76 t on Finnish roads. An analysis on how HCVs have affected the Finnish road freight transport sector is presented here based on a continuous time series data from 2013 to 2017. The analysis shows a significant increase in the average payload weight and a transition from 7-axle to 8- and 9-axle articulated vehicle combinations, which allow the higher weights. Truck mileage of 225 million km has been avoided from October 2013 until the end of 2017 and avoided mileage corresponded in 2017 to approximately 4% of total truck mileage in Finland. This equals around 126 million € cost savings in 2017 and 0.1 Mt of CO2 emissions reduction in road freight, even after taking into account that there has been some modal shift from rail to road.
... Cities depend to a large degree on an efficient UL to guarantee their attractiveness, quality of life and economic development [4]. In the 21st century, with the objective of improving competitiveness and sustainability of urban zones; in some European metropolitan regions UL models are generated in order to have the most important cities of the region work as business units, applying elements of accident prevention and road safety [5]. The model essentially includes the movements related to the commercial activity; including goods transport, with its associated operations: delivery, collection, transfers, load, unload, points of sales, Cross-Docking (CD) and urban inverse logistic [6]. ...
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This research proposes a new distribution system of goods in the historical center of the city of Santiago, Chile. For the design of the urban logistic system, the methodology city logistics and last mile are used. This design incorporates to the freight transport flexible solutions that improve the efficiency of the distribution process and trade supply, minimizing the environmental impact of the atmospheric pollution (AP). The proposal was made through the data collection, the characterization of the sector and the diagnosis of the urban logistics processes. The analysis of the factors allowed to evaluate the costs of the AP negative externalities. The causes were used as design criteria for the proposals, with the aim of improving the quality of life of the city users. The physical location selection of the Cross-Docking was made through an optimization model of maximum coverage. The optimization algorithm of the nearest neighbor was proposed for vehicle routing. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to generate a ranking of the best non-polluting vehicles to be used in the zone. Finally, the results obtained allowed a 53 ton decrease in carbon dioxide in the square kilometer and reduced 1103 h of interruptions per year in the vehicular congestion of the sector.
... Moreover, the negative coefficients of motorization rate for the two groups of provinces indicate that the effect of more developed transport (considering their link to safer infrastructure, vehicles and behaviour) is higher than that of greater exposure due to higher motorization rates (Albalate and Bel, 2012;Castillo-Manzano et al., 2015b). The annual variation in population density is negatively associated with the rates of fatality and injury in the more developed provinces (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Noland and Quddus, 2004;Noland et al., 2013;Tolón-Becerra et al., 2013), confirming that the more densely populated provinces in this group have more developed public transport systems Fig. 2. Serious injury rate in low per capita income provinces (LPCIP) and high per capita income provinces (HPCIP) resulting from the specific characteristics of each province (different autoregressive term). Fig. 3. Slight injury rate in low per capita income provinces (LPCIP) and high per capita income provinces (HPCIP) resulting from the specific characteristics of each province (different autoregressive term). ...
Article
The aim of this study was to determine whether interregional inequality in Spain had the same impact on the risks of fatality and injury across the different provinces of Spain, in the period from 1999 to 2015. This allows us to map fatality and injury rates in Spanish provinces depending on their level of economic development. Provinces were divided in two large groups according to the mean weight of their per capita GDP on the national GDP from 2000 to 2015. Using fixed effects data panel models, estimations were obtained for each group of the impact of the relationships between per capita GDP, unemployment rate and other control variables on their risks of fatality and injury. The models reveal that economic conditions and education are explanatory factors with greater significance and impact on the risks of fatality and injury in provinces with higher levels of economic development. In this group, the penalty-points driving licence was found have a greater impact, although its effectiveness is now being questioned. In contrast, to reduce the risks of fatality and injury in less developed provinces, it is imperative to invest in road infrastructure, increasing the proportion of high capacity roads and investing more in road replacement and maintenance. The geographical distribution generated in this study allows us to better identify the areas with a higher risk of fatality or injury. This, in turn, confirms the need to improve the configuration of road safety policy, taking into account the different fatality or injury rates across provinces, the origins of which lie in the specific provincial conditions.
... The volume of traffic is comprised of different elements which could be categorized in three groups i.e. passenger cars, heavy vehicles including minibuses, buses, trucks and trailers and light non-passenger car vehicles including taxis, pickups and motorcycles. The role of elements of traffic volume in likelihood of property and more severe crashes in roads safety is investigated in different researches through different statistical and mathematical methods [1]- [9] (Chen et al., Ayati and Abbasi, 2011;Kaplan and Prato, 2012;Chang and Chien, 2013;Feng et al., 2016;Green et al., 2016;Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016;Tseng et al., 2016;Cerezo and Conche, 2016). The part of heavy vehicles in various segments of urban and rural roads network is studied many times more than the other elements of traffic volume. ...
