NORDICROAD AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH | NO.2 | 2008

Traffic Safety ResearchSaves Lives

2 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3www.nordicroads.com

News from Contents

Swedish National Road andTransport Research Institute (VTI)

VTI is an independent, internationally establishedresearch institute which is engaged in the transportsector. Our work covers all modes, and our core com-petence is in the fields of safety, economy, environ-ment, traffic and transport analysis, public transport,behaviour and the man-vehicle-transport system inte-raction, and in road design, operation and maintenan-ce. VTI is a world leader in several areas, for instancein simulator technology.

Danish Road Directorate (DRD)Danish Road Institute (DRI)

The Road Directorate, which is a part of TheMinistry of Transport & Energy, Denmark, isresponsible for development and management ofthe national highways and for servicing and facilita-ting traffic on the network. As part of this responsi-bility, the Directorate conducts R&D, the aim ofwhich is to contribute to efficient road manage-ment and to the safe use of the network. The mate-rials research component is carried out by theDanish Road Institute.

Technical Research Centreof Finland (VTT)

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a con-tract research organisation with a staff of 2,800. Inthis joint publication, the VTT expertise areas coverresearch and development of transportation, logis-tics and road structures. The work is carried out infive research groups employing a staff of 60.

Icelandic RoadAdministration (ICERA)The ICERA's mission is to provide the

Icelandic society with a road system in accordancewith its needs and to provide a service with the aimof smooth and safe traffic. The number of employe-es is about 340. Applied research and developmentand to some extent also basic research concerningroad construction, maintenance, traffic and safety isperformed or directed by the ICERA. Developmentdivision is responsible for road research in Iceland.

Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA)

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is oneof the administrative agencies under the Ministry ofTransport and Communications in Norway. TheNPRA is responsible for the development and mana-gement of public roads and road traffic, as well as theVehicle Department. This responsibility includesresearch and development of all areas related to roadtransport and the implementation of R&D results.

Institute of TransportEconomics (TØI), Norway

The Institute of Transport Economics is the natio-nal institution for transport research and develop-ment in Norway. The main objectives of theInstitute are to carry out applied research and pro-mote the application and use of results throughconsultative assistance to public authorities, thetransport industry and others. The Institute is anindependent research foundation employing aboutone hundred persons.

Editorial notesNordic Road & Transport Research is a joint publi-cation of six public road and transport researchorganisations in the Nordic countries, Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The mainobjective of the publication is to disseminate re-search results and news from the institutions, espe-cially to researchers and decision makers. Each insti-tution is responsible for the selection and presenta-tion of the material from its own scope of activities.

Nordic Road & Transport Research is publishedthree times a year. It is regularly sent out, free ofcharge, to recipients selected by the six jointpublishers. Free sample copies are also sent out onspecial request.

Reproduction and quotation of the texts are allow-ed if reference is made to the author and source.However, legislation regulates and restricts the rightto reproduce the illustrations. Please contact therespective publishing institution for information.

Advertising is not accepted.Correspondence about the contents of the publi-

cation:

Please write to the author or to the respectivepublishing organisation.

Requests for back issues, and notification of add-ress changes:

Readers outside the Nordic countries: please writeto the Editor-in-chief at the VTI in Sweden.

Readers in the Nordic countries: please contactthe publishing institution of your country.

Addresses: see back cover.

The Editorial Board consists of the following representatives of the publishing institutions

Editor-in-Chief, SwedenMagdalena Green, VTInordic@vti.se

DenmarkHelen Hasz-Singh, DRIhhz@vd.dk

FinlandKari Mäkelä, VTTkari.makela@vtt.fi

IcelandG. Pétur Matthiasson, ICERAgpm@vegagerdin.is

NorwayThorbjørn Chr. Risan, NPRAthorbjorn.risan@vegvesen.noHarald Aas, TØI ha@toi.no

Graphic DesignJohnny Dahlgren Grafisk produktion AB,

Linköping, Sweden

Issue 3,900

ISSN 1101-5179

CoverVTI/Hejdlösa bilder

In Brief | p4Road Safety in the Transport Agencies’ Input to the Norwegian National Transport Plan 2010–2019 I p8

Prospects for Improving Road Safety in Norway I p10Topic Days in Iceland Address Road Safety. Time to Treat the Road Environment I p12

Global Traffic Safety | p14Drugs and Medicines in Traffic I p16

Increased Safety for Road Workers on Motorways | p18The "Swedish Model" is Recommended I p19

Depth Analyses of Fatal Road Accidents in Norway | p20Better-informed Drivers I p22

Lowering Speed Limits Reduces Speed and Saves Lives in Norway | p24Smarter and Safer School Buses – Unique Initiative on Trips by School Transport I p26

Safety Effects by Use of ITS in Connection with the Extension of M3 in Copenhagen | p28Fatigue in Traffic | p29

Automatic Speed Control in Norway | p30Road Safety in Northern Cyprus I p32

Traffic Safety Campaigns in Norway | p34Full Activity in the VTI Driving Simulator | p36

Fauna Passages in Denmark I p37Fire-safety in the Bjørvika Tunnel | p38

What's Going Down in Oslo? I p39Non-technical Improvements Reduce Rail Border-crossing Delays | p40

The Implementation of the Norwegian Cycling Strategy I p42The Norwegian Network of Cycling Cities | p44

Publications I p46

2 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3www.nordicroads.com

News from Contents

Swedish National Road andTransport Research Institute (VTI)

VTI is an independent, internationally establishedresearch institute which is engaged in the transportsector. Our work covers all modes, and our core com-petence is in the fields of safety, economy, environ-ment, traffic and transport analysis, public transport,behaviour and the man-vehicle-transport system inte-raction, and in road design, operation and maintenan-ce. VTI is a world leader in several areas, for instancein simulator technology.

Danish Road Directorate (DRD)Danish Road Institute (DRI)

The Road Directorate, which is a part of TheMinistry of Transport & Energy, Denmark, isresponsible for development and management ofthe national highways and for servicing and facilita-ting traffic on the network. As part of this responsi-bility, the Directorate conducts R&D, the aim ofwhich is to contribute to efficient road manage-ment and to the safe use of the network. The mate-rials research component is carried out by theDanish Road Institute.

Technical Research Centreof Finland (VTT)

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a con-tract research organisation with a staff of 2,800. Inthis joint publication, the VTT expertise areas coverresearch and development of transportation, logis-tics and road structures. The work is carried out infive research groups employing a staff of 60.

Icelandic RoadAdministration (ICERA)The ICERA's mission is to provide the

Icelandic society with a road system in accordancewith its needs and to provide a service with the aimof smooth and safe traffic. The number of employe-es is about 340. Applied research and developmentand to some extent also basic research concerningroad construction, maintenance, traffic and safety isperformed or directed by the ICERA. Developmentdivision is responsible for road research in Iceland.

Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA)

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is oneof the administrative agencies under the Ministry ofTransport and Communications in Norway. TheNPRA is responsible for the development and mana-gement of public roads and road traffic, as well as theVehicle Department. This responsibility includesresearch and development of all areas related to roadtransport and the implementation of R&D results.

Institute of TransportEconomics (TØI), Norway

The Institute of Transport Economics is the natio-nal institution for transport research and develop-ment in Norway. The main objectives of theInstitute are to carry out applied research and pro-mote the application and use of results throughconsultative assistance to public authorities, thetransport industry and others. The Institute is anindependent research foundation employing aboutone hundred persons.

Editorial notesNordic Road & Transport Research is a joint publi-cation of six public road and transport researchorganisations in the Nordic countries, Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The mainobjective of the publication is to disseminate re-search results and news from the institutions, espe-cially to researchers and decision makers. Each insti-tution is responsible for the selection and presenta-tion of the material from its own scope of activities.

Nordic Road & Transport Research is publishedthree times a year. It is regularly sent out, free ofcharge, to recipients selected by the six jointpublishers. Free sample copies are also sent out onspecial request.

Reproduction and quotation of the texts are allow-ed if reference is made to the author and source.However, legislation regulates and restricts the rightto reproduce the illustrations. Please contact therespective publishing institution for information.

Advertising is not accepted.Correspondence about the contents of the publi-

cation:

Please write to the author or to the respectivepublishing organisation.

Requests for back issues, and notification of add-ress changes:

Readers outside the Nordic countries: please writeto the Editor-in-chief at the VTI in Sweden.

Readers in the Nordic countries: please contactthe publishing institution of your country.

Addresses: see back cover.

The Editorial Board consists of the following representatives of the publishing institutions

Editor-in-Chief, SwedenMagdalena Green, VTInordic@vti.se

DenmarkHelen Hasz-Singh, DRIhhz@vd.dk

FinlandKari Mäkelä, VTTkari.makela@vtt.fi

IcelandG. Pétur Matthiasson, ICERAgpm@vegagerdin.is

NorwayThorbjørn Chr. Risan, NPRAthorbjorn.risan@vegvesen.noHarald Aas, TØI ha@toi.no

Graphic DesignJohnny Dahlgren Grafisk produktion AB,

Linköping, Sweden

Issue 3,900

ISSN 1101-5179

CoverVTI/Hejdlösa bilder

In Brief | p4Road Safety in the Transport Agencies’ Input to the Norwegian National Transport Plan 2010–2019 I p8

Prospects for Improving Road Safety in Norway I p10Topic Days in Iceland Address Road Safety. Time to Treat the Road Environment I p12

Global Traffic Safety | p14Drugs and Medicines in Traffic I p16

Increased Safety for Road Workers on Motorways | p18The "Swedish Model" is Recommended I p19

Depth Analyses of Fatal Road Accidents in Norway | p20Better-informed Drivers I p22

Lowering Speed Limits Reduces Speed and Saves Lives in Norway | p24Smarter and Safer School Buses – Unique Initiative on Trips by School Transport I p26

Safety Effects by Use of ITS in Connection with the Extension of M3 in Copenhagen | p28Fatigue in Traffic | p29

Automatic Speed Control in Norway | p30Road Safety in Northern Cyprus I p32

Traffic Safety Campaigns in Norway | p34Full Activity in the VTI Driving Simulator | p36

Fauna Passages in Denmark I p37Fire-safety in the Bjørvika Tunnel | p38

What's Going Down in Oslo? I p39Non-technical Improvements Reduce Rail Border-crossing Delays | p40

The Implementation of the Norwegian Cycling Strategy I p42The Norwegian Network of Cycling Cities | p44

Publications I p46

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 54 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

IN BRIEF

Visiting ScientistThe Danish Road Directorate, DanishRoad Institute (DRI) was very pleasedwhen Dr. Douglas Wilson from Universityof Auckland, New Zealand, asked BjarneSchmidt about the possibility to set up asabbatical leave at DRI. Bjarne and Douglashave known each other for many yearsthrough their collaboration on PIARCCommittee TC 4.2 on surface characteris-tics. For eight years, Bjarne was chairmanof the PIARC Committee on Road SurfaceCharacteristics. Douglas’ sabbatical leave at

DRI was held in May and June of 2008.Douglas has great experience in friction

measurements from many places in theworld and in laboratory testing, where wearon pavement samples is compared to chan-ges in friction measurements of pavements.He therefore works with pavement techno-logy and traffic safety. In New Zealand, theROAR friction measuring device has beenused for such measurements. In Denmark,ROAR (Road analyzer and recorder) hasbeen used for ten years on acceptance andcontrol for new and in-service pavements.

Douglas is also interested to establishcooperative projects in other fields with theDanish Road Institute. He commented thatit is very good that a large part of road rese-arch takes place at the Danish RoadInstitute funded by public means. In NewZealand, road and traffic research is doneat Auckland University, where he is a seniorlecturer.

In New Zealand, there is a growing inte-rest in road engineering among universitystudents – and in the last six to eight yearsthe number of undergraduates has risenthreefold and that of post-graduate stu-dents has risen seven times.

Contact: marja.rosenberg@vtt.fi

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finlandhas developed a mobile guide for city resi-dents that facilitates using public transport.The service delivers real-time informationon buses or trams to mobile phones.Passengers waiting at a given stop can trackthe approach of their chosen service stopby stop.

The Mobile Guide for City Residents(KAMO) is a new mobile application thatoffers route finding and stop-specific time-table information. Passengers can also paytheir fare via the application and save jour-ney details for later use. KAMO users cantrack the progress of any bus, tram orunderground train included in the real-time positioning-based monitoring. Theservice also enables journey planning andtracking the planned route using a mobilephone. Travel news concerning problemsor changes to public transport is also avai-lable via the KAMO application. Oncedownloaded onto a mobile phone, KAMOcan be accessed using the phone's menu.

The mobile service developed by VTTcan also utilize Near Field Communication(NFC), a short-range identification techno-logy. This type of remote reading functio-nality, a feature of e.g. the Nokia 6131 NFC

Mobile Guide Service for Mobile PhonesDeveloped by VTT in FinlandReal-time public transport information delivered to passengers' mobile phones

mobile phone, can enhance the speed ofthe application. Touching the NFC tag atthe bus stop shelter with a mobile phoneopens the application on the phone's dis-play without the user having to access itseparately via the menu. Tags can be usedfor mobile travel ticket purchases or acces-sing stop-specific timetable information.The NFC function has been in pilot use in

the city of Oulu at about 40 stops. HelsinkiCity Transport (HKL) is planning to attachtags to stops in the downtown Helsinkiarea. As NFC phones are not yet widelyused, the application also works on Nokia'sother S40 and S60 models.

The service is designed to serve bothcity residents who use public transportregularly and occasional passengers such astourists. For the time being, the applicationis available in the Helsinki and Ouluregions, but can be expanded to coverother cities and towns.

The service can also be enhanced with arange of additional services such as provi-ding information on local events, newsreports or location-based advertisements.In the future, users will be able to tailor theKAMO application to offer informationonly on certain routes or additional ser-vices selected by the user.

The development of the service by VTTwas funded by Helsinki City Transport andthe City of Oulu.

New DirectorGeneral of ICERA

On 1 May 2008 the Traffic Minister appoin-ted Hreinn Haraldsson as the new GeneralDirector for the Icelandic Road Admini-stration. Hreinn has worked for ICERAsince 1981, latest as a director for the deve-lopment division, with responsibility forplanning, environment, road traffic androad safety, IT as well as research and deve-lopment. Hreinn is a doctor in Engi-neering Geology from the University ofUppsala in Sweden. Hreinn, who is 59years old, has since he began to work forthe ICERA been responsible for road tun-nels in Iceland.

The Danish Minister of Transport hasappointed Per Jacobsen as the newDirector General of the Danish RoadDirectorate. He started in his new positionon 1 June 2008. He is a graduate inPolitical Science.

The appointment is a part of an internalchange of directors in the Danish Ministryof Transport. The previous Director of theDanish Road Directorate, Henning Christi-ansen has in this connection assumed the

New Director General of Danish Road Directorate

position as Director of the Danish RoadSafety and Transport Agency.

Per Jacobsen is 44 years old and comesfrom previous positions in the Ministry ofFinance and the Ministry of Transport.Recently he has held the position asDirector of the National Rail Authority.During his first days at work, he attendedthe Via Nordica Conference in Helsinki,and visited the Road Directorate’s depart-ments in all of Denmark.