... Nevertheless, the relationship between truck load capacity and vehicle safety is not inclusive, which does not necessarily decrease road traffic safety. 9 Ma et al. 10 examined the impacts of driving behavior on driver injury level at highway-rail grade crossing accidents. ...
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Truck-related crashes result in tremendous lives and property loss and become a serious safety issue in China. The goal of this article is to identify the influential factors for severity of truck-related crashes using data from Jingjintang freeways in China and to design an ordered probit model to explore their relationship. Records including crashes, traffic flow attributes, and geometric design features ranging from 2009 to 2012 were collected from Jingjintang freeway. Crashes are divided into three severity levels: slight injury, injury, and fatal injury. The injury crashes is ranking the first place occupying 64.37%. Truck-related crashes are likely to occur when truck percentage is around 20% and 80%. The speed of traffic flow decreases with the more appearance of trucks. The ordered probit model is developed to estimate the impacts of influential factors on injury severity of truck-related crashes. Marginal effects for each level of injury severity are calculated. The results reveal that truck-involving crashes are highly sensitive to factors such as time of day, truck percentage, average slope, operating speed, speed difference, and exposure variable. The average slope of road segment and speed gaps has the greatest impact on all severity levels of crashes.
... The usual rule of thumb is that a VIF higher than 10 implies the presence of multicollinearity (Hamilton, 2009). However, the threshold of 5 has been commonly used (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016). All the VIF scores were less than 5, attesting that there is no risk of multicollinearity between the variables. ...
... Road safety Urban traffic accidents per capita (Urban accident rate) Manzano et al. (2015Manzano et al. ( , 2016, urban traffic slowing due to the circula- tion of these vehicles contributes to a decrease in the severity of urban traffic accidents. ...
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The traditional unidimensional approach used in road safety research to assess road safety performance is based on achievements in outcomes, such as number of traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries. However, taking into account the complex nature of the road safety framework, a multidimensional approach may be advisable in which all agents involved in the decision making process are properly represented. This article provides two multidimensional safety indicators that combine a set of criteria related to economics, demographics and sustainable urban transportation to assess urban road safety performance in 50 Spanish provinces (NUTS-3 regions). Multicriteria Decision Making Analysis (MDMA) is used to determine the set of factors that should be prioritized to minimize urban traffic accidents and fatalities. Using an objective weighting method for the chosen criteria, the obtained results point to aspects associated with the degree of urban development being the most important factors in discriminating and ranking the alternatives (provinces). Consequently, elements such as higher urban population and services concentration, and more advanced both transport systems and roads network, are related to safer urban areas. The two proposed safety indexes can provide policymakers with a useful tool for decision making in the area of urban road safety by identifying key attributes that should be promoted in urban planning.
... Regarding the last mile of UFT, trucks are often recognized by public authorities as vehicles that may contribute significantly to traffic congestion and pollution in urban areas (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2016). Therefore, the literature has indicated delivery operations based on more sustainable fleets such as trolleys, bicycles/tricycles (motorized or not) and light-duty vehicles (Faccio and Gamberi, 2015;Gruber and Kihm, 2016;Koning and Conway, 2016;Margaritis et al., 2016;Roumboutsos et al., 2014;Sadhu et al., 2014). ...
Article
To encourage the provision and use of more sustainable means of transportation, cities and companies are implementing a variety of measures, such as strengthening the use of public transportation infrastructure and services to alleviate traffic congestion and to democratize the urban space. In these cases, literature shows that the combined use of smaller vehicles and mobile depots is a practice to be explored more deeply. This paper focuses on the use of motorized cargo tricycles alongside conventional trucks in a mobile-depot-based procedure to accommodate the restrictions imposed on conventional freight vehicle access in densely populated areas. Therefore, a new method is proposed to identify the impact on service level, emissions footprint and delivery cost of this distribution strategy. Moreover, we assess the environmental benefits of this new distribution strategy by estimating the reduction in various pollutant emissions attributable to the adoption of smaller, more agile last-mile delivery vehicles. The analyses have shown that greenhouse gas emissions and local air quality pollutants can be significantly cut by the use of cargo tricycles and mobile depots in the last mile delivery. With respect to cost, we can show that the mobile-depot-based delivery setup yields slight cost advantages over the traditional setups for neighborhoods that are characterized by low average delivery drop sizes.
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Background Road Traffic injuries (RTI) are among the top ten leading causes of death in the world resulting in 1.35 million deaths every year, about 93% of which occur in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Despite several global resolutions to reduce traffic injuries, they have continued to grow in many countries. Many high‐income countries have successfully reduced RTI by using a public health approach and implementing evidence‐based interventions. As many LMICs develop their highway infrastructure, adopting a similar scientific approach towards road safety is crucial. The evidence also needs to be evaluated to assess external validity because measures that have worked in high‐income countries may not translate equally well to other contexts. An evidence gap map for RTI is the first step towards understanding what evidence is available, from where, and the key gaps in knowledge. Objectives The objective of this evidence gap map (EGM) is to identify existing evidence from all effectiveness studies and systematic reviews related to road safety interventions. In addition, the EGM identifies gaps in evidence where new primary studies and systematic reviews could add value. This will help direct future research and discussions based on systematic evidence towards the approaches and interventions which are most effective in the road safety sector. This could enable the generation of evidence for informing policy at global, regional or national levels. Search Methods The EGM includes systematic reviews and impact evaluations assessing the effect of interventions for RTI reported in academic databases, organization websites, and grey literature sources. The studies were searched up to December 2019. Selection Criteria The interventions were divided into five broad categories: (a) human factors (e.g., enforcement or road user education), (b) road design, infrastructure and traffic control, (c) legal and institutional framework, (d) post‐crash pre‐hospital care, and (e) vehicle factors (except car design for occupant protection) and protective devices. Included studies reported two primary outcomes: fatal crashes and non‐fatal injury crashes; and four intermediate outcomes: change in use of seat belts, change in use of helmets, change in speed, and change in alcohol/drug use. Studies were excluded if they did not report injury or fatality as one of the outcomes. Data Collection and Analysis The EGM is presented in the form of a matrix with two primary dimensions: interventions (rows) and outcomes (columns). Additional dimensions are country income groups, region, quality level for systematic reviews, type of study design used (e.g., case‐control), type of road user studied (e.g., pedestrian, cyclists), age groups, and road type. The EGM is available online where the matrix of interventions and outcomes can be filtered by one or more dimensions. The webpage includes a bibliography of the selected studies and titles and abstracts available for preview. Quality appraisal for systematic reviews was conducted using a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews, AMSTAR 2. Main Results The EGM identified 1859 studies of which 322 were systematic reviews, 7 were protocol studies and 1530 were impact evaluations. Some studies included more than one intervention, outcome, study method, or study region. The studies were distributed among intervention categories as: human factors (n = 771), road design, infrastructure and traffic control (n = 661), legal and institutional framework (n = 424), post‐crash pre‐hospital care (n = 118) and vehicle factors and protective devices (n = 111). Fatal crashes as outcomes were reported in 1414 records and non‐fatal injury crashes in 1252 records. Among the four intermediate outcomes, speed was most commonly reported (n = 298) followed by alcohol (n = 206), use of seatbelts (n = 167), and use of helmets (n = 66). Ninety‐six percent of the studies were reported from high‐income countries (HIC), 4.5% from upper‐middle‐income countries, and only 1.4% from lower‐middle and low‐income countries. There were 25 systematic reviews of high quality, 4 of moderate quality, and 293 of low quality. Authors' Conclusions The EGM shows that the distribution of available road safety evidence is skewed across the world. A vast majority of the literature is from HICs. In contrast, only a small fraction of the literature reports on the many LMICs that are fast expanding their road infrastructure, experiencing rapid changes in traffic patterns, and witnessing growth in road injuries. This bias in literature explains why many interventions that are of high importance in the context of LMICs remain poorly studied. Besides, many interventions that have been tested only in HICs may not work equally effectively in LMICs. Another important finding was that a large majority of systematic reviews are of low quality. The scarcity of evidence on many important interventions and lack of good quality evidence‐synthesis have significant implications for future road safety research and practice in LMICs. The EGM presented here will help identify priority areas for researchers, while directing practitioners and policy makers towards proven interventions.
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The impact of trucks on road traffic safety has been extensively studied, but the factors influencing truck crash injury severity have not yet been examined from the quarterly perspective. Crash data for Shandong Province in China for 10 years (2012–2021) were reviewed to investigate the transferability of the determinants of the severity of truck crash injuries in four quarters. Three injury severity levels were considered and a random parameters logit model (RPL) considering the heterogeneity of means and variances was constructed to assess the factors affecting the severity of crash injury. The significant variables were explored from the influencing factors of driver, vehicle, crash type, road, environment, and temporal characteristics. A likelihood ratio test was employed to assess the transferability of the crash model over four quarters, and we used marginal effects to analyze the stability of the influencing factors. The results indicated that there was instability among the four quarterly variables that had to be modeled separately. There were also some variables, such as heavy vehicle and multiple-vehicle crashes, that simultaneously affected the severity of truck crash injuries across the four quarters, but the degree of impact was different. The results could enable engineers and policy makers to better formulate management rules and propose appropriate measures according to quarterly changes.