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NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 54 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

IN BRIEF

Visiting ScientistThe Danish Road Directorate, DanishRoad Institute (DRI) was very pleasedwhen Dr. Douglas Wilson from Universityof Auckland, New Zealand, asked BjarneSchmidt about the possibility to set up asabbatical leave at DRI. Bjarne and Douglashave known each other for many yearsthrough their collaboration on PIARCCommittee TC 4.2 on surface characteris-tics. For eight years, Bjarne was chairmanof the PIARC Committee on Road SurfaceCharacteristics. Douglas’ sabbatical leave at

DRI was held in May and June of 2008.Douglas has great experience in friction

measurements from many places in theworld and in laboratory testing, where wearon pavement samples is compared to chan-ges in friction measurements of pavements.He therefore works with pavement techno-logy and traffic safety. In New Zealand, theROAR friction measuring device has beenused for such measurements. In Denmark,ROAR (Road analyzer and recorder) hasbeen used for ten years on acceptance andcontrol for new and in-service pavements.

Douglas is also interested to establishcooperative projects in other fields with theDanish Road Institute. He commented thatit is very good that a large part of road rese-arch takes place at the Danish RoadInstitute funded by public means. In NewZealand, road and traffic research is doneat Auckland University, where he is a seniorlecturer.

In New Zealand, there is a growing inte-rest in road engineering among universitystudents – and in the last six to eight yearsthe number of undergraduates has risenthreefold and that of post-graduate stu-dents has risen seven times.

Contact: marja.rosenberg@vtt.fi

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finlandhas developed a mobile guide for city resi-dents that facilitates using public transport.The service delivers real-time informationon buses or trams to mobile phones.Passengers waiting at a given stop can trackthe approach of their chosen service stopby stop.

The Mobile Guide for City Residents(KAMO) is a new mobile application thatoffers route finding and stop-specific time-table information. Passengers can also paytheir fare via the application and save jour-ney details for later use. KAMO users cantrack the progress of any bus, tram orunderground train included in the real-time positioning-based monitoring. Theservice also enables journey planning andtracking the planned route using a mobilephone. Travel news concerning problemsor changes to public transport is also avai-lable via the KAMO application. Oncedownloaded onto a mobile phone, KAMOcan be accessed using the phone's menu.

The mobile service developed by VTTcan also utilize Near Field Communication(NFC), a short-range identification techno-logy. This type of remote reading functio-nality, a feature of e.g. the Nokia 6131 NFC

Mobile Guide Service for Mobile PhonesDeveloped by VTT in FinlandReal-time public transport information delivered to passengers' mobile phones

mobile phone, can enhance the speed ofthe application. Touching the NFC tag atthe bus stop shelter with a mobile phoneopens the application on the phone's dis-play without the user having to access itseparately via the menu. Tags can be usedfor mobile travel ticket purchases or acces-sing stop-specific timetable information.The NFC function has been in pilot use in

the city of Oulu at about 40 stops. HelsinkiCity Transport (HKL) is planning to attachtags to stops in the downtown Helsinkiarea. As NFC phones are not yet widelyused, the application also works on Nokia'sother S40 and S60 models.

The service is designed to serve bothcity residents who use public transportregularly and occasional passengers such astourists. For the time being, the applicationis available in the Helsinki and Ouluregions, but can be expanded to coverother cities and towns.

The service can also be enhanced with arange of additional services such as provi-ding information on local events, newsreports or location-based advertisements.In the future, users will be able to tailor theKAMO application to offer informationonly on certain routes or additional ser-vices selected by the user.

The development of the service by VTTwas funded by Helsinki City Transport andthe City of Oulu.

New DirectorGeneral of ICERA

On 1 May 2008 the Traffic Minister appoin-ted Hreinn Haraldsson as the new GeneralDirector for the Icelandic Road Admini-stration. Hreinn has worked for ICERAsince 1981, latest as a director for the deve-lopment division, with responsibility forplanning, environment, road traffic androad safety, IT as well as research and deve-lopment. Hreinn is a doctor in Engi-neering Geology from the University ofUppsala in Sweden. Hreinn, who is 59years old, has since he began to work forthe ICERA been responsible for road tun-nels in Iceland.

The Danish Minister of Transport hasappointed Per Jacobsen as the newDirector General of the Danish RoadDirectorate. He started in his new positionon 1 June 2008. He is a graduate inPolitical Science.

The appointment is a part of an internalchange of directors in the Danish Ministryof Transport. The previous Director of theDanish Road Directorate, Henning Christi-ansen has in this connection assumed the

New Director General of Danish Road Directorate

position as Director of the Danish RoadSafety and Transport Agency.

Per Jacobsen is 44 years old and comesfrom previous positions in the Ministry ofFinance and the Ministry of Transport.Recently he has held the position asDirector of the National Rail Authority.During his first days at work, he attendedthe Via Nordica Conference in Helsinki,and visited the Road Directorate’s depart-ments in all of Denmark.

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6 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 7

IN BRIEF

The Road Ahead with Via Nordica 2008More than 1 000 Nordic road and trafficexperts were gathered in Helsinki, June9–11, during the congress of Nordic RoadAssociation (NRA), Via Nordica 2008. ViaNordica 2008 rounded off a working cycleof four years for the committees in theNRA. “The Road Ahead” was the motto ofthe congress this time.

Via Nordica 2008 became the jubileecongress of the NRA as it was the 20th cong-ress since the association was founded 73year’s ago,

– This year’s congress is the biggestcongress ever and a proof of NRA being anactive, dynamic and sustainable organiza-tion, said Jukka Hirvelä, the FinnishDirector General of Public Roads, duringthe opening ceremony. Jukka Hirvelä hasled the NRA in the last four years.

– The time when the congress was just avenue for presentation of the summaries ofwhat has been done in the committees isover. Now Via Nordica is well-established asone of the most important meeting placesof the business sector. The Nordic countrieshave many similar challenges which makethis event important for exchanging know-ledge and experience – both within the pro-fessional and social aspects, Hirvelä said.

The programme of Via Nordica 2008had a strong focus on humans and their

View from the exhibition area during Via Nordica 2008.

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Director General ofPublic Roads inFinland, Jukka Hirvelä

different roles in the traffic system. Threedifferent angels of view characterized theprogramme: the people, the vehicle andthe infrastructure.

In connection with the congress, a vastexhibition complemented the scientificprogramme. Exhibitors from 14 differentcountries, representing the whole sector,exhibited their products.

The next congress will take place inReykjavik, Iceland, in 2012.

Large-scale Presentation in SloveniaIn April 2008, the conference TRA washeld in Slovenia. VTI was there both witha stand and a large representative in theform of the unique VTI road simulator.

TRA, European Road TransportResearch Arena, was arranged by theEuropean Commission for the second timein the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on 21–24April. This conference for researchers andother actors in the European transport sec-tor, such as road planners, vehicle makersand fuel producers, was held for the firsttime in Göteborg in 2006. This year it wasattended by 200 people from 52 countries.The next TRA will be held in Brussels on7–10 June 2010.

Part of the Swedish standVTI had a place in the Swedish exhibitionstand together with the Swedish RoadAdministration, Vinnova and SweRoad.The theme for the conference this year wasgreener, safer and smarter vehicles inEurope, and many sessions dealt with tech-nologies of different kinds to achieve this.

Several researchers from VTI were pre-sent and presented papers on ongoing pro-jects. One the VTI researchers wasSigurdur Erlingsson who presented theVTI road simulator for load tests and acce-lerated testing at full scale. But it was notonly a talk that was given about this roadsimulator, called HVS, Heavy VehicleSimulator, it could also be visited. Differenttechnical visits were arranged during theconference, and one of these was to see ademonstration of HVS. The demonstrationwas presented as "a must-see for all whodeal with design, construction and mainte-nance of pavements".

Road tests and demonstrationsUsing this equipment, it is possible to simu-late real loads from heavy vehicles and thusto study how various types of road pave-ment stand up to heavy traffic. HVS cansimulate one year's heavy traffic in only oneweek. It is possible to control load, speed,temperature, tyre pressure, lateral positionand direction of loading. Knowledge of

road design and road maintenance measu-res can be improved through testing andevaluation of how traffic breaks down diffe-rent materials and designs. It is also pos-sible to chart the life of various maintenan-ce and strengthening measures. The equip-ment is mobile, which means that it can beused both in special test facilities and outon existing roads.

More information: www.vianordica2008.fi

Contact: Astrid Linder, astrid.linder@vti.se

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New honorary members of the NRA: (From right) Olav Søfteland, his wife, Gudveig, Kjell Levik and his wife, IngerMarie. To the left, Pär Håkan Appel, ex secretary-general of the NRA.

Honorary Members of the NRAFormer General Director of the NPRA,Olav Søfteland, and former manager ofNPRA’s international activity, Kjell Levik,have become honorary members of theNordic Road Association (NRA).

The two road veterans obtained thehonorary membership during the banquetat the association’s congress, Via Nordica2008, held in Helsinki in June 2008. NRAgranted the honorary membership to Mr.Søfteland and Mr. Levik in recoginition ofthe work they have done for several NRAcommittees throughout the years.

The two brand-new pensioners are nowmembers of a very exclusive club of hono-rees in the association.

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A mathematical model of a crash testdummy that represents an averagewoman can for the first time enable theautomotive industry to design road safe-ty solutions that are suited for both menand women.

But the creation of a mathematicalmodel that will answer the question ofhow the female body moves in a crashsituation costs money. Astrid Linder, whois running this research project at VTI,has therefore, together with the Swedishautomotive industry, submitted an appli-cation to EU for MSEK 35 over four years.The application is also backed by compa-nies, research institutes and universities inGermany, The Netherlands, Austria,Switzerland, France, Spain and the UK.

– We have no data on how womenmove in a crash, and this must be chan-

Mathematical Model for a CrashTest Dummy Representing anAverage Woman

It all went so well that, during the TRAconference, VTI carried out tests which arepart of the EU project SPENS (SustainablePavements for European New MemberStates). The objective was to evaluate, byaccelerated tests, various strengtheningmeasures to upgrade roads carrying lowtraffic volumes.

ged, says Astrid. We have now got Saaband Volvo to participate in the project.Chalmers University and Folksam havebeen involved for some time. We arenow hoping to have a favourable answerfrom the EU.

Women have more slender limbsthan men, and their bodily proportionsare also different. This is especially so asregards the back, where the width acrossthe shoulders, the waist and hips havequite different proportions. We alsoknow that women run twice the risk ofwhiplash injuries compared with men.

– Put a woman's jacket on a man andsee how it hangs, it does not fit at all, saysAstrid.

6 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 7

IN BRIEF

The Road Ahead with Via Nordica 2008More than 1 000 Nordic road and trafficexperts were gathered in Helsinki, June9–11, during the congress of Nordic RoadAssociation (NRA), Via Nordica 2008. ViaNordica 2008 rounded off a working cycleof four years for the committees in theNRA. “The Road Ahead” was the motto ofthe congress this time.

Via Nordica 2008 became the jubileecongress of the NRA as it was the 20th cong-ress since the association was founded 73year’s ago,

– This year’s congress is the biggestcongress ever and a proof of NRA being anactive, dynamic and sustainable organiza-tion, said Jukka Hirvelä, the FinnishDirector General of Public Roads, duringthe opening ceremony. Jukka Hirvelä hasled the NRA in the last four years.

– The time when the congress was just avenue for presentation of the summaries ofwhat has been done in the committees isover. Now Via Nordica is well-established asone of the most important meeting placesof the business sector. The Nordic countrieshave many similar challenges which makethis event important for exchanging know-ledge and experience – both within the pro-fessional and social aspects, Hirvelä said.

The programme of Via Nordica 2008had a strong focus on humans and their

View from the exhibition area during Via Nordica 2008.

PHO

TO:

THO

RB

JØR

N C

HR

. R

ISAN

; N

PRA

Director General ofPublic Roads inFinland, Jukka Hirvelä

different roles in the traffic system. Threedifferent angels of view characterized theprogramme: the people, the vehicle andthe infrastructure.

In connection with the congress, a vastexhibition complemented the scientificprogramme. Exhibitors from 14 differentcountries, representing the whole sector,exhibited their products.

The next congress will take place inReykjavik, Iceland, in 2012.

Large-scale Presentation in SloveniaIn April 2008, the conference TRA washeld in Slovenia. VTI was there both witha stand and a large representative in theform of the unique VTI road simulator.

TRA, European Road TransportResearch Arena, was arranged by theEuropean Commission for the second timein the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on 21–24April. This conference for researchers andother actors in the European transport sec-tor, such as road planners, vehicle makersand fuel producers, was held for the firsttime in Göteborg in 2006. This year it wasattended by 200 people from 52 countries.The next TRA will be held in Brussels on7–10 June 2010.

Part of the Swedish standVTI had a place in the Swedish exhibitionstand together with the Swedish RoadAdministration, Vinnova and SweRoad.The theme for the conference this year wasgreener, safer and smarter vehicles inEurope, and many sessions dealt with tech-nologies of different kinds to achieve this.

Several researchers from VTI were pre-sent and presented papers on ongoing pro-jects. One the VTI researchers wasSigurdur Erlingsson who presented theVTI road simulator for load tests and acce-lerated testing at full scale. But it was notonly a talk that was given about this roadsimulator, called HVS, Heavy VehicleSimulator, it could also be visited. Differenttechnical visits were arranged during theconference, and one of these was to see ademonstration of HVS. The demonstrationwas presented as "a must-see for all whodeal with design, construction and mainte-nance of pavements".

Road tests and demonstrationsUsing this equipment, it is possible to simu-late real loads from heavy vehicles and thusto study how various types of road pave-ment stand up to heavy traffic. HVS cansimulate one year's heavy traffic in only oneweek. It is possible to control load, speed,temperature, tyre pressure, lateral positionand direction of loading. Knowledge of

road design and road maintenance measu-res can be improved through testing andevaluation of how traffic breaks down diffe-rent materials and designs. It is also pos-sible to chart the life of various maintenan-ce and strengthening measures. The equip-ment is mobile, which means that it can beused both in special test facilities and outon existing roads.

More information: www.vianordica2008.fi

Contact: Astrid Linder, astrid.linder@vti.se

PHO

TO:

HEN

RIK

KET

TUN

EN

New honorary members of the NRA: (From right) Olav Søfteland, his wife, Gudveig, Kjell Levik and his wife, IngerMarie. To the left, Pär Håkan Appel, ex secretary-general of the NRA.

Honorary Members of the NRAFormer General Director of the NPRA,Olav Søfteland, and former manager ofNPRA’s international activity, Kjell Levik,have become honorary members of theNordic Road Association (NRA).

The two road veterans obtained thehonorary membership during the banquetat the association’s congress, Via Nordica2008, held in Helsinki in June 2008. NRAgranted the honorary membership to Mr.Søfteland and Mr. Levik in recoginition ofthe work they have done for several NRAcommittees throughout the years.

The two brand-new pensioners are nowmembers of a very exclusive club of hono-rees in the association.

PHO

TO:

HEN

RIK

KET

TUN

EN

PHO

TO:

VTI,

HEL

ENA

SED

ERS

TRÖ

M

A mathematical model of a crash testdummy that represents an averagewoman can for the first time enable theautomotive industry to design road safe-ty solutions that are suited for both menand women.

But the creation of a mathematicalmodel that will answer the question ofhow the female body moves in a crashsituation costs money. Astrid Linder, whois running this research project at VTI,has therefore, together with the Swedishautomotive industry, submitted an appli-cation to EU for MSEK 35 over four years.The application is also backed by compa-nies, research institutes and universities inGermany, The Netherlands, Austria,Switzerland, France, Spain and the UK.

– We have no data on how womenmove in a crash, and this must be chan-

Mathematical Model for a CrashTest Dummy Representing anAverage Woman

It all went so well that, during the TRAconference, VTI carried out tests which arepart of the EU project SPENS (SustainablePavements for European New MemberStates). The objective was to evaluate, byaccelerated tests, various strengtheningmeasures to upgrade roads carrying lowtraffic volumes.

ged, says Astrid. We have now got Saaband Volvo to participate in the project.Chalmers University and Folksam havebeen involved for some time. We arenow hoping to have a favourable answerfrom the EU.