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Natural conditions play an important role as determinants and cocreators of the spatiotemporal road traffic accident Hot Spot footprint; however, none of the modern commercial, or open-source, navigation systems currently provides it for the driver. Our findings, based on a spatiotemporal database recording 11 years of traffic accidents in Slovenia, proved that different weather conditions yield distinct spatial patterns of dangerous road segments. All potentially dangerous road segments were identified and incorporated into a mobile spatial decision support system (SLOCrashInfo), which raises awareness among drivers who are entering or leaving the predefined danger zones on the street network. It is expected that such systems could potentially increase road traffic safety in the future.
Conference Paper
Unreasonable slope length and grade combinations have increased the traffic accident frequency on long and steep slopes in China. This paper explores heavy-duty vehicle speed performance on slopes after force distribution analysis during uphill and downhill procedures. A speed gain model is developed with various power-to-weight ratios from 5 to 8 kw/t for uphill and downhill processes. Results show that on certain grades, higher power-to-weight ratio causes smaller speed reduction and longer equilibrium slope during uphill processes before finally reaching higher stable speed, whereas during downhill processes on certain grades, higher vehicle power-to-weight ratio causes dramatic vehicle speed increases and longer distances to reach stable operating speed. Critical upgrade and downgrade lengths are identified for speed gaps over 20 km/h between adjacent sections. These results are applied to set climbing and escape lanes to improve safety and provide smooth traffic operation in mountainous areas. Results also provide guidelines for roadway geometry design.
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Background: In Ethiopia, there are an estimated 25.3 road traffic related deaths per 100,000 population, which is much higher than the global average road traffic fatality rate. Speed is the most well-known risk factor influencing both the risk as well as the severity of the resulting injuries. Although there is paucity of data from low-income countries, speed reducers have been widely approved as an effective traffic calming countermeasure in high-income countries. We aimed to (i) explore the effectiveness of transverse vertical speed reducers and, (ii) qualitatively explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the factors that affect the risk of road traffic crashes. Methods: Data on all crashes occurring from September 2010 to August 2015 were obtained. Interrupted time series analysis using Poisson regression was used to estimate the effect of speed reducers on the number of crashes per month before and after their installation in January 2012. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with traffic police, drivers, drivers’ training center owners, and community members to describe their perceptions about the effects of the speed reducers. Quantitative and qualitative results were triangulated. Results: There were 130 crashes during the study period. Of these, 45.4% were property damage only, and 16.9% were fatal. After the speed reducers were installed, there was no statistically significant difference (incidence rate ratio, IRR =1.17, 95% CI[0.60-2.30], p-value =0.644) in the number of crashes per month, but there were changes in the distribution of crash severity (p-value <0.001). Four core themes, with subsequent sub-themes, emerged as perceived contributors to road traffic crashes. Of these core-themes, speedy and reckless driving, were perceived as the strongest force perpetuating road collisions. Qualitative respondents disagreed on whether the speed reducers were effective and expressed concerns such as the lack of signage to warn drivers. Conclusions: Although speed reducers are proven to reduce collisions in high-income settings, this study in Ethiopia was inconclusive. Inappropriate design for the roadway type, sporadic placement, lack of signage and maintenance, and poor stakeholder coordination may have hampered effectiveness. An evidence-based planning process prior to implementing road design interventions is recommended to achieve the desired results.
Chapter
In recent years, with major cities turning to the stock development stage, the development and construction of underground space has gradually become an important strategy for sustainable urban development. The construction of underground passages at freight transport hubs will help the separation of passenger and cargo, which will greatly alleviate urban traffic jam and improve transport efficiency. However, due to the restriction on urban land use and construction cost, it is difficult to achieve gentle slope design for all of underground passages, longitudinal slopes with large gradient are unavoidable. Generally, trucks have quite large gross weight, its uphill speed reduction and downhill brake disc temperature rise would affect road capacity and traffic safety greatly. Therefore, it is quite necessary to propose optimal design of longitudinal slopes given the consideration of truck dynamic performance and its driving safety. Truck models were established in TruckSim, they were used to simulate vehicle driving status uphill and downhill then. Speed reduction and brake disc temperature rise were used to obtain suitable slope gradient and length based on simulation. It was concluded that slope gradient and vehicle output power ratio have great influence on truck climbing ability. Using speed reduction of 20 km/h between vehicle uphill original speed and its stable uphill speed for reference, the maximum slope length for uphill with different gradient could be obtained. Slope gradient and vehicle gross weight have giant impact on brake disc temperature rise. Using brake disc temperature of 200 and 260 °C for reference, suitable slope length for downhill with different gradient were obtained.
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The recent economic crisis has required the bailout of some European States by the so-called Troika, with capital injections accompanied by financial austerity. This paper analyzes econometrically the impact of this support programme on road safety for an original panel data (1995-2015). The findings also corroborate the Kuznets curve hypothesis for traffic accidents in the long term. Regarding the impact of intervention in the short term, despite reductions in safety policy budgets due to austerity, financial support, and related austerity measures might have led to an improvement in road safety, reducing both the number of accidents and fatalities. Therefore, it seems that our result is more linked to the austerity measures than to the financial support given by the Troika.
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The social cost, as one of the factors determining sustainability of socioeconomic development, is strongly dependent upon a number of casualties and mortality in road accidents. The condition of car tires appears to be one of the important factors determining the occurrence of accidents. The vast majority of vehicles are tested every year at vehicle inspection stations. One of the elements affecting the result of the technical condition test and basically the quality of vehicle braking is the technical condition of the tires. Their technical condition is a very important factor responsible for the quality of acceleration, braking, maintaining, or changing the direction of driving. As a consequence, it has a significant impact on road safety. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of tires on the results of tests performed at a vehicle inspection station. The study presents the results of bench measurements of the impact of selected features of tire condition of two vehicles during routine periodic inspections at a vehicle inspection station (VIS). The focus was on an attempt to assess the impact of inflation pressure, age, and tire tread wear on the braking process. The technical studies performed might be a source for legal steps assuring better management of road safety. It can also be expected that the tire choice and condition may affect fuel consumption, and therefore the amount of energy consumed by the road transport.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to update the work of Carter and Easton (2011), by conducting a systematic review of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature in the primary logistics and supply chain management journals, during the 2010–2018 timeframe. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology which follows the methodology employed by Carter and Easton (2011). An evaluation of this methodology, using the Modified AMSTAR criteria, demonstrates a high level of empirical validity. Findings The field of SSCM continues to evolve with changes in substantive focus, theoretical lenses, unit of analysis, methodology and type of analysis. However, there are still abundant future research opportunities, including investigating under-researched topics such as diversity and human rights/working conditions, employing the group as the unit of analysis and better addressing empirical validity and social desirability bias. Research limitations/implications The findings result in prescriptions and a broad agenda to guide future research in the SSCM arena. The final section of the paper provides additional avenues for future research surrounding theory development and decision making. Originality/value This SLR provides a rigorous, methodologically valid review of the continuing evolution of empirical SSCM research over a 28-year time period.
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Freight truck-involved crashes result in a high mortality rate and significantly impact logistic costs; therefore, many researchers have analyzed the causes of truck-involved traffic crashes. In the existing literature, it was found that truck-involved crashes are affected by factors such as road geometry, weather, driver and vehicle characteristics, and traffic volume based on a variety of statistical methodologies; however, the endogenous impact resulting from driver traffic violation has not been considered. The goal of the study is to discover the factors influencing freight vehicle crashes and develop more accurate crash probability estimation by explaining the endogenous driver traffic violations. To achieve the purpose of this study, we applied the two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) approach, a methodology used in the nonlinear regression analysis model for capturing the endogeneity issue. This method improves the accuracy of the model by capturing the unobserved effects of driver traffic violations. From the results, traffic violations were identified to be influenced by the driver's physical condition, as well as driver and vehicle characteristics. Furthermore, variables of driver traffic violations such as improper passing, speeding, and safe distance violation were found to be endogenous in the probability model of freight truck crashes on expressway mainlines.
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In order to improve the corporate sustainability of agro-food value chains, business organizations need to rely on a higher performing and more reliable logistics system. Particularly, in case of dairy industry, organizations are facing some important challenges containing people management, short shelf life, high food losses and wastage, high greenhouse gas emissions. Based on “Confederation of Indian industry - Dairy Vision 2025”, it is believed that the dairy sector in India has high potential if organizations can develop an effective logistics and supply chain system. This article attempts to analyze the interaction between distribution related challenges with a focus operational excellence and higher corporate green growth and sustainability viewpoints in food supply chains by considering the business example of four Indian dairy product based organizations using graph theory and matrix approach. Several key challenges were identified based on a literature survey and experts’ views. Graph theory and matrix approach has been applied to select the most significant challenge. The results show that food organizations must work on cold chain to manage logistics and distribution challenges to reduce wastage, decrease financial losses and to take environmental issues into account. This paper ranks the challenges as well as develop an index for the dairy industry to achieve corporate sustainability in its supply chain and logistics network. The present study findings will provide useful knowledge for managers and policy makers managing interaction between people and process aspects and corporate sustainability management in the agro-based diary organizational logistics and supply chains. This is one of the unique studies in food supply chain that helps in improving the logistics and supply performance in diary industries of emerging economies.