Women have more slender limbsthan men, and their bodily proportionsare also different. This is especially so asregards the back, where the width acrossthe shoulders, the waist and hips havequite different proportions. We alsoknow that women run twice the risk ofwhiplash injuries compared with men.

– Put a woman's jacket on a man andsee how it hangs, it does not fit at all, saysAstrid.

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 98 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

All traffic safety activities in Norway arebased on “Vision Zero” – a long term

vision of no road fatalities or road acci-dents causing lifelong injury. This will alsobe the guiding star for the period2010–2019, and the proposed target for2020 can be seen as a first step towards“Vision zero”.

The transport agencies input to theNTP 2010–2019 is based on a total financi-al framework that equals the 2007 budgetten times. Within this framework the NPRArecommend a significant increase in fundsfor operation and maintenance, foot andbicycle paths and minor traffic safetyinvestments (measures after road safetyinspections, road lighting, upgradingjunctions, median barriers etc.) on trunkroads. To make up for this the funds forlarge, traditional road projects (section

The Norwegian Government will present the National TransportPlan (NTP) 2010–2019 in a white paper in December 2008. InJanuary 2008 the transport agencies presented their joint inputto the NTP. In this report the Norwegian Public RoadsAdministration (NPRA) proposed as a target to reduce the num-ber of fatalities and seriously injured in road accidents by onethird by the year 2020, implying a reduction from a present levelof about 1,200 each year to no more than 800 in 2020. Thetransport agencies input to the NTP also presents the main fea-tures in a recommended road traffic safety strategy for the nextten years.

Road Safety in the TransportAgencies’ Input to the NorwegianNational Transport Plan 2010–2019

TRAFFIC SAFETY

activity on the roads should be strengthe-ned in order to monitor compliance withrules and regulations concerning road traf-fic. The proposed road safety target for2020 is built on the assumption that theNPRA increases its recourses used for seatbelt enforcement and road side inspectionsof heavy vehicles. It is also necessary withincreased contribution from the police,strengthening speed enforcement anddrink driving enforcement. Enforcementtiming and location must be selected withregard to when and where the risk of acci-

dents is the highest, and aimed at usergroups with the highest accident risk.

The present strategy for traffic safetycampaigns, limited to maximum 2–3 the-mes each year, will continue. Researchshows that the simultaneous application ofseveral types of measures has the besteffect. This means for example that infor-mation measures and enforcement measu-res should work together.

A more detailed list of traffic safety mea-sures will be presented in the Road SafetyAction Plan for 2010–2013. This is a joint

Sigurd LøtveitNPRA, Norway

Contact: Sigurd Løtveit, NPRA. E-mail: sigurd.lotveit@vegvesen.noMore information at: www.ntp.dep.no (Some in English)

based investments) are reduced.Head-on accidents are the cause of

almost half of all road traffic fatalities inNorway. Measures reducing head-on acci-dents will therefore be a main priority. TheNPRA recommend increased use of medi-an barriers on two and three lane roads,from building about 10 km each year atpresent to a rate of about 20 km each yearin the period 2010–2019. This is yet notenough to meet the demand. In 2020 wewill still have between 400 and 500 kmtrunk roads with a speed limit of 70 km/hor more and Annual Average Daily Traffic(AADT) more than 8,000 without medianbarrier.

The NPRA recommend a more syste-matic approach to preventing single vehic-le accidents (run-off-the-road accidents)through traffic safety inspections. Measuresfollowing these inspections include roadsi-de safety treatment, guardrails, rumblestrips, horizontal curve treatments etc.

A rapid development is taking place wit-

hin Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).The NPRA has drawn up an ITS strategyfor the NTP period 2010–2019. The strate-gy recommends ambitious objectives whenit comes to development and use of devicessuch as:- Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA)- Section control with speed cameras- Alco lock- Dynamic speed limits- Electronic edge and centre line warning

systems.Statistics show that young drivers, elder-

ly drivers, motorcyclists, intoxicated driversand certain groups of immigrants run amuch higher risk of being involved in caraccidents than other road users. The NPRAhave therefore started a four year researchprogramme aiming to raise knowledgeabout these groups of road users. Measuresdirected especially against “high riskgroups” will have high priority in theperiod of 2010–2019.

The NPRA recommends that the control

plan elaborated by the NPRA, the PoliceDirectorate, the Directorate for Health,and the Norwegian Association for RoadSafety. The action plan will be launched inthe autumn of 2009, describing the contri-bution that is necessary from each agencyif the road safety target in the NTP is to beachieved.

The NPRA recommend increased use of median barrier as one measure to reduce head-on accidents on two and three lane roads in Norway.

PHOTO: STEINAR SVENSBAKKEN, NPRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 98 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

All traffic safety activities in Norway arebased on “Vision Zero” – a long term

vision of no road fatalities or road acci-dents causing lifelong injury. This will alsobe the guiding star for the period2010–2019, and the proposed target for2020 can be seen as a first step towards“Vision zero”.

The transport agencies input to theNTP 2010–2019 is based on a total financi-al framework that equals the 2007 budgetten times. Within this framework the NPRArecommend a significant increase in fundsfor operation and maintenance, foot andbicycle paths and minor traffic safetyinvestments (measures after road safetyinspections, road lighting, upgradingjunctions, median barriers etc.) on trunkroads. To make up for this the funds forlarge, traditional road projects (section

The Norwegian Government will present the National TransportPlan (NTP) 2010–2019 in a white paper in December 2008. InJanuary 2008 the transport agencies presented their joint inputto the NTP. In this report the Norwegian Public RoadsAdministration (NPRA) proposed as a target to reduce the num-ber of fatalities and seriously injured in road accidents by onethird by the year 2020, implying a reduction from a present levelof about 1,200 each year to no more than 800 in 2020. Thetransport agencies input to the NTP also presents the main fea-tures in a recommended road traffic safety strategy for the nextten years.

Road Safety in the TransportAgencies’ Input to the NorwegianNational Transport Plan 2010–2019

TRAFFIC SAFETY

activity on the roads should be strengthe-ned in order to monitor compliance withrules and regulations concerning road traf-fic. The proposed road safety target for2020 is built on the assumption that theNPRA increases its recourses used for seatbelt enforcement and road side inspectionsof heavy vehicles. It is also necessary withincreased contribution from the police,strengthening speed enforcement anddrink driving enforcement. Enforcementtiming and location must be selected withregard to when and where the risk of acci-

dents is the highest, and aimed at usergroups with the highest accident risk.

The present strategy for traffic safetycampaigns, limited to maximum 2–3 the-mes each year, will continue. Researchshows that the simultaneous application ofseveral types of measures has the besteffect. This means for example that infor-mation measures and enforcement measu-res should work together.

A more detailed list of traffic safety mea-sures will be presented in the Road SafetyAction Plan for 2010–2013. This is a joint

Sigurd LøtveitNPRA, Norway

Contact: Sigurd Løtveit, NPRA. E-mail: sigurd.lotveit@vegvesen.noMore information at: www.ntp.dep.no (Some in English)

based investments) are reduced.Head-on accidents are the cause of

almost half of all road traffic fatalities inNorway. Measures reducing head-on acci-dents will therefore be a main priority. TheNPRA recommend increased use of medi-an barriers on two and three lane roads,from building about 10 km each year atpresent to a rate of about 20 km each yearin the period 2010–2019. This is yet notenough to meet the demand. In 2020 wewill still have between 400 and 500 kmtrunk roads with a speed limit of 70 km/hor more and Annual Average Daily Traffic(AADT) more than 8,000 without medianbarrier.

The NPRA recommend a more syste-matic approach to preventing single vehic-le accidents (run-off-the-road accidents)through traffic safety inspections. Measuresfollowing these inspections include roadsi-de safety treatment, guardrails, rumblestrips, horizontal curve treatments etc.

A rapid development is taking place wit-

hin Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).The NPRA has drawn up an ITS strategyfor the NTP period 2010–2019. The strate-gy recommends ambitious objectives whenit comes to development and use of devicessuch as:- Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA)- Section control with speed cameras- Alco lock- Dynamic speed limits- Electronic edge and centre line warning

systems.Statistics show that young drivers, elder-

ly drivers, motorcyclists, intoxicated driversand certain groups of immigrants run amuch higher risk of being involved in caraccidents than other road users. The NPRAhave therefore started a four year researchprogramme aiming to raise knowledgeabout these groups of road users. Measuresdirected especially against “high riskgroups” will have high priority in theperiod of 2010–2019.

The NPRA recommends that the control

plan elaborated by the NPRA, the PoliceDirectorate, the Directorate for Health,and the Norwegian Association for RoadSafety. The action plan will be launched inthe autumn of 2009, describing the contri-bution that is necessary from each agencyif the road safety target in the NTP is to beachieved.

The NPRA recommend increased use of median barrier as one measure to reduce head-on accidents on two and three lane roads in Norway.

PHOTO: STEINAR SVENSBAKKEN, NPRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1110 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

For more information: Prospects for improving road safety in Norway, TØI report 897/2007 Author: Rune Elvik, re@toi.no

TRAFFIC SAFETY

Prospects for Improving Road Safetyin Norway

At the Institute of Transport Economicswe have studied the possibility of rea-

ching the target and what road safety mea-sures would be needed to do so.

A total of 139 road safety measures weresurveyed. The most effective and welldocumented measures, 45 in total, wereincluded in a formal impact assessment,which also included a cost benefit analysis.Use of these measures during the perioduntil 2020 was considered. Analyses indica-te that 39 of the 45 measures are cost-effec-tive, i.e. their benefits are greater than thecosts according to cost-benefit analyses.

The preliminary targets in the NationalTransport Plan call for a reduction of fata-lities from 250 (annual mean 2003–2006)to 125 in 2020. The number of seriouslyinjured road users is to be reduced from980 (mean 2003–2006) to 490.

The range of options for improvingroad safety has been described in terms offour main policy options, all of which applyto the period from 2007 to 2020:1. Optimal use of road safety measures:

All road safety measures are used up tothe point at which marginal benefitsequal marginal costs.

2. “National” optimal use of road safetymeasures: This option is confined tomeasures that can be controlled domes-

tically. Not all road safety measures areunder the control of the Norwegiangovernment; in particular new motorvehicle safety standards are adopted byinternational bodies.

3. Continuing present policies. Thisoption essentially means that road safetymeasures continue to be applied as theycurrently are. There will not be any

increase in police enforcement, nor willnew laws be introduced (e.g. a lawrequiring bicycle helmets to be worn).

4. Strengthening present policies. In thisoption, those road safety measureswhich it is cost-effective to use moreextensively, are used more extensivelythan today. In particular, this implies adrastic increase in police enforcement.

Rune Elvik, Institute ofTransport Economics

Road traffic in Norway is among the safest in the world, but stillthe number of accidents is regarded as too high. In a scopingstudy for the next National Transport Plan 2010–2019 the possi-bility of realising a target of halving the number of road accidentfatalities and seriously injured road users by 2020 was assessed.

Intelligent speed adaptation (ISA-systems) in new cars can reduce the amount of accidents significantly.

Table 1:Estimated reduction of road users killed.

Estimatedreduction of road users killed

Road safety measure Benefit-cost Killedratio

Road-related safety measures

Bypass roads 1.38 0.2Pedestrian bridge or tunnel 1.44 3.3Converting T-junction to roundabout 1.86 1.9Converting X-junction to roundabout 2.62 3.0Roadside safety treatment 2.77 0.5Reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads 1.57 1.0Guardrails (along roadside) 2.53 1.3Median guard rails on undivided roads 1.40 1.7Median rumble strips (1 metre wide) 2.41 1.0Horizontal curve treatments 2.37 1.4Road lighting 1.94 10.9Upgrading substandard road lighting 2.75 0.8Follow up road safety inspections 2.48 3.1Traffic signals in T-junctions 5.17 0.0Traffic signals in X-junctions 3.95 0.2Lowering speed limit on hazardous roads 14.29 3.2Upgrading pedestrian crossings 2.35 5.4Vehicle-related safety measuresE-Call (assuming mandatory from 1.1.2009) 1.61 4.9Event recorders 2.15 14.5Electronic stability control 3.98 34.5Front and side air bags 1.01 14.9Enhanced neck injury protection 20.25 2.3Seat belt reminders 16.21 11.74 or 5 stars in EuroNCAP 1.24 13.7Intelligent speed adaptation (ISA-systems) 1.95 43.5Design of car front to protect pedestrians 4.52 1.8Front impact attenuators on heavy vehicles 2.12 6.9Enforcement-related safety measuresSpeed enforcement 1.49 7.2Speed cameras 2.11 1.6Section control (co-ordinated speed cameras) 1.58 0.9Feedback signs for speed 2.35 1.4Drink-driving enforcement 1.80 22.1Alcolock for drivers convicted of drink-driving 8.75 7.5Seat belt enforcement 2.44 5.7Technical inspections of heavy vehicles 1.41 0.6Service- and rest hour enforcement 1.45 1.1Bicycle helmet law 1.02 1.3Law requiring pedestrian reflective devices 3.49 5.6Road user-related safety measuresAccompanied driving 1.25 3.0Elderly driver retraining 1.85 0.2

The largest reduction in the number of kil-led or injured road users is obtained by imple-menting policy option 1, optimal use of roadsafety measures. Full implementation of thispolicy option results in a predicted number offatalities of 138 in 2020. The predicted num-ber of seriously injured road users is 652.

The Public Roads Administration has,based on its own analyses, concluded that it isin principle possible to reduce the number ofkilled or seriously injured road users by 50%in 2020.

It is, however, not realistic to expect roadsafety measures to be used optimally. In thefirst place, some of the measures that mayimprove road safety if used optimally are out-side the power of the Norwegian government.This applies to new motor vehicle safety stan-dards. In the second place, for some roadsafety measures, optimal use implies a drasticincrease. This applies to police enforcement.

It is, however, unlikely that the police willincrease traffic law enforcement to the opti-mal extent. In the third place, optimal use ofroad related road safety measures requires amaximally efficient selection of sites for treat-ment. This is not easily accomplished inNorway due to resource allocation mecha-nisms favouring regional balancing, ratherthan economic efficiency.

A more realistic policy is therefore thatroad safety measures continue to be usedalong roughly the same lines as they are today.Such a policy will not bring about largeimprovements in road safety in Norway. Aconservative estimate for the number of roadaccident fatalities in 2020 is about 200. A cor-responding estimate for seriously injuredroad users is about 850. While both thesenumbers are lower than the current numbers,they are a long way from realising the targetsset for 2020 (125 road users killed, 490 serio-usly injured).

It should be stressed that the estimates pre-sented in this report are highly uncertain. Itwould therefore not be surprising if the actu-al development turns out to be different fromthe one estimated.

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1110 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

For more information: Prospects for improving road safety in Norway, TØI report 897/2007 Author: Rune Elvik, re@toi.no

TRAFFIC SAFETY

Prospects for Improving Road Safetyin Norway

At the Institute of Transport Economicswe have studied the possibility of rea-

ching the target and what road safety mea-sures would be needed to do so.

A total of 139 road safety measures weresurveyed. The most effective and welldocumented measures, 45 in total, wereincluded in a formal impact assessment,which also included a cost benefit analysis.Use of these measures during the perioduntil 2020 was considered. Analyses indica-te that 39 of the 45 measures are cost-effec-tive, i.e. their benefits are greater than thecosts according to cost-benefit analyses.