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The lack of practical application and accurate benefit analysis, which are the prerequisites for each other, make it difficult to implement and promote the underground logistics system (ULS), although in theory people always recognize its advantages in sustainable improvement of urban transportation and logistics. This paper attempts to use the system dynamics (SD) method, based on the real-world simulation, to analyze the quantitative relationship between the implementation strategy of ULS and the sustainability of urban transportation and logistics to solve this problem. Beijing city, China, was selected as the empirical background. Four ULS implementation strategies were proposed according to the city’s potential investment in ULS and its demand for ULS network capacity. Meanwhile, four representative indicators were selected to evaluate the simulation results, including the average speed of the road networks in the peak hour, congestion loss, delivery travel time in the peak hour and the PM emissions of the truck. Good fitting index of historical data shows the validity of the model. Simulation results show that ULS, as a supplement to the urban integrated transport system, can significantly improve urban traffic and logistics. This study provides a perspective in the systematic and quantitative analysis of ULS to support the urban sustainable development.
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This study, using the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS), examined the relationship between the mechanical condition of heavy trucks and crash involvement. Two specific hypotheses were tested. First, trucks with defects and out-of-service (OOS) conditions were statistically more likely to be in the role of precipitating a crash than trucks with no defects or OOS conditions. Second, defects in specific systems, such as the brake system, were associated with crash roles in which those systems were primary mechanisms for avoiding the crash and physical mechanisms that link the vehicle defect with the crash role. Post-crash inspections showed that the condition of the trucks in the LTCCS was poor. Almost 55% of the vehicles had one or more mechanical violations. Almost 30% had at least one OOS condition. Of mechanical systems, violations in the brake system (36% of all) and the lighting system (19%) were the most frequent. Both driver and vehicle factors were found to contribute to crashes. A brake OOS condition increased the odds of the truck's being assigned the critical reason (a variable identifying the precipitating vehicle) by 1.8 times. Both hours of service violations and log OOS violations increased the odds by a larger amount—2.0 and 2.2 times respectively. In rear-end and cross-paths crashes, brake violations, especially violations related to adjustment, increased the odds of the truck's being the striking vehicle by 1.8 times.
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This study sought to benchmark the self-reported experiences and views of fatigue among short haul light vehicle (Light) drivers against those of long distance heavy truck (Heavy) drivers. Light drivers (n= 270) who participated in a 2004-2005 state-wide survey were compared to Heavy drivers (n= 1007) who had been surveyed across Australia in 1998. Similar questions permitted comparisons of drivers, their work, their fatigue experiences and their views on fatigue management. Basic characteristics of the drivers' fatigue experiences were similar but the groups highlighted different work-related contributors, effects and preferred management strategies. Light drivers reported working long day time hours with too few rest breaks and with high exposure to an urban traffic environment in an uncomfortable vehicle. Heavy drivers reported working long hours including at night, and highlighted dawn driving and time spent waiting to load and unload as particular fatigue contributors. Fatigue was manifested in impaired negotiation of an urban driving environment among Light drivers and difficulties with vehicle control and monotonous non-urban driving for Heavy drivers. Despite different manifestations shaped by work circumstances, at least as many Light drivers as Heavy drivers experienced fatigue frequently and as a problem. The Light transport sector may benefit, initially, from simple awareness raising and education about fatigue and its management as well as measures targeting relevant work contributors.
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Motor-carrier safety is a critical and challenging issue in the US motorcarrier industry. Despite the vast safety improvements in the industry, a continuing challenge is the economic costs associated with regulatory oversight of safety inspection programs. The purpose of this article is to compute the costs and associated benefits of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s driver and vehicle inspection program of commercial motor vehicles in the 10,001- to 26,000-lb category. Our analysis reveals that for every dollar spent in program costs, the benefits are $8.86.