The preliminary targets in the NationalTransport Plan call for a reduction of fata-lities from 250 (annual mean 2003–2006)to 125 in 2020. The number of seriouslyinjured road users is to be reduced from980 (mean 2003–2006) to 490.

The range of options for improvingroad safety has been described in terms offour main policy options, all of which applyto the period from 2007 to 2020:1. Optimal use of road safety measures:

All road safety measures are used up tothe point at which marginal benefitsequal marginal costs.

2. “National” optimal use of road safetymeasures: This option is confined tomeasures that can be controlled domes-

tically. Not all road safety measures areunder the control of the Norwegiangovernment; in particular new motorvehicle safety standards are adopted byinternational bodies.

3. Continuing present policies. Thisoption essentially means that road safetymeasures continue to be applied as theycurrently are. There will not be any

increase in police enforcement, nor willnew laws be introduced (e.g. a lawrequiring bicycle helmets to be worn).

4. Strengthening present policies. In thisoption, those road safety measureswhich it is cost-effective to use moreextensively, are used more extensivelythan today. In particular, this implies adrastic increase in police enforcement.

Rune Elvik, Institute ofTransport Economics

Road traffic in Norway is among the safest in the world, but stillthe number of accidents is regarded as too high. In a scopingstudy for the next National Transport Plan 2010–2019 the possi-bility of realising a target of halving the number of road accidentfatalities and seriously injured road users by 2020 was assessed.

Intelligent speed adaptation (ISA-systems) in new cars can reduce the amount of accidents significantly.

Table 1:Estimated reduction of road users killed.

Estimatedreduction of road users killed

Road safety measure Benefit-cost Killedratio

Road-related safety measures

Bypass roads 1.38 0.2Pedestrian bridge or tunnel 1.44 3.3Converting T-junction to roundabout 1.86 1.9Converting X-junction to roundabout 2.62 3.0Roadside safety treatment 2.77 0.5Reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads 1.57 1.0Guardrails (along roadside) 2.53 1.3Median guard rails on undivided roads 1.40 1.7Median rumble strips (1 metre wide) 2.41 1.0Horizontal curve treatments 2.37 1.4Road lighting 1.94 10.9Upgrading substandard road lighting 2.75 0.8Follow up road safety inspections 2.48 3.1Traffic signals in T-junctions 5.17 0.0Traffic signals in X-junctions 3.95 0.2Lowering speed limit on hazardous roads 14.29 3.2Upgrading pedestrian crossings 2.35 5.4Vehicle-related safety measuresE-Call (assuming mandatory from 1.1.2009) 1.61 4.9Event recorders 2.15 14.5Electronic stability control 3.98 34.5Front and side air bags 1.01 14.9Enhanced neck injury protection 20.25 2.3Seat belt reminders 16.21 11.74 or 5 stars in EuroNCAP 1.24 13.7Intelligent speed adaptation (ISA-systems) 1.95 43.5Design of car front to protect pedestrians 4.52 1.8Front impact attenuators on heavy vehicles 2.12 6.9Enforcement-related safety measuresSpeed enforcement 1.49 7.2Speed cameras 2.11 1.6Section control (co-ordinated speed cameras) 1.58 0.9Feedback signs for speed 2.35 1.4Drink-driving enforcement 1.80 22.1Alcolock for drivers convicted of drink-driving 8.75 7.5Seat belt enforcement 2.44 5.7Technical inspections of heavy vehicles 1.41 0.6Service- and rest hour enforcement 1.45 1.1Bicycle helmet law 1.02 1.3Law requiring pedestrian reflective devices 3.49 5.6Road user-related safety measuresAccompanied driving 1.25 3.0Elderly driver retraining 1.85 0.2

The largest reduction in the number of kil-led or injured road users is obtained by imple-menting policy option 1, optimal use of roadsafety measures. Full implementation of thispolicy option results in a predicted number offatalities of 138 in 2020. The predicted num-ber of seriously injured road users is 652.

The Public Roads Administration has,based on its own analyses, concluded that it isin principle possible to reduce the number ofkilled or seriously injured road users by 50%in 2020.

It is, however, not realistic to expect roadsafety measures to be used optimally. In thefirst place, some of the measures that mayimprove road safety if used optimally are out-side the power of the Norwegian government.This applies to new motor vehicle safety stan-dards. In the second place, for some roadsafety measures, optimal use implies a drasticincrease. This applies to police enforcement.

It is, however, unlikely that the police willincrease traffic law enforcement to the opti-mal extent. In the third place, optimal use ofroad related road safety measures requires amaximally efficient selection of sites for treat-ment. This is not easily accomplished inNorway due to resource allocation mecha-nisms favouring regional balancing, ratherthan economic efficiency.

A more realistic policy is therefore thatroad safety measures continue to be usedalong roughly the same lines as they are today.Such a policy will not bring about largeimprovements in road safety in Norway. Aconservative estimate for the number of roadaccident fatalities in 2020 is about 200. A cor-responding estimate for seriously injuredroad users is about 850. While both thesenumbers are lower than the current numbers,they are a long way from realising the targetsset for 2020 (125 road users killed, 490 serio-usly injured).

It should be stressed that the estimates pre-sented in this report are highly uncertain. Itwould therefore not be surprising if the actu-al development turns out to be different fromthe one estimated.

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1312 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Topic Days in Iceland Address Road Safety

Time to Treat the Road Environment

The idea came to a group of people in a meeting in the summerof 2007. The idea of gathering together all that remotely havesomething to do with a topic in order to pick their minds. To getall these people together to be able to connect their knowledge,know-how and ideas to tackle a particular task. The first topicbecame road safety and the road environment, i.e. road surroun-dings and how to make roads safer, in this case by making theroadside safer.

The idea was well perceived by the boardof the Icelandic Road Administration

(ICERA) and in April 2008 two half dayswere set aside for this project. The TopicDays were on.

At the end of the day the conclusion wasthat in order to make the roads forgivingthe first option should always be treatingthe safety zone according to standards,otherwise a safety barrier should be put up.Given that assumption the most importantthing was to write down instructions onvarious roadside treatments. Instructionsare needed on how to treat the safety zoneand also instructions about alternativeequipment, for example what to choose,and how to put it up and maintain it. Eventhough manufacturers give instructions it’snot the same as getting those from thepracticed hand. When that is the case, whatreally matters is highlighted and made easyto work with. Many were also of the opi-nion that ICERA should own all materialsin order not to have too many differentequipment set up on and by the roads.

That would also lower the cost of mainte-nance and supplies. The third conclusionwas the need to prioritize based on acci-dents, traffic and cost.

Many came to the board. About 320people work at ICERA. A total of 112 wereinvited to the Topic Days, 70 of them regis-tered. Those were divided into workinggroups.

Day 1 started with a light lunch, andafter that four speakers addressed theissue. Ágúst Mogensen, director of theRoad Accident Analysis Group, started byanswering the question: “Does the roadenvironment matter?” And not surprisinglythe answer was: “Yes, it does”. He said, itwas clear that many didn’t know what to doif they lost control of their car and ran offthe road. However, the road should notpunish them for their mistakes. Therefore,the surroundings matter a lot. He pointedout that a serious deformation of the pas-sengers area of the car, was in 15 per centof the cases because of a high fall off aroad, and in 45 per cent of the cases froma collision with a fixed object outside theroad or another obstruction off road.

Next talked Audur fóra Árnadóttir,Head of the Traffic Department of ICERA,about run-off-the-road accidents. She said,

that in the years 2003–2007 almost 59 per-cent of those who were injured or died inrural traffic, did so because of driving offthe road. Road environment did thereforematter, and where it’s impossible to fix thesurroundings a safety barrier is necessary.She also mentioned that work has alreadybegun to appraise road surroundings inIceland and that in the summer of 2007,more than half of the Ringroad was finis-hed. Yet, it would be a big task to clean eve-rything up and treat all the roadsides nee-ded.

Erna Hreinsdóttir, Project Leader in theRoad Design Department of ICERA, star-ted by reminding everybody that one ofICERA´s main aims is that traffic safety inIceland should be equal to the best in theworld. Therefore, she said, when differentinterests collide the safety interest shouldbe the deciding one. As a designer ofroads, she meant that inside the safety zoneof the road the land should be made sothat drivers should be able to prevent toroll over, they should be able to graduallystop and if they managed to gain control ofthe car they should be able to get backonto the road.

The last speaker, Páll Halldórsson,ICERA South district operational manager,

talked about the experience of the firstwire rope safety fence in Iceland. He dis-cussed what the ICERA had learned aboutthis road equipment and how thoseresponsible had changed their way of main-taining the wire rope safety fence.

After the four speakers had finished theattendants were divided into four groups.One talked about safety barriers, types,design, how to put them up, about the wor-king width and how to put together diffe-rent types. Group 2 also talked about safetybarriers, different types, the buying cost,

how to put up, maintenance and winterservice. The third group focused on theside of the road, rocks, ditches, side slopes,light poles, signs, gutters, etc. Group 4 tack-led the prioritizing of projects and synchro-nizing of tenders, supervision and mainte-nance of both the safety zone around roadsand safety barriers.

The groups went through their findingsand everybody participated in the discus-sions afterwards and came to the mainconclusion mentioned in the beginning ofthis article. Beside that conclusion the par-

ticipants found that this type of topic workwas really fruitful and encouraged theICERA to do more of this, besides, of cour-se, to keep on working on the particulartopic of road safety.

Auπur fióra Árnadóttir, Erna Hreinsdóttirfiórir Ingason, G. Pétur Matthíasson

Contact:atha@vegagerdin.isebh@vegagerdin.is thi@vegagerdin.isgpm@vegagerdin.is

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1312 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Topic Days in Iceland Address Road Safety

Time to Treat the Road Environment

The idea came to a group of people in a meeting in the summerof 2007. The idea of gathering together all that remotely havesomething to do with a topic in order to pick their minds. To getall these people together to be able to connect their knowledge,know-how and ideas to tackle a particular task. The first topicbecame road safety and the road environment, i.e. road surroun-dings and how to make roads safer, in this case by making theroadside safer.

The idea was well perceived by the boardof the Icelandic Road Administration

(ICERA) and in April 2008 two half dayswere set aside for this project. The TopicDays were on.

At the end of the day the conclusion wasthat in order to make the roads forgivingthe first option should always be treatingthe safety zone according to standards,otherwise a safety barrier should be put up.Given that assumption the most importantthing was to write down instructions onvarious roadside treatments. Instructionsare needed on how to treat the safety zoneand also instructions about alternativeequipment, for example what to choose,and how to put it up and maintain it. Eventhough manufacturers give instructions it’snot the same as getting those from thepracticed hand. When that is the case, whatreally matters is highlighted and made easyto work with. Many were also of the opi-nion that ICERA should own all materialsin order not to have too many differentequipment set up on and by the roads.

That would also lower the cost of mainte-nance and supplies. The third conclusionwas the need to prioritize based on acci-dents, traffic and cost.

Many came to the board. About 320people work at ICERA. A total of 112 wereinvited to the Topic Days, 70 of them regis-tered. Those were divided into workinggroups.

Day 1 started with a light lunch, andafter that four speakers addressed theissue. Ágúst Mogensen, director of theRoad Accident Analysis Group, started byanswering the question: “Does the roadenvironment matter?” And not surprisinglythe answer was: “Yes, it does”. He said, itwas clear that many didn’t know what to doif they lost control of their car and ran offthe road. However, the road should notpunish them for their mistakes. Therefore,the surroundings matter a lot. He pointedout that a serious deformation of the pas-sengers area of the car, was in 15 per centof the cases because of a high fall off aroad, and in 45 per cent of the cases froma collision with a fixed object outside theroad or another obstruction off road.

Next talked Audur fóra Árnadóttir,Head of the Traffic Department of ICERA,about run-off-the-road accidents. She said,

that in the years 2003–2007 almost 59 per-cent of those who were injured or died inrural traffic, did so because of driving offthe road. Road environment did thereforematter, and where it’s impossible to fix thesurroundings a safety barrier is necessary.She also mentioned that work has alreadybegun to appraise road surroundings inIceland and that in the summer of 2007,more than half of the Ringroad was finis-hed. Yet, it would be a big task to clean eve-rything up and treat all the roadsides nee-ded.

Erna Hreinsdóttir, Project Leader in theRoad Design Department of ICERA, star-ted by reminding everybody that one ofICERA´s main aims is that traffic safety inIceland should be equal to the best in theworld. Therefore, she said, when differentinterests collide the safety interest shouldbe the deciding one. As a designer ofroads, she meant that inside the safety zoneof the road the land should be made sothat drivers should be able to prevent toroll over, they should be able to graduallystop and if they managed to gain control ofthe car they should be able to get backonto the road.

The last speaker, Páll Halldórsson,ICERA South district operational manager,

talked about the experience of the firstwire rope safety fence in Iceland. He dis-cussed what the ICERA had learned aboutthis road equipment and how thoseresponsible had changed their way of main-taining the wire rope safety fence.

After the four speakers had finished theattendants were divided into four groups.One talked about safety barriers, types,design, how to put them up, about the wor-king width and how to put together diffe-rent types. Group 2 also talked about safetybarriers, different types, the buying cost,

how to put up, maintenance and winterservice. The third group focused on theside of the road, rocks, ditches, side slopes,light poles, signs, gutters, etc. Group 4 tack-led the prioritizing of projects and synchro-nizing of tenders, supervision and mainte-nance of both the safety zone around roadsand safety barriers.

The groups went through their findingsand everybody participated in the discus-sions afterwards and came to the mainconclusion mentioned in the beginning ofthis article. Beside that conclusion the par-

ticipants found that this type of topic workwas really fruitful and encouraged theICERA to do more of this, besides, of cour-se, to keep on working on the particulartopic of road safety.

Auπur fióra Árnadóttir, Erna Hreinsdóttirfiórir Ingason, G. Pétur Matthíasson

Contact:atha@vegagerdin.isebh@vegagerdin.is thi@vegagerdin.isgpm@vegagerdin.is

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1514 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Hunger and disease, wild beasts and war,these are the scourges of mankind.

Protect us against them and we make youinto a hero. Moses is a prime example,commemorated in both the Bible and theKoran for building granaries. His contem-porary equivalent appears to be BobGeldolf, a pop star made lord for master-minding Live Aid in 1988. For fightingdisease we remember the good doctorsSalk, Semmelweis, Parkinson andAlzheimer. As for the fight between manand beast, the modern movie Jaws is but anecho of the archetypical monster-saga ofBeowulf. For promoting traffic safety?Sorry, we don't remember you for this.

The traffic accident is a recent danger.We haven’t had time to adjust to it yet. Thehuman mind, conservative by nature, refu-ses to replace its primeval fears with thisrecent phenomenon. “I’ve got no fear tospare”, the brain mutters. “Why take therisk?” While our danger-radar happily scans

Global Traffic Safety

Traffic accidents kill 1.2 million people every year, while an addi-tional 50 million are injured. 86 per cent of these accidentsoccur in developing countries, where the cost of traffic accidentsequals all bilateral aid. Traffic in the developing world is beco-ming a disaster.

for wolves, snakes and spiders, traffic acci-dents slip through almost invisibly.Meanwhile, traffic accidents are rapidlybecoming a leading cause of death.

Traffic explosion Until quite recently the automobile hasbeen a characteristic of industrialisedsocieties rather than the developing world.This is about to change. The developingworld is under rapid modernisation, bring-ing with it unprecedented traffic growth.The global car fleet, at 850 million vehiclestoday, is expected to double by 2030. Thisgrowth will primarily take place in thedeveloping economies.

Automobile proliferation coincides withanother powerful phenomenon of moder-nity – urbanisation. For the first time in his-tory the majority of the world’s populationis now residing in urban areas.Furthermore, the urbanised population isexpected to continue to grow. With anincreased percentage of the populationliving in the immediate proximity of a gro-wing car fleet, the best we can hope for isto avoid a disproportional growth of traffic

accidents. While both automobile prolife-ration and urbanisation are world-widephenomena, they will change the face ofthe developing world.

Greenhouse gas emissionsRoad traffic is estimated to be responsiblefor between 15 and 20 per cent of theworld’s total greenhouse gas emissions.Industrialised nations have the resourcesto reduce these emissions. The developingworld does not.

Traffic accidentsAlready today, traffic accidents kill 1,5 mil-lion people every year, injuring another 50million. This is a Tsunami of death with100,000 killed every month. 85 per cent ofthe victims, and 96 per cent of all trafficaccidents involving children, occur in thedeveloping world.

The costs of traffic accidents are stagge-ring. In 2005, traffic accidents in the deve-loping world equalled all bilateral aidreceived that same year. Even worse, thisrepresents only the direct costs of the acci-dent, in terms of the value of lost labour.

This situation is steadily getting worse.By 2030 the growth of the global car fleetwill push traffic fatalities up to 2.4 million.The World Health Organisation predictsthat industrialised nations will experiencea 28 per cent decrease of traffic accidents.In the developing world they will increasewith 48 per cent in Latin America, 80 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 144 percent in South Asia.

ConclusionTraffic safety is a modern concern andrates low on the public awareness scale. But

as a threat to human life, it is increasingdrastically. In the developing world, trafficaccidents will soon rival disease as a leadingcause of death. It is neither covered by themedia nor championed by prominent poli-ticians. Global traffic safety has no cham-pion. Global traffic safety has no voice, noBob Geldolf, no Dr. Salk.

This must change. Norway is one of the most traffic safety

conscious nations in the world. We have animpressive track record, a “zero casualties”vision for the future, and have contributedto the road sector in developing countries

for more than 30 years. Norway has what ittakes to fill the vacant role of champion ofglobal traffic safety. It might thereforeseem odd that our Minister of theEnvironment and International Develop-ment, Erik Solheim, is phasing transportand communications out of the Norwegiandevelopment portfolio.

But then again, traffic safety never wonan election.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

Carl Chr. GabrielsenNPRA, Norway

Traffic safety is a modern concern andrates low on the public awareness scale.But as a threat to human life, it is increa-sing drastically. ” PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

Contact: Carl Chr. Gabrielsen, NPRA.E-mail: carl.gabrielsen@vegvesen.no

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1514 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Hunger and disease, wild beasts and war,these are the scourges of mankind.

Protect us against them and we make youinto a hero. Moses is a prime example,commemorated in both the Bible and theKoran for building granaries. His contem-porary equivalent appears to be BobGeldolf, a pop star made lord for master-minding Live Aid in 1988. For fightingdisease we remember the good doctorsSalk, Semmelweis, Parkinson andAlzheimer. As for the fight between manand beast, the modern movie Jaws is but anecho of the archetypical monster-saga ofBeowulf. For promoting traffic safety?Sorry, we don't remember you for this.

The traffic accident is a recent danger.We haven’t had time to adjust to it yet. Thehuman mind, conservative by nature, refu-ses to replace its primeval fears with thisrecent phenomenon. “I’ve got no fear tospare”, the brain mutters. “Why take therisk?” While our danger-radar happily scans

Global Traffic Safety

Traffic accidents kill 1.2 million people every year, while an addi-tional 50 million are injured. 86 per cent of these accidentsoccur in developing countries, where the cost of traffic accidentsequals all bilateral aid. Traffic in the developing world is beco-ming a disaster.

for wolves, snakes and spiders, traffic acci-dents slip through almost invisibly.Meanwhile, traffic accidents are rapidlybecoming a leading cause of death.

Traffic explosion Until quite recently the automobile hasbeen a characteristic of industrialisedsocieties rather than the developing world.This is about to change. The developingworld is under rapid modernisation, bring-ing with it unprecedented traffic growth.The global car fleet, at 850 million vehiclestoday, is expected to double by 2030. Thisgrowth will primarily take place in thedeveloping economies.

Automobile proliferation coincides withanother powerful phenomenon of moder-nity – urbanisation. For the first time in his-tory the majority of the world’s populationis now residing in urban areas.Furthermore, the urbanised population isexpected to continue to grow. With anincreased percentage of the populationliving in the immediate proximity of a gro-wing car fleet, the best we can hope for isto avoid a disproportional growth of traffic

accidents. While both automobile prolife-ration and urbanisation are world-widephenomena, they will change the face ofthe developing world.

Greenhouse gas emissionsRoad traffic is estimated to be responsiblefor between 15 and 20 per cent of theworld’s total greenhouse gas emissions.Industrialised nations have the resourcesto reduce these emissions. The developingworld does not.

Traffic accidentsAlready today, traffic accidents kill 1,5 mil-lion people every year, injuring another 50million. This is a Tsunami of death with100,000 killed every month. 85 per cent ofthe victims, and 96 per cent of all trafficaccidents involving children, occur in thedeveloping world.

The costs of traffic accidents are stagge-ring. In 2005, traffic accidents in the deve-loping world equalled all bilateral aidreceived that same year. Even worse, thisrepresents only the direct costs of the acci-dent, in terms of the value of lost labour.

This situation is steadily getting worse.By 2030 the growth of the global car fleetwill push traffic fatalities up to 2.4 million.The World Health Organisation predictsthat industrialised nations will experiencea 28 per cent decrease of traffic accidents.In the developing world they will increasewith 48 per cent in Latin America, 80 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 144 percent in South Asia.

ConclusionTraffic safety is a modern concern andrates low on the public awareness scale. But

as a threat to human life, it is increasingdrastically. In the developing world, trafficaccidents will soon rival disease as a leadingcause of death. It is neither covered by themedia nor championed by prominent poli-ticians. Global traffic safety has no cham-pion. Global traffic safety has no voice, noBob Geldolf, no Dr. Salk.

This must change. Norway is one of the most traffic safety

conscious nations in the world. We have animpressive track record, a “zero casualties”vision for the future, and have contributedto the road sector in developing countries

for more than 30 years. Norway has what ittakes to fill the vacant role of champion ofglobal traffic safety. It might thereforeseem odd that our Minister of theEnvironment and International Develop-ment, Erik Solheim, is phasing transportand communications out of the Norwegiandevelopment portfolio.

But then again, traffic safety never wonan election.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

Carl Chr. GabrielsenNPRA, Norway

Traffic safety is a modern concern andrates low on the public awareness scale.But as a threat to human life, it is increa-sing drastically. ” PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

Contact: Carl Chr. Gabrielsen, NPRA.E-mail: carl.gabrielsen@vegvesen.no

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1716 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

TRAFFIC SAFETY

For more information: www.druid-project.euContact: Magnus Hjälmdahlmagnus.hjalmdahl@vti.se

The EU project DRUID (Driving underthe influence of drugs, alcohol and

medicines) deals with the problem of alco-hol and drugs in traffic as a whole, and hasthe aim to describe the extent and natureof the problem.

The objective of VTI's participation is tochart the prevalence of drugs and medici-nes on our roads and to perform a simula-tion study on how driving performance isaffected by medicines.

A survey of drugs in trafficWithin the framework of the project, VTI ischarting the prevalence of drugs in trafficin Sweden, both illegal drugs and medici-nes. With the help of the police drivers arestopped at the side of the road and areasked to take part in the study.Participation is voluntary and the samplesare treated anonymously; neither the dri-ver nor the car can be linked to a certainsample. Experience from other countries

Drugs and Medicines in Traffic

Drugs and medicines occur on our roads. Buttoday very little is known of the extent and therisks involved. The EU project DRUID has becomeinvolved in this problem by studying the prevalenceof various substances and their effects, and their rela-tionship with risk.

shows a high degree of participation al-though the investigation is voluntary.

– It is a matter of getting a picture ofwhat drugs and medicines are found onthe roads rather than a complete scan, saysMagnus Hjälmdahl, researcher at VTI andproject leader for DRUID in Sweden.

Overall, 50,000 saliva samples are to becollected and analyzed in Sweden and ele-ven European countries. Sweden's contri-bution is 6,000 samples.

Those taking part are asked to give asaliva sample and answer questions on ageand sex. The samples are then sent for ana-lysis at the National Board of ForensicMedicine in Linköping where the salivasamples are scanned for over 25 substan-ces.

– Analysis of the samples will be ready bythe autumn of 2009. Collection of the sam-ples extends over a year and will be finis-hed in March 2009, says Magnus.

The project has two principal aims. Oneis to chart what drugs occur in traffic, sincetoday we know very little of this. The resultswill also be compared with the other parti-cipating countries. The second is to compa-

re the prevalence of drugs and other pre-parations in traffic in general with the pre-valence of drugs and other preparations indrivers who have been killed in road acci-dents. In this way we will have an idea ofthe magnitude of the risk of being killed inan accident if one drives with drugs andother substances in one's body.

The effect of medicines on driving perfor-manceToday there is a black market in ampheta-mine based substances, and it is suspectedthat an increasing proportion of professio-nal drivers take "uppers" to cope with theirlong shifts on the road.

– Drug use is increasing in the society asa whole, and it is naive to think that it doesnot include drivers, says Magnus.

VTI has, through a simulator study, stu-died how driving behavior is affected bymedicines. The focus is to study how a cen-tral stimulant medicine, and also the com-bination of a central stimulant and fatigue,affects a person's driving. The expectedeffects are that some parts of the drivingtask can actually be improved – for instan-

Magdalena GreenVTI, Sweden

ce, the test subjects may find it easier tokeep an even speed and to swerve less onthe road. On the other hand, they probablyhave greater difficulty in making the rightdecisions and they take more risks, whichcan have dramatic consequences.

In May 2008, 20 test subjects drove inthe VTI driving simulator for a total ofthree nights each. On each occasion, theytook medicines according to one of the fol-lowing conditions – low dose, somewhathigher dose, and placebo. It was a double

blind test, i.e. neither the test subjects northe test personnel knew what condition wasbeing tested.

– Since it was a double blind test, wehave so far only been able to guess theeffects of the medicine, says Magnus.

– We know that the medicine is an"upper" and it makes one sharper andmore focused on what one is doing. Andwe definitely saw that some test subjectswere unusually alert in the middle of thenight and that sometimes, according to us,

they took unnecessary risks in driving. Butit will not be until the autumn that we willbe able to have some definite answers tohow the medicine affected their driving.

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1716 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

TRAFFIC SAFETY

For more information: www.druid-project.euContact: Magnus Hjälmdahlmagnus.hjalmdahl@vti.se

The EU project DRUID (Driving underthe influence of drugs, alcohol and

medicines) deals with the problem of alco-hol and drugs in traffic as a whole, and hasthe aim to describe the extent and natureof the problem.

The objective of VTI's participation is tochart the prevalence of drugs and medici-nes on our roads and to perform a simula-tion study on how driving performance isaffected by medicines.

A survey of drugs in trafficWithin the framework of the project, VTI ischarting the prevalence of drugs in trafficin Sweden, both illegal drugs and medici-nes. With the help of the police drivers arestopped at the side of the road and areasked to take part in the study.Participation is voluntary and the samplesare treated anonymously; neither the dri-ver nor the car can be linked to a certainsample. Experience from other countries

Drugs and Medicines in Traffic

Drugs and medicines occur on our roads. Buttoday very little is known of the extent and therisks involved. The EU project DRUID has becomeinvolved in this problem by studying the prevalenceof various substances and their effects, and their rela-tionship with risk.

shows a high degree of participation al-though the investigation is voluntary.

– It is a matter of getting a picture ofwhat drugs and medicines are found onthe roads rather than a complete scan, saysMagnus Hjälmdahl, researcher at VTI andproject leader for DRUID in Sweden.

Overall, 50,000 saliva samples are to becollected and analyzed in Sweden and ele-ven European countries. Sweden's contri-bution is 6,000 samples.

Those taking part are asked to give asaliva sample and answer questions on ageand sex. The samples are then sent for ana-lysis at the National Board of ForensicMedicine in Linköping where the salivasamples are scanned for over 25 substan-ces.

– Analysis of the samples will be ready bythe autumn of 2009. Collection of the sam-ples extends over a year and will be finis-hed in March 2009, says Magnus.

The project has two principal aims. Oneis to chart what drugs occur in traffic, sincetoday we know very little of this. The resultswill also be compared with the other parti-cipating countries. The second is to compa-

re the prevalence of drugs and other pre-parations in traffic in general with the pre-valence of drugs and other preparations indrivers who have been killed in road acci-dents. In this way we will have an idea ofthe magnitude of the risk of being killed inan accident if one drives with drugs andother substances in one's body.

The effect of medicines on driving perfor-manceToday there is a black market in ampheta-mine based substances, and it is suspectedthat an increasing proportion of professio-nal drivers take "uppers" to cope with theirlong shifts on the road.

– Drug use is increasing in the society asa whole, and it is naive to think that it doesnot include drivers, says Magnus.

VTI has, through a simulator study, stu-died how driving behavior is affected bymedicines. The focus is to study how a cen-tral stimulant medicine, and also the com-bination of a central stimulant and fatigue,affects a person's driving. The expectedeffects are that some parts of the drivingtask can actually be improved – for instan-

Magdalena GreenVTI, Sweden

ce, the test subjects may find it easier tokeep an even speed and to swerve less onthe road. On the other hand, they probablyhave greater difficulty in making the rightdecisions and they take more risks, whichcan have dramatic consequences.

In May 2008, 20 test subjects drove inthe VTI driving simulator for a total ofthree nights each. On each occasion, theytook medicines according to one of the fol-lowing conditions – low dose, somewhathigher dose, and placebo. It was a double

blind test, i.e. neither the test subjects northe test personnel knew what condition wasbeing tested.

– Since it was a double blind test, wehave so far only been able to guess theeffects of the medicine, says Magnus.

– We know that the medicine is an"upper" and it makes one sharper andmore focused on what one is doing. Andwe definitely saw that some test subjectswere unusually alert in the middle of thenight and that sometimes, according to us,

they took unnecessary risks in driving. Butit will not be until the autumn that we willbe able to have some definite answers tohow the medicine affected their driving.

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1918 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Now the Danish Road Directorate hasimproved this procedure so that no

road worker needs to cross the motorwaywith road signs under his arm!

The entire road marking can now safelybe put in place on the fast lane since a lorrywith a Truck Mounted Attenuator (TMA)is parked there. On the lorry, a flashingarrow shows that the drivers should changelane to the slow lane. The TMA consists ofan aluminium container with eight sec-tions, each containing shock-absorbingmaterials. In the emergency lane, a lorrywith similar blinking arrows is parked. Inthis lorry, the road signs showing reducedspeed, etc. are stored.

The traffic now only moves in a singlefile in the slow lane and the fact that driversfrom a distance have seen two big blinkingarrows has a speed reducing, psychologicaleffect. The road workers are protected bythe two lorries parked in the emergencylane and the fast lane, and they are not incontact with the traffic. The traffic is ledthrough a blinking gate, the speed is redu-ced in good time and the road works canbe carried out behind a row of traffic coneswhich can easily and quickly be removedwhen the work is completed.

One of the dangerous elements during road works is when roadmarkings have to be placed and removed on a motorway, wheretraffic flow continues unhampered while the signs are being putup and removed.