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One of the most popular coactive measures developed to prevent road traffic accidents in recent decades is the implementation of driving licenses based on points systems (PS) which penalize repeat offenders with suspension or withdrawal of their licenses. This paper analyzes their rapid spread worldwide through an in-depth review of the existing literature. A comprehensive meta-analysis of the effects of PS on road traffic accidents and the duration of these effects has been conducted. The findings show that the strong initial positive impact (15 to 20% reductions in accidents, fatalities and injuries) seems to wear off in under eighteen months. This limited effectiveness is related to the absence of complementary enforcement to back up these measures. Without them, points systems could turn into a boomerang road safety policy, and even be abandoned at a later date. The implications of the conclusions for legislation and future research are considered.
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The European Union has strived for deregulation in the road transport sector on the grounds of improved quality and reduced freight rates on the services offered, protecting the public interest and improving transport services. Extensive research has investigated the impact of road transport sector deregulation on freight rates, security and environment among others. This paper adds to the literature by analysing the impact of the road transport deregulation on the short sea shipping sector. The findings have two important implications for the formation of transport policy: a) regulatory reforms and the provision of stimuli to road freight transport companies have negative effects on short sea shipping; b) environmental benefits can be gained if policies supporting short sea shipping are complemented by focusing on reducing road freight transport externalities, including reducing truck movements based on load factors/empty runs and decreasing the number of trucks.
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Traffic safety has become a major component of European transport policies. But the road to a real Common European Road Safety Policy has been a long one. The notion of Europeanization might help to describe the European Union (EU)'s impact on national policies, although the process differs from other transport sectors. The objective of this article is to explain the effect of the EU road safety policy on domestic road mortality rates in the EU-27. Using data on European countries for the 2000–2009 period we analyse how EU traffic safety policies, institutions and networks facilitate and encourage the learning process in the individual countries. This timeframe coincides with the 2001 White Paper and the third European Road Safety Action Programme (ERSAP), both of which are crucial for constructing the Common Road Safety Policy.
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Background In crashes between a car and a light truck or van (LTV), car occupants are more likely to be killed than LTV occupants. The extent this is due to the greater harm imposed by LTVs on cars or the greater protection they offer their own occupants is not known. Methods We conducted a case-control study of collisions between two passenger vehicles in the USA during 1990–2008. Cases were all decedents in fatal crashes (N=157 684); one control was selected from each crash in a national probability sample of crashes (N=379 458). Results Adjusted for the type of vehicle they were riding in and other confounders, occupants of vehicles colliding with any type of LTVs (categorised as compact sport utility vehicles (SUV), full-size SUVs, minivans, full-size vans, compact pickups and full-size pickups) were at higher risk of death compared with occupants colliding with cars. Adjusted for the type of vehicle they crashed with and other confounders, occupants of LTVs in a collision with any vehicle were at lower risk of death compared with car occupants. Compared with a crash between two cars, the overall RR of death in a crash between any of the other 27 different combinations of vehicle types was 1.0 or greater, except for crashes between two full-size pickups, where the RR of death was 0.9. Conclusions Although LTVs protect their own occupants better than cars do, LTVs are associated with an excess total risk of death in crashes with cars or other LTVs.
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This study examines the relationship between a motor carrier's financial position and its safety performance. New evidence is provided regarding this relationship. Data were taken from the Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System (SafeStat) database and the Motor Carriers Annual Reports dataset. The sample has 657 carriers across all major industry segments. Negative binomial regression and multiple regression analysis were applied to obtain the results. The results provide evidence to indicate that a stronger financial position in a previous year is significantly associated with better safety performance in a subsequent year.
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The research germinates from the statement that the cities have to solve the impacts due to freight transport in order to improve their sustainability implementing sets of city logistics measures. But city logistics measures involve several actors and choice dimensions. It is therefore important to have methods and models able to assess the effectiveness of the measures to be implemented. The current models were mainly developed to simulate some aspects of urban freight transport, and are not able to forecast many impacts of implementing traffic and transportation measures at an urban scale. This paper presents a modelling approach that tries to point out the relations existing among city logistics measures, actors and choice dimensions. It comprises three model sub-systems to estimate the quantity O–D matrices by transport service type (e.g. retailer on own account or wholesaler on own account or by carrier), the delivery O–D matrices by delivery time period, and the vehicle O–D matrices according to delivery tour departure time and vehicle type. This modelling system is a multi-stage model and considers a discrete choice approach for each decisional level. It was first tested using some data collected in the inner area of Rome, including traffic counts and interviews with retailers and truck-drivers. The model estimations were also compared with the experimental ones, and quite satisfactory results were obtained.