Increased Safety for Road Workers on Motorways

weight of 25 kilo are already available onthe Swedish market, but they are difficultto find in Europe. ANEC hopes that thisrecommendation will get manufacturersand shops to make rearward facing childseats readily available and cheaper in thewhole of Europe. It is also hoped that deve-lopment and improvement of these seatswill take place at a faster pace as the marketand demand increase.

Voluntary labelling– We will retain what has been called theSwedish model, i.e. we will not only encou-rage rear facing travel in words but will alsohave a test method that promotes this, saysTommy Pettersson, who is head of the VTIcrash safety laboratory.

Up to the spring of 2008 it was possibleto approve child car seats in accordancewith two test procedures, a European codeand a Swedish one. But now child car seatscan only be approved in accordance withthe European code. Generally speaking,the great difference between the codes is

that the European method involves comp-rehensive testing of various components,while the Swedish method places a greaterfocus on measurements on the dummy'shead. VTI considers that these two test pro-cedures complement each other very well,and we have therefore developed a volunta-ry labelling method for child car seatswhich includes measurements on the dum-my's head.

– It is important to emphasise that thiswill not be an approval test but a voluntarylabelling test, says Tommy Pettersson.

Helen Hasz-Singh,hhz@vd.dk

TRAFFIC SAFETY

ANEC in Brussels is one of the strongestconsumer voices in Europe, and they

have, on the basis of accident data regar-ding severe injuries and fatalities involvingchildren in the UK, Sweden and US,concluded that it is without a doubt safestto travel rearward facing. ANEC now hopesthat this report will put pressure on legisla-tion and consumer recommendations untilthey clearly show that it is unsafe to havechildren forward facing too early.

– This is a welcome message for us hereat VTI and a fine accolade for Swedish roadsafety work, says Research Engineer JanWenäll at VTI. This can be the first steptowards a new EU standard for the safety ofchildren in cars.

Availability and development of rearwardfacing child seatsSeats for rearward facing travel up to a

For a number of years, children in Sweden up to the age of fourhave travelled rearward facing in the car, but in the rest ofEurope and the world this is something new. But a report fromANEC, the European consumer voice in standardisation, nowrecommends that all children in Europe, up to the age of four,should travel rearward facing, i.e. according to the Swedishmodel.

Magdalena Green, VTI,Sweden

Contact:Tommy Pettersson,tommy.pettersson@vti.seFor more information: www.vti.se/crashtest

The "Swedish Model" Is Recommended

PHO

TO:

VTI/

HEJ

DLÖ

SA

BIL

DER

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 1918 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Now the Danish Road Directorate hasimproved this procedure so that no

road worker needs to cross the motorwaywith road signs under his arm!

The entire road marking can now safelybe put in place on the fast lane since a lorrywith a Truck Mounted Attenuator (TMA)is parked there. On the lorry, a flashingarrow shows that the drivers should changelane to the slow lane. The TMA consists ofan aluminium container with eight sec-tions, each containing shock-absorbingmaterials. In the emergency lane, a lorrywith similar blinking arrows is parked. Inthis lorry, the road signs showing reducedspeed, etc. are stored.

The traffic now only moves in a singlefile in the slow lane and the fact that driversfrom a distance have seen two big blinkingarrows has a speed reducing, psychologicaleffect. The road workers are protected bythe two lorries parked in the emergencylane and the fast lane, and they are not incontact with the traffic. The traffic is ledthrough a blinking gate, the speed is redu-ced in good time and the road works canbe carried out behind a row of traffic coneswhich can easily and quickly be removedwhen the work is completed.

One of the dangerous elements during road works is when roadmarkings have to be placed and removed on a motorway, wheretraffic flow continues unhampered while the signs are being putup and removed.

Increased Safety for Road Workers on Motorways

weight of 25 kilo are already available onthe Swedish market, but they are difficultto find in Europe. ANEC hopes that thisrecommendation will get manufacturersand shops to make rearward facing childseats readily available and cheaper in thewhole of Europe. It is also hoped that deve-lopment and improvement of these seatswill take place at a faster pace as the marketand demand increase.

Voluntary labelling– We will retain what has been called theSwedish model, i.e. we will not only encou-rage rear facing travel in words but will alsohave a test method that promotes this, saysTommy Pettersson, who is head of the VTIcrash safety laboratory.

Up to the spring of 2008 it was possibleto approve child car seats in accordancewith two test procedures, a European codeand a Swedish one. But now child car seatscan only be approved in accordance withthe European code. Generally speaking,the great difference between the codes is

that the European method involves comp-rehensive testing of various components,while the Swedish method places a greaterfocus on measurements on the dummy'shead. VTI considers that these two test pro-cedures complement each other very well,and we have therefore developed a volunta-ry labelling method for child car seatswhich includes measurements on the dum-my's head.

– It is important to emphasise that thiswill not be an approval test but a voluntarylabelling test, says Tommy Pettersson.

Helen Hasz-Singh,hhz@vd.dk

TRAFFIC SAFETY

ANEC in Brussels is one of the strongestconsumer voices in Europe, and they

have, on the basis of accident data regar-ding severe injuries and fatalities involvingchildren in the UK, Sweden and US,concluded that it is without a doubt safestto travel rearward facing. ANEC now hopesthat this report will put pressure on legisla-tion and consumer recommendations untilthey clearly show that it is unsafe to havechildren forward facing too early.

– This is a welcome message for us hereat VTI and a fine accolade for Swedish roadsafety work, says Research Engineer JanWenäll at VTI. This can be the first steptowards a new EU standard for the safety ofchildren in cars.

Availability and development of rearwardfacing child seatsSeats for rearward facing travel up to a

For a number of years, children in Sweden up to the age of fourhave travelled rearward facing in the car, but in the rest ofEurope and the world this is something new. But a report fromANEC, the European consumer voice in standardisation, nowrecommends that all children in Europe, up to the age of four,should travel rearward facing, i.e. according to the Swedishmodel.

Magdalena Green, VTI,Sweden

Contact:Tommy Pettersson,tommy.pettersson@vti.seFor more information: www.vti.se/crashtest

The "Swedish Model" Is Recommended

PHO

TO:

VTI/

HEJ

DLÖ

SA

BIL

DER

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2120 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Depth Analyses of Fatal RoadAccidents in Norway

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has establishedregional accident analysis groups. These groups started theirwork with depth analyses of all fatal road traffic accidents inNorway the 1st of January 2005. The aim of this work is to deve-lop more knowledge about causal factors behind these acci-dents, both within road user behaviour, vehicle safety and roadconditions, and to propose measures in order to prevent similaraccidents from happening again.

The depth analyses of fatal accidentshave given new knowledge about causal

factors and valuable experiences.Examples:• Intoxicated driving (alcohol and drugs)

is a considerable road safety problem.The amount of intoxicated driving is lar-ger than indicated in statistics on roadsafety accidents

• Depth analyses more than accidentreports from the police have clarifiedwhether seat belts and other protectionequipment have been used or not infatal accidents

• Depth analyses more than accidentreports from the police have shown howconditions related to vehicles and theroads have been causal factors behindfatal accidents.The regional accident analysis groups

work out annual reports that summarizethe results of their work. Based on thesereports the Norwegian Road Directorate

works out a national annual report. Twonational reports have been published, thatsummarize the results of the depth analysesin 2005 and 2006. These reports point outcasual factors, measures to prevent similaraccidents from happening again, and otherexperiences from the accident analyses.

In Norway 226 fatal road traffic acci-dents occurred in 2006. 242 persons werekilled in these accidents. All of these acci-dents were analysed by the accident analy-sis groups. Most accidents are the result ofseveral causal factors. These causal factorshave been organised in the following maingroups:• Conditions related to the drivers• Conditions related to the vehicles • Conditions related to the road and the

road traffic system.Main results from the depth analyses of

accidents in 2006 are described below.

Conditions related to the drivers• High speed (above speed limits or to

high speed compared to local condi-tions) were causal factors behind aboutthe half (49 %) of the accidents

• Lack of driver capability (lack of drivingskills, insufficient information proces-sing, wrong decisions, lack of drivingexperience, unrealistic belief in ownskills) were causal factors behind 75 %of the accidents

• Intoxicated driving (alcohol and drugs)were causal factors behind 18 % of theaccidents. Many of these accidents andfatalities were the result of a combina-tion of intoxication, high speed and lackof use of seat belts

• Driver fatigue were causal factorsbehind 18 % of the accidents

• Lack of visibility in the road traffic(pedestrians, cyclists, persons on motor-cycles and mopeds) were causal factorsbehind 16 % of the accidents.

Conditions related to the roads • Road conditions as snow, ice, wet and

slippery roads, were causal factorsbehind 16 % of the accidents

• Insufficient road signing and road mar-king were causal factors behind 11 % ofthe accidents

• Lack of visibility (obstacles) along the

Ivar Haldorsen, NPRA,Norway roads were causal factors behind 11 %

of the accidents• Dangerous design features connected to

road geometry were causal factorsbehind 11 % of the accidents

• Because of dangerous design featuresconnected to the near vicinity of theroads (trees, rocks, steep slopes etc), 20% of the accidents resulted in fatalities

• Because of lack of median barriers, 15% of the accidents probably resulted infatalities

• Because of lack of or insufficient guardrails, 9 % of the accidents probablyresulted in fatalities.

Vehicles and use of protection equipment• 41 % of the drivers and passengers in

automobiles killed in these accidentsdid not use seat belts

• 15 % of the killed drivers and passen-gers on motor cycles and mopeds didnot use helmets

• 80 % of killed persons on cycles did notuses helmets

• Defect wheels and tires, defect light

This article is based on the following publication:Title (Norwegian): Dybdeanalyser av dødsulykker ivegtrafikken – Nasjonal årsrapport for ulykkesana-lysegruppenes arbeid i 2006Title (English): Depth Analyses of Fatal RoadAccidents – National Annual Report of theAccident Analysis Groups in 2006Author: Ivar Haldorsen. E-mail:ivar.haldorsen@vegvesen.noInstitution: Road Directorate, Road and TrafficDepartmentReport number: 09/2007ISSN 1503-5743Language: NorwegianAvailable at: publvd@vegvesen.no

equipment and defect vehicle brakeswere causal factors behind 18 % of theaccidents

• Because of large differences in weightbetween colliding vehicles (passengercars and heavy vehicles, motor cyclesand passenger cars etc.), 30 % of theanalyzed accidents resulted in fatalities

• Because of low standard of safety ofvehicles, 13 % of the analyzed accidentsresulted in fatalities.

Road safety means On the basis of their analyses, the accidentanalysis groups have proposed several safetymeans. These are means related to drivers,means related to roads, and means relatedto vehicles. The most important are:

Related to drivers• Information and campaign activities

regarding speed and use of seat beltsand other protection equipment

• Police traffic enforcement on speed andintoxicated driving

• Automatic traffic control• Improved driving education.

Related to roads• Safety audits of existing roads focussing

on dangerous design features in thenear vicinity of the roads and guardrails, and implementation of means

• Median barriers • Improved road signing and road mar-

king.Related to vehicles

• Alco lock in vehicles• Intelligent driver support systems (ISA,

ESC etc.)• Improved vehicle controls.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHOTO: NPRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2120 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Depth Analyses of Fatal RoadAccidents in Norway

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has establishedregional accident analysis groups. These groups started theirwork with depth analyses of all fatal road traffic accidents inNorway the 1st of January 2005. The aim of this work is to deve-lop more knowledge about causal factors behind these acci-dents, both within road user behaviour, vehicle safety and roadconditions, and to propose measures in order to prevent similaraccidents from happening again.

The depth analyses of fatal accidentshave given new knowledge about causal

factors and valuable experiences.Examples:• Intoxicated driving (alcohol and drugs)

is a considerable road safety problem.The amount of intoxicated driving is lar-ger than indicated in statistics on roadsafety accidents

• Depth analyses more than accidentreports from the police have clarifiedwhether seat belts and other protectionequipment have been used or not infatal accidents

• Depth analyses more than accidentreports from the police have shown howconditions related to vehicles and theroads have been causal factors behindfatal accidents.The regional accident analysis groups

work out annual reports that summarizethe results of their work. Based on thesereports the Norwegian Road Directorate

works out a national annual report. Twonational reports have been published, thatsummarize the results of the depth analysesin 2005 and 2006. These reports point outcasual factors, measures to prevent similaraccidents from happening again, and otherexperiences from the accident analyses.

In Norway 226 fatal road traffic acci-dents occurred in 2006. 242 persons werekilled in these accidents. All of these acci-dents were analysed by the accident analy-sis groups. Most accidents are the result ofseveral causal factors. These causal factorshave been organised in the following maingroups:• Conditions related to the drivers• Conditions related to the vehicles • Conditions related to the road and the

road traffic system.Main results from the depth analyses of

accidents in 2006 are described below.

Conditions related to the drivers• High speed (above speed limits or to

high speed compared to local condi-tions) were causal factors behind aboutthe half (49 %) of the accidents

• Lack of driver capability (lack of drivingskills, insufficient information proces-sing, wrong decisions, lack of drivingexperience, unrealistic belief in ownskills) were causal factors behind 75 %of the accidents

• Intoxicated driving (alcohol and drugs)were causal factors behind 18 % of theaccidents. Many of these accidents andfatalities were the result of a combina-tion of intoxication, high speed and lackof use of seat belts

• Driver fatigue were causal factorsbehind 18 % of the accidents

• Lack of visibility in the road traffic(pedestrians, cyclists, persons on motor-cycles and mopeds) were causal factorsbehind 16 % of the accidents.

Conditions related to the roads • Road conditions as snow, ice, wet and

slippery roads, were causal factorsbehind 16 % of the accidents

• Insufficient road signing and road mar-king were causal factors behind 11 % ofthe accidents

• Lack of visibility (obstacles) along the

Ivar Haldorsen, NPRA,Norway roads were causal factors behind 11 %

of the accidents• Dangerous design features connected to

road geometry were causal factorsbehind 11 % of the accidents

• Because of dangerous design featuresconnected to the near vicinity of theroads (trees, rocks, steep slopes etc), 20% of the accidents resulted in fatalities

• Because of lack of median barriers, 15% of the accidents probably resulted infatalities

• Because of lack of or insufficient guardrails, 9 % of the accidents probablyresulted in fatalities.

Vehicles and use of protection equipment• 41 % of the drivers and passengers in

automobiles killed in these accidentsdid not use seat belts

• 15 % of the killed drivers and passen-gers on motor cycles and mopeds didnot use helmets

• 80 % of killed persons on cycles did notuses helmets

• Defect wheels and tires, defect light

This article is based on the following publication:Title (Norwegian): Dybdeanalyser av dødsulykker ivegtrafikken – Nasjonal årsrapport for ulykkesana-lysegruppenes arbeid i 2006Title (English): Depth Analyses of Fatal RoadAccidents – National Annual Report of theAccident Analysis Groups in 2006Author: Ivar Haldorsen. E-mail:ivar.haldorsen@vegvesen.noInstitution: Road Directorate, Road and TrafficDepartmentReport number: 09/2007ISSN 1503-5743Language: NorwegianAvailable at: publvd@vegvesen.no

equipment and defect vehicle brakeswere causal factors behind 18 % of theaccidents

• Because of large differences in weightbetween colliding vehicles (passengercars and heavy vehicles, motor cyclesand passenger cars etc.), 30 % of theanalyzed accidents resulted in fatalities

• Because of low standard of safety ofvehicles, 13 % of the analyzed accidentsresulted in fatalities.

Road safety means On the basis of their analyses, the accidentanalysis groups have proposed several safetymeans. These are means related to drivers,means related to roads, and means relatedto vehicles. The most important are:

Related to drivers• Information and campaign activities

regarding speed and use of seat beltsand other protection equipment

• Police traffic enforcement on speed andintoxicated driving

• Automatic traffic control• Improved driving education.

Related to roads• Safety audits of existing roads focussing

on dangerous design features in thenear vicinity of the roads and guardrails, and implementation of means

• Median barriers • Improved road signing and road mar-

king.Related to vehicles

• Alco lock in vehicles• Intelligent driver support systems (ISA,

ESC etc.)• Improved vehicle controls.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHOTO: NPRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2322 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Better-informed Drivers

Time is a scant resource in traffic. Accidents usually occur whenwe see things too late or not at all. Even the most sophisticatedsensor networks currently being developed for driver support can-not totally compensate for this. For this reason, we need vehic-les that ‘talk’ to the driver and other cars in order to provide usmore time to react and enhance the awareness of hazards alongthe way.

phones and navigators in vehicles, andraise broader awareness of their traffic safe-ty potential. These devices can provide dif-ferent types of driver support functions,and almost nothing is known yet abouttheir safety and other impacts. The marketpenetration of portable navigators andsmart phones is exploding; the timing forthis project is ideal.

The functions to be tested cover threebroad areas: functions promoting (i) safedriving, (ii) economic driving and (iii) anovel navigator retrofitted eCall. The mainemphasis of the work is on speed informa-tion, traffic information, road weatherinformation and “green driving” support.The impacts are assessed on different levelscovering (i) usability, (ii) behaviour & inci-dents, (iii) safety, (iv) the environment and(v) impacts on the transport system.

Attention will also be paid to possiblenegative impacts, since smart phones werenot originally designed for vehicle use andnavigation devices and may have problemswith fixing and positioning in the cockpit.The project aims to speed up the penetra-tion of systems able to "see" beyond drivers’field of vision especially in critical condi-tions, where good situation awareness isneeded. The project provides an opportu-nity to test the impacts of similar functionsthat future cooperative systems will provi-de, once their development challengeshave been solved in the coming years. Infact, aftermarket and nomadic devices willprovide an alternative to some importantcooperative driving and ADAS functionsfor many years ahead.

The concept consists of creating threeEuropean test communities: Northern,Central and Southern. This was deemednecessary to ensure a realistic assessmentof the functions on the European scale dueto very different traffic behaviour patternsand reactions to safety measures in variouscountries. About 3 000 drivers are partici-pating in the tests. The project has strongnational support and no resources are nee-ded for building the infrastructures provi-ding the functions and services to be tes-ted. Business models and other issues rela-ted to the large-scale deployment of thefunctions are also being studied.Dissemination and raising awareness are aspecial point of focus.

Anumber of pursuits are underway atVTT to provide drivers with more time

and keep them informed of the trafficahead – even beyond the field of vision.The activities deal with driver monitoringtechnologies, environment perception andcooperative driving functions, such asinformation on road conditions ahead,hazards, accidents and traffic jams bymeans of aftermarket and nomadic devi-ces. First, you need to have contents for themessages and secondly you need to transferthis message to the driver. Two projects,FRICTION and TeleFOT, deal with thesetwo aspects.

The objective of the FRICTION projectis to create an onboard system for estima-ting friction and road slipperiness toenhance the performance of integratedand cooperative safety systems. Predictiveinformation yielded by the system enhan-ces cooperative driving such as V2V anddriver information. Applications that canbenefit from precise information on fric-tion and road slipperiness are control sys-tems for driving safety such as slip controlsystems, emergency braking systems,electronic stability programs, adaptive crui-se control and rollover avoidance.Evidently the one-sensor-only approach hasproved unsuccessful for determining fric-

tion and road slipperiness with sufficientaccuracy to improve vehicle control. Theproject will not develop new sensors, butuses existing sensors in a novel way. Theaim is a solution for real-time estimation oftyre-road friction using a sensor cluster in amoving vehicle. Consequently, three kindsof sensors were used: (i) existing vehicle-based sensors for monitoring vehicle dyna-mics, (ii) environmental sensors, and (iii) atyre-based sensor. Today, the signals fromthese sensors are used separately for vehic-le safety systems without co-operative com-munication between the sensors. The pro-ject has two characteristics: vertical in deve-loping a new system to enhance driver assis-tance, and horizontal in providing a systemfor different applications and for ongoingprojects in preventive safety and upcomingcooperative systems. The innovative idea is

to feed the signals into a FRICTION-Estimation-Observer and to estimate thetyre-road-friction value by using onlinemathematical statistics methods.

The achievements of the FRICTIONprojects after two years of development arethe following: • The architecture of an online friction

information data fusion algorithm,together with Siemens VDO, CRF andVolvo

• The first versions of data fusion in a mat-lab/simulink environment and valida-tion with real data

• A new antenna concept for the tyre sen-sor

• Novel use of far-infrared and polarisa-tion cameras in measuring and classifi-cation of road surface slipperiness

• The use of 24GHz and 77GHz radar sig-nals in the detection of dry, wet and icyroad surfaces (patent application pen-ding).The second project, TeleFOT, addresses

the use and impacts of nomadic and after-market devices in providing drivers withinformation about traffic and road condi-tions ahead. The 15-million-euro projectwill be launched in the summer of 2008.This project also is partly EU-funded andincludes 25 partners from nine Europeancountries.

The objectives of TeleFOT are to assessthe impacts of functions provided by after-market and nomadic devices such as smart

Tapani Mäkinen,Technical Research Centreof Finland

Figure 1. Friction-sensor road tests.

Figure 2. Traffic sign information through a smart phone.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2322 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Better-informed Drivers

Time is a scant resource in traffic. Accidents usually occur whenwe see things too late or not at all. Even the most sophisticatedsensor networks currently being developed for driver support can-not totally compensate for this. For this reason, we need vehic-les that ‘talk’ to the driver and other cars in order to provide usmore time to react and enhance the awareness of hazards alongthe way.

phones and navigators in vehicles, andraise broader awareness of their traffic safe-ty potential. These devices can provide dif-ferent types of driver support functions,and almost nothing is known yet abouttheir safety and other impacts. The marketpenetration of portable navigators andsmart phones is exploding; the timing forthis project is ideal.

The functions to be tested cover threebroad areas: functions promoting (i) safedriving, (ii) economic driving and (iii) anovel navigator retrofitted eCall. The mainemphasis of the work is on speed informa-tion, traffic information, road weatherinformation and “green driving” support.The impacts are assessed on different levelscovering (i) usability, (ii) behaviour & inci-dents, (iii) safety, (iv) the environment and(v) impacts on the transport system.

Attention will also be paid to possiblenegative impacts, since smart phones werenot originally designed for vehicle use andnavigation devices and may have problemswith fixing and positioning in the cockpit.The project aims to speed up the penetra-tion of systems able to "see" beyond drivers’field of vision especially in critical condi-tions, where good situation awareness isneeded. The project provides an opportu-nity to test the impacts of similar functionsthat future cooperative systems will provi-de, once their development challengeshave been solved in the coming years. Infact, aftermarket and nomadic devices willprovide an alternative to some importantcooperative driving and ADAS functionsfor many years ahead.

The concept consists of creating threeEuropean test communities: Northern,Central and Southern. This was deemednecessary to ensure a realistic assessmentof the functions on the European scale dueto very different traffic behaviour patternsand reactions to safety measures in variouscountries. About 3 000 drivers are partici-pating in the tests. The project has strongnational support and no resources are nee-ded for building the infrastructures provi-ding the functions and services to be tes-ted. Business models and other issues rela-ted to the large-scale deployment of thefunctions are also being studied.Dissemination and raising awareness are aspecial point of focus.

Anumber of pursuits are underway atVTT to provide drivers with more time

and keep them informed of the trafficahead – even beyond the field of vision.The activities deal with driver monitoringtechnologies, environment perception andcooperative driving functions, such asinformation on road conditions ahead,hazards, accidents and traffic jams bymeans of aftermarket and nomadic devi-ces. First, you need to have contents for themessages and secondly you need to transferthis message to the driver. Two projects,FRICTION and TeleFOT, deal with thesetwo aspects.

The objective of the FRICTION projectis to create an onboard system for estima-ting friction and road slipperiness toenhance the performance of integratedand cooperative safety systems. Predictiveinformation yielded by the system enhan-ces cooperative driving such as V2V anddriver information. Applications that canbenefit from precise information on fric-tion and road slipperiness are control sys-tems for driving safety such as slip controlsystems, emergency braking systems,electronic stability programs, adaptive crui-se control and rollover avoidance.Evidently the one-sensor-only approach hasproved unsuccessful for determining fric-

tion and road slipperiness with sufficientaccuracy to improve vehicle control. Theproject will not develop new sensors, butuses existing sensors in a novel way. Theaim is a solution for real-time estimation oftyre-road friction using a sensor cluster in amoving vehicle. Consequently, three kindsof sensors were used: (i) existing vehicle-based sensors for monitoring vehicle dyna-mics, (ii) environmental sensors, and (iii) atyre-based sensor. Today, the signals fromthese sensors are used separately for vehic-le safety systems without co-operative com-munication between the sensors. The pro-ject has two characteristics: vertical in deve-loping a new system to enhance driver assis-tance, and horizontal in providing a systemfor different applications and for ongoingprojects in preventive safety and upcomingcooperative systems. The innovative idea is

to feed the signals into a FRICTION-Estimation-Observer and to estimate thetyre-road-friction value by using onlinemathematical statistics methods.

The achievements of the FRICTIONprojects after two years of development arethe following: • The architecture of an online friction

information data fusion algorithm,together with Siemens VDO, CRF andVolvo

• The first versions of data fusion in a mat-lab/simulink environment and valida-tion with real data

• A new antenna concept for the tyre sen-sor

• Novel use of far-infrared and polarisa-tion cameras in measuring and classifi-cation of road surface slipperiness

• The use of 24GHz and 77GHz radar sig-nals in the detection of dry, wet and icyroad surfaces (patent application pen-ding).The second project, TeleFOT, addresses

the use and impacts of nomadic and after-market devices in providing drivers withinformation about traffic and road condi-tions ahead. The 15-million-euro projectwill be launched in the summer of 2008.This project also is partly EU-funded andincludes 25 partners from nine Europeancountries.

The objectives of TeleFOT are to assessthe impacts of functions provided by after-market and nomadic devices such as smart

Tapani Mäkinen,Technical Research Centreof Finland

Figure 1. Friction-sensor road tests.

Figure 2. Traffic sign information through a smart phone.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2524 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Lowering Speed Limits ReducesSpeed and Saves Lives in Norway

In the autumn of 2001, speed limits werelowered from 80 km/h to 70 km/h and

from 90 km/h to 80 km/h on hazardousroad sections in Norway. These road sec-tions had been identified as having a highnumber of fatal or serious injury accidentsper kilometre of road.

Speed limits were lowered on 294 roadsections with a total length of 1,134 km.247 road sections (total length 741 km)had the speed limit lowered from 80 km/hto 70 km/h. 47 road sections (total length393 km) had the speed limit lowered from90 km/h to 80 km/h.

Before-and-after studyEffects on accidents were evaluated bymeans of a before-and-after study using theEmpirical Bayes design.

In addition, the study controlled forlong-term trends in accident occurrence byapplying a comparison group. Comparisongroup consisted of roads that retained theoriginal speed limit of 80 km/h (alternativ-ly 90 km/h).

Data on changes in speed have beentaken from 29 permanent traffic monito-

Lowering the speed limit from 80 km/h to 70 km/h on roadswith many accidents has reduced both speed (-2,1 km/h to -4,1 km/h) and the number of injury accidents (-16%) and peoplekilled (-42%) in Norway. Lowering the speed limits from 90 km/hto 80 km/h has also reduced the speed (-1,6 km/h to -2,8 km/h),the number of injury accidents (-10%) and the number of peoplekilled (-40%).

ring stations operated by the Public RoadsAdministration. A computer algorithm wasdeveloped in order to ensure that only dataof acceptable quality was used in the study.

Comparison road sections for the speedstudy were found in the same county andwith the traffic as on the treated roads. Thespeed limits were unchanged on the com-parison roads.

Effect on speedChanges in mean speed are shown in TableS1. As can be seen, mean speed was redu-ced in all groups. The reductions weresomewhat larger in the two treated groups(80 km/h to 70 km/h and 90 km/h to 80km/h) than in the two comparison groups.This indicates that lowering the speed limithad a net effect on speed.

The net reduction in mean speed attri-butable to the lowering of the speed limit

can be estimated to between 2.1 and 4.1km/h on roads that had a speed limit of 80km/h before treatment. The correspon-ding net reduction in mean speed on 90km/h roads can be estimated to between1.6 and 2.8 km/h.

Effect on accidentsThe accident data for the treated road sec-tions are presented in Table S2. The befo-re-period for 80–70 km/h includes all yearsfrom 1993 to 2000 (589,496 days), whilethe after-period started at slightly differentdates in late 2001 and included the years2002 and 2003 (148,403 days).

For 90–80 km/h the before–period inc-ludes data from 1996 to 2000 (1,825 days)with an after period from 2002 until 2006(1,460 days).

Arild RagnøyNPRA, Norway

Contact: Arild Ragnøy, NPRA E-mail: arild.ragnoy@vegvesen.noGeneral information about traffic safety at:www.vegvesen.no

Table S1: Changes in the mean speed of traffic follow changes in speed limits.

Mean speed (km/h)

Group Before After

Treated roads 80 km/h to 70 km/h 75.3 71.2

Comparison roads retaining 80 km/h 76.4 74.4

Treated roads 90 km/h to 80 km/h 85.1 82.2

Comparison roads retaining 90 km/h 84.6 83.4

When regression-to-the-mean and long-term trends are controlled for by means ofcomparison groups it is concluded that thenet effect of lowering the speed limit from80 km/h to 70 km/h has reduced the num-ber of injury accidents (-16%) and killed (-42%).

Lowering the speed limits from 90km/h to 80 km/h has as a net effect redu-ced the number of injury accidents (-10%)and the number of killed persons (-40%).

Table S2: Accident data for treated road sections.

Group Item of data Before After

80 km/h to 70 km/h Total days covered 589 496 148 403

Injury accidents 2 307 455

Fatalities 211 30

Critically injured road users 537 70

Slightly injured road users 2 949 680

90 km/h to 80 km/h Total days covered 1 825 1 460

Injury accidents 278 185

Fatalities 45 21

Critically injured road users 28 5

Slightly injured road users Not reported Not reported

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2524 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Lowering Speed Limits ReducesSpeed and Saves Lives in Norway

In the autumn of 2001, speed limits werelowered from 80 km/h to 70 km/h and

from 90 km/h to 80 km/h on hazardousroad sections in Norway. These road sec-tions had been identified as having a highnumber of fatal or serious injury accidentsper kilometre of road.

Speed limits were lowered on 294 roadsections with a total length of 1,134 km.247 road sections (total length 741 km)had the speed limit lowered from 80 km/hto 70 km/h. 47 road sections (total length393 km) had the speed limit lowered from90 km/h to 80 km/h.

Before-and-after studyEffects on accidents were evaluated bymeans of a before-and-after study using theEmpirical Bayes design.

In addition, the study controlled forlong-term trends in accident occurrence byapplying a comparison group. Comparisongroup consisted of roads that retained theoriginal speed limit of 80 km/h (alternativ-ly 90 km/h).