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Road safety developments are correlated with mobility developments, which are in turn affected by socioeconomic factors (level of motorisation, economic growth etc.). During the last few years, road traffic fatalities exhibit important annual reductions in several developed countries; these reductions cannot be justified by policy efforts alone, and are partly attributed to the global economic recession affecting most countries’ economy and mobility. The present research aims to associate annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) changes with the related annual changes in road traffic mortality rates. Mortality rates and GDP per capita data for the period 1975–2011 are used from 27 European countries, for the development of mixed linear models. The results suggest that an annual increase of GDP per capita leads to an annual increase of mortality rates, whereas an annual decrease of GDP per capita leads to an annual decrease of mortality rates. These effects are statistically significant overall, and in different groups of countries (Northern/Western, Central/Eastern and Southern). A one-year lagged effect of annual GDP decrease was found to be significant in Northern/Western countries. These effects may capture annual GDP increases from the improvement in the prosperity level of most European countries, as well as occasional annual GDP decreases as a result of socioeconomic events (e.g. economic recessions, political changes in Central/Eastern European countries in the early nineties etc.). The models proposed in this paper are able to characterise the short-term dynamics of the examined variables, but not their long-run relationships.
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Objectives: The major purpose of this study was to identify risk factors affecting truck crashes on freeways and propose recommendations for safer truck traffic operations. Methods: Truck crashes were analyzed to identify how truck traffic safety is related to prevailing traffic and weather conditions. Prevailing traffic conditions were characterized by central tendencies and the spatiotemporal variation of traffic parameters collected from freeway traffic surveillance systems. A total of 377 truck crashes occurring on Korean freeways in a recent 3-year period, 2008-2010, were analyzed together with corresponding prevailing traffic conditions and weather conditions. Several statistical tests were conducted to understand the characteristics of prevailing traffic conditions before crash occurrence based on different weather conditions. In addition, a binary logistic regression technique was applied to identify causal factors affecting truck crash severity under normal and adverse weather conditions. Results: Major findings from the analyses are discussed with truck operations strategies including speed enforcement, variable speed limit, and truck lane restriction from the safety enhancement point of view. Speed-related variables representing prevailing traffic conditions before crash occurrences were found to be the most statistically significant factors affecting truck crash severity, compared to volume-related variables such as the volume-to-capacity ratio (v/c). It is inferred that speed management is an effective tool for safer truck traffic operations on freeways. The major findings can be further discussed to derive valuable insights into truck traffic operations based on different weather conditions, such as normal and adverse. Conclusions: Some recommendations for safer truck traffic operations were presented based on the results obtained. The outcomes of this study could be effectively utilized to support the development of various traffic operations strategies and policies for truck traffic safety. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Traffic Injury Prevention to view the supplemental file.
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This paper analyzes the safety performance differences between union and non-union motor carriers. Based primarily on the safety and health provisions of a national agreement between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and a major unionized motor carrier, a hypothesis is developed that union carriers have a positive safety impact. The hypothesis is tested using safety performance data. Key findings are that union membership has a statistically significant positive impact on both driver and vehicle safety performance. Union membership results in significantly fewer crashes as well.
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Millions of Americans buy light truck vehicles (LTVs) each year to meet family, business, and personal travel needs. The main objective of this research is to study the effect of the increased percentage of LTVs in traffic on fatalities by manner of collision (rear-end), and also to address the impact of crash configuration (car-car, car-LTV, LTV-car, and LTV-to-LTV). This paper presents time series models that incorporate the percentage of LTVs in traffic to analyze and forecast future trends of fatality that result from rear-end collisions. A time series model was estimated to predict future LTV percentages. Future forecasts using the calibrated time series model show that the LTV percentage is expected to increase and reach 45% of the traffic stream in the United States by the year 2010. The crash analysis is based on the fatality analysis reporting system crash database covering the period of 1975-2000. A transfer function time series model with the LTV percentage as an input and annual deaths from rear-end crashes as output indicates that the annual deaths in passenger vehicles involved in rear-end collisions will be 1,004 by the year 2010 (a 5% increase compared to that of the year 2000). The analysis also showed an expected increase in the fatalities of certain configurations based on the type of vehicles involved in the crash, and indicating possible problems if the lead vehicle is an LTV and the following vehicle is a regular car.
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This study uses data for the EU-27 countries in the period 1999-2009 to estimate determinants of road traffic fatality rates. Controlling for country attributes and road safety policy variables, we examine the influence of variables related with the national health systems; the number of hospital beds per square kilometer, and the percentage of health expenditures over gross domestic product. We find evidence that the density of hospital beds contributes to the fall in traffic-related fatalities. Furthermore, the quality of general medical facilities and technology associated with increases in health expenditure may be also a relevant factor in reducing road traffic fatalities.