Data on changes in speed have beentaken from 29 permanent traffic monito-

Lowering the speed limit from 80 km/h to 70 km/h on roadswith many accidents has reduced both speed (-2,1 km/h to -4,1 km/h) and the number of injury accidents (-16%) and peoplekilled (-42%) in Norway. Lowering the speed limits from 90 km/hto 80 km/h has also reduced the speed (-1,6 km/h to -2,8 km/h),the number of injury accidents (-10%) and the number of peoplekilled (-40%).

ring stations operated by the Public RoadsAdministration. A computer algorithm wasdeveloped in order to ensure that only dataof acceptable quality was used in the study.

Comparison road sections for the speedstudy were found in the same county andwith the traffic as on the treated roads. Thespeed limits were unchanged on the com-parison roads.

Effect on speedChanges in mean speed are shown in TableS1. As can be seen, mean speed was redu-ced in all groups. The reductions weresomewhat larger in the two treated groups(80 km/h to 70 km/h and 90 km/h to 80km/h) than in the two comparison groups.This indicates that lowering the speed limithad a net effect on speed.

The net reduction in mean speed attri-butable to the lowering of the speed limit

can be estimated to between 2.1 and 4.1km/h on roads that had a speed limit of 80km/h before treatment. The correspon-ding net reduction in mean speed on 90km/h roads can be estimated to between1.6 and 2.8 km/h.

Effect on accidentsThe accident data for the treated road sec-tions are presented in Table S2. The befo-re-period for 80–70 km/h includes all yearsfrom 1993 to 2000 (589,496 days), whilethe after-period started at slightly differentdates in late 2001 and included the years2002 and 2003 (148,403 days).

For 90–80 km/h the before–period inc-ludes data from 1996 to 2000 (1,825 days)with an after period from 2002 until 2006(1,460 days).

Arild RagnøyNPRA, Norway

Contact: Arild Ragnøy, NPRA E-mail: arild.ragnoy@vegvesen.noGeneral information about traffic safety at:www.vegvesen.no

Table S1: Changes in the mean speed of traffic follow changes in speed limits.

Mean speed (km/h)

Group Before After

Treated roads 80 km/h to 70 km/h 75.3 71.2

Comparison roads retaining 80 km/h 76.4 74.4

Treated roads 90 km/h to 80 km/h 85.1 82.2

Comparison roads retaining 90 km/h 84.6 83.4

When regression-to-the-mean and long-term trends are controlled for by means ofcomparison groups it is concluded that thenet effect of lowering the speed limit from80 km/h to 70 km/h has reduced the num-ber of injury accidents (-16%) and killed (-42%).

Lowering the speed limits from 90km/h to 80 km/h has as a net effect redu-ced the number of injury accidents (-10%)and the number of killed persons (-40%).

Table S2: Accident data for treated road sections.

Group Item of data Before After

80 km/h to 70 km/h Total days covered 589 496 148 403

Injury accidents 2 307 455

Fatalities 211 30

Critically injured road users 537 70

Slightly injured road users 2 949 680

90 km/h to 80 km/h Total days covered 1 825 1 460

Injury accidents 278 185

Fatalities 45 21

Critically injured road users 28 5

Slightly injured road users Not reported Not reported

TRAFFIC SAFETY

26 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

School journeys are an important part ofa child's environment, and should be

designed so that the whole journey to andfrom school can be secure and safe. In 2008,tests are made on two specially equippedbuses and bus stops in the ordinary schooltransport service in a Swedish municipality.This is a pilot project that is carried out forthe first time in the world. The project willdemonstrate a realistic driver support sys-tem which will, in a systematic and naturalway, support the driver. The project special-ly focuses on situations where the childrenare exposed as vulnerable road users.

New technology provides routine andsecurityThrough studies of school transport acci-dents in which children have been injured,VTI has shown that a departure from routi-ne is an important factor. Safety and securi-ty are assumed to increase with a higher deg-ree of routine. With the help of new techno-logy, children can now be given better routi-nes during their school journeys, regardlessof who is driving the bus. For example,children will always be let off the bus at thesame place, and the driver has informationon whether the child needs to be seen overthe road, or whether he/she usually gets offat the front or rear of the bus.

Since many school transport stops arenot marked, it may be difficult for a new orsubstitute driver to find the right place tostop at. Through the new system the driverhas access to information about the routeand are shown a picture of the next stop. Atthe stop, the driver is automatically given

information on which child is enterig orexiting, information that the driver todaymust remember without aid. On the screennext to the driver, he/she can also call upthe child's name and, if the parent/guardi-an has given permission, a picture of thechild. The driver can also get more informa-tion about the child. Examples of this areinformation on how to contact the parentsor whether the child has special needs.

Full controlThe bus driver is also shown if the child isat or near the stop. The children are name-ly given small radio transmitters, micro-chips, to hang on their coat or rucksack.The transmitter has a range of about 100metres, and sends signals to the driver sup-port system in the bus. When the childrenget on the bus, the driver logs them in byclicking on their photograph. It is also pos-sible to log in children that have forgotten

Smarter Safer School Buses is a world-unique initiative regardingchildren's journeys to and from school. The aim of the project,performed by VTI, is to enhance the safety and security of child-ren travelling by school transport.

their transmitters, provided that they geton at their usual stop. All children who areexpected to get on are displayed for thedriver, not only those who are at the stopand have their transmitter on them.

When the children get off, they are log-ged off automatically. In the same way,children are logged in automatically whenthey enter the bus in the afternoon, whenmany children get on at the same time atthe school. Prior to getting off, the systemalso gives information to the children by play-ing back an audio file in the bus which givesthe name of the next stop, the names of thechildren who are to get off, and any necessa-ry safety instructions for the children.

– The system is first class, I am more andmore impressed, says Mikael Nyström whois a bus driver and is taking part in the test.

– Thanks to the new technology, I havebetter contact with both the children andtheir parents.

Thanks to the external loudspeaker andcameras, the driver is able to communicatewith the children and see them both in andoutside the bus. This makes it easier for thedriver to take action in the event of danger.

With the help of a newly developed war-ning system at the stops, other road usersare also warned that there are children onthe road. During the test, two stops wereequipped with warning units which alsoreceive signals from the children's transmit-ters. The units warn other road users byemitting a blinking yellow light. In indepen-dent tests, this type of warning system hasbeen found to have a high road safety effect,since drivers passing the stop are madeaware that there are children near the stopand they thus lower their speed. The aim ofthe warning system is to make the stop saferduring the time that children stand therewaiting for the school bus to arrive.

Evaluation and resultsThe study is evaluated with reference to thedrivers' and children's experience of thedriver support system. The drivers attendfocus groups before and during the test.They also keep a diary for some weeksduring the test period. The first diarieshave now been handed to VTI. LindaRenner, who works on the project at VTI,says after a first look at the diaries:

– The new system appears to be appre-ciated and well used.

Children are interviewed in groups.This was done before the project startedand will be repeated at an early and latestage of the project. The results will beused to demonstrate the feasibility of usingthe driver support system for improvingthe safety and security of children who usethe school transport system.

The project also includes speed measu-rements, both before and during the testperiod.

Magdalena GreenVTI, Sweden

Contact: Anna Anund, anna.anund@vti.seLinda Renner, linda.renner@vti.se

Smarter and Safer School Buses – Unique Initiative on Trips by School Transport

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHO

TO:

VTI/

HEJ

DLÖ

SA

BIL

DER

26 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

School journeys are an important part ofa child's environment, and should be

designed so that the whole journey to andfrom school can be secure and safe. In 2008,tests are made on two specially equippedbuses and bus stops in the ordinary schooltransport service in a Swedish municipality.This is a pilot project that is carried out forthe first time in the world. The project willdemonstrate a realistic driver support sys-tem which will, in a systematic and naturalway, support the driver. The project special-ly focuses on situations where the childrenare exposed as vulnerable road users.

New technology provides routine andsecurityThrough studies of school transport acci-dents in which children have been injured,VTI has shown that a departure from routi-ne is an important factor. Safety and securi-ty are assumed to increase with a higher deg-ree of routine. With the help of new techno-logy, children can now be given better routi-nes during their school journeys, regardlessof who is driving the bus. For example,children will always be let off the bus at thesame place, and the driver has informationon whether the child needs to be seen overthe road, or whether he/she usually gets offat the front or rear of the bus.

Since many school transport stops arenot marked, it may be difficult for a new orsubstitute driver to find the right place tostop at. Through the new system the driverhas access to information about the routeand are shown a picture of the next stop. Atthe stop, the driver is automatically given

information on which child is enterig orexiting, information that the driver todaymust remember without aid. On the screennext to the driver, he/she can also call upthe child's name and, if the parent/guardi-an has given permission, a picture of thechild. The driver can also get more informa-tion about the child. Examples of this areinformation on how to contact the parentsor whether the child has special needs.

Full controlThe bus driver is also shown if the child isat or near the stop. The children are name-ly given small radio transmitters, micro-chips, to hang on their coat or rucksack.The transmitter has a range of about 100metres, and sends signals to the driver sup-port system in the bus. When the childrenget on the bus, the driver logs them in byclicking on their photograph. It is also pos-sible to log in children that have forgotten

Smarter Safer School Buses is a world-unique initiative regardingchildren's journeys to and from school. The aim of the project,performed by VTI, is to enhance the safety and security of child-ren travelling by school transport.

their transmitters, provided that they geton at their usual stop. All children who areexpected to get on are displayed for thedriver, not only those who are at the stopand have their transmitter on them.

When the children get off, they are log-ged off automatically. In the same way,children are logged in automatically whenthey enter the bus in the afternoon, whenmany children get on at the same time atthe school. Prior to getting off, the systemalso gives information to the children by play-ing back an audio file in the bus which givesthe name of the next stop, the names of thechildren who are to get off, and any necessa-ry safety instructions for the children.

– The system is first class, I am more andmore impressed, says Mikael Nyström whois a bus driver and is taking part in the test.

– Thanks to the new technology, I havebetter contact with both the children andtheir parents.

Thanks to the external loudspeaker andcameras, the driver is able to communicatewith the children and see them both in andoutside the bus. This makes it easier for thedriver to take action in the event of danger.

With the help of a newly developed war-ning system at the stops, other road usersare also warned that there are children onthe road. During the test, two stops wereequipped with warning units which alsoreceive signals from the children's transmit-ters. The units warn other road users byemitting a blinking yellow light. In indepen-dent tests, this type of warning system hasbeen found to have a high road safety effect,since drivers passing the stop are madeaware that there are children near the stopand they thus lower their speed. The aim ofthe warning system is to make the stop saferduring the time that children stand therewaiting for the school bus to arrive.

Evaluation and resultsThe study is evaluated with reference to thedrivers' and children's experience of thedriver support system. The drivers attendfocus groups before and during the test.They also keep a diary for some weeksduring the test period. The first diarieshave now been handed to VTI. LindaRenner, who works on the project at VTI,says after a first look at the diaries:

– The new system appears to be appre-ciated and well used.

Children are interviewed in groups.This was done before the project startedand will be repeated at an early and latestage of the project. The results will beused to demonstrate the feasibility of usingthe driver support system for improvingthe safety and security of children who usethe school transport system.

The project also includes speed measu-rements, both before and during the testperiod.

Magdalena GreenVTI, Sweden

Contact: Anna Anund, anna.anund@vti.seLinda Renner, linda.renner@vti.se

Smarter and Safer School Buses – Unique Initiative on Trips by School Transport

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHO

TO:

VTI/

HEJ

DLÖ

SA

BIL

DER

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2928 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Safety Effects by the Use of ITS in Connection with the Extension of M3in Copenhagen

M3 which runs around the western partof greater Copenhagen is under

extension from four to six lanes in theperiod 2005–2009. To achieve a satisfyinglevel of safety, traffic flow and service forthe road users during the time of construc-tion, the DRD has chosen to use trafficmanagement systems and information toinfluence the road user’s choice of speed,travel time and route. Information on thesystems used can be found in an article inNordic Road & Transport Research 1/2008and on www.nordicroads.com.

Effects concerning the traffic safetyThree years after the Danish RoadDirectorate launched the extension of M3,new statistics show that the traffic manage-ment system is helping the road users toget safe and smooth through the 17 kilo-metres of roadwork.

The DRD has studied the number ofaccidents in the years before the construc-tion began and compared these with thenumber of accidents during the construc-tion from Easter 2005 to October 2007,

In connection with the extension of M3 in Copenhagen, theDanish Road Directorate (DRD) has established a set of trafficmanagement systems and information services for the users ofthe road in order to achieve a satisfying level of safety, trafficflow and service during the time of construction. The establishingof ITS at M3 is so far the most comprehensive ITS applicationthe DRD has implemented.

which is the latest useable statistics. Tomake a direct comparison of the twoperiods possible, it has been chosen to con-vert the statistics into number of accidentper year before and during construction.

This shows that the overall number ofaccidents barely has changed in connec-tion with the roadwork. Before the con-struction began there were 75.3 accidentsper year and during construction therewere 77.2 accidents per year.

Fewer injuredWhen looking in more detail into these sta-tistics, it shows that the number of acci-dents with injured is halved. There were10.3 serious accidents per year before theconstruction began, while the number ofserious accidents reached 5.6 accidents peryear during the time of construction.

The number of accidents with materialdamage has increased slightly from 65 acci-dents per year before construction to 71.6accidents per year during construction.

Experience shows that in connectionwith similar roadwork where ITS is notused the number of accidents is doubled.

Kasper Rosenstand

TRAFFIC SAFETY

S leeping problems and stress are theserious public health issues of our

times, and they often cause inattentivenesson the part of drivers. In our new 24 hoursociety, people tend to give priority to workand pleasure at the expense of sleep.About 20 per cent of the Swedish popula-tion suffers from some form of sleep distur-bance or stress related disease. Because ofthis, many people become part of a highrisk group that can cause serious crashes intraffic and at work.

Since 2000, VTI has been involved inseveral studies which, in different ways,deal with the problem of driver sleepiness.The risk groups are young drivers, profes-sional drivers, shift workers and peoplewho suffer from sleep disturbance.

Warning systemsThrough various research projects, VTIaims to produce effective measures such as,for example, warning systems in both thecar and in the road environment. Warningsystems in the car will detect if the drivingperformance of the driver is impairedbecause of sleepiness, and will warn the dri-ver. The systems in the car are based eitheron the way the car is steered and where onthe road it is placed, or they register eyemovements and blink rate, which are oftena reflection of the driver's level of sleepi-ness. In addition, account can also be takenof the time of day and the sleepiness/wake-

Every year, fatigue in traffic causes around 100,000 accidents allover the world. In Sweden, sleepy drivers are involved in morethan 25 per cent of all road crashes. Driving when sleepy is justas dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. In spite ofthis, many people decide to drive when sleepy, and expose boththemselves and others to danger. VTI is engaged in several pro-jects in order to enhance knowledge in this field and thus reducethe number of crashes associated with driver sleepiness.

fulness behaviour of the driver.Warning systems that are coupled to this

are often based on a combination of feed-back to the driver regarding his/her per-formance, and one or more warnings.Warnings can be given in the form of war-ning sounds, spoken announcements, visu-al messages or via vibrations in e.g. thewheel and seat. As regards the road envi-ronment, VTI has studied rumble strips onthe road, which have been found effectivein waking sleepy drivers.

Lack of statisticsFatigue may be involved in as many as fourout of ten road accidents in Sweden. This iswhat Anna Anund of VTI has found in astudy carried out together with the policein Umeå. The study is based on policeinterviews with drivers involved in roadcrashes leading to injuries.

– We are, broadly speaking, certain that25 per cent of all slight and severe acci-dents are caused by fatigue. But the pro-portion may be as high as 38 per cent, saysAnna.

Statistics concerning sleepiness areincomplete, something that may be due tothe fact that, in contrast to e.g. drivingunder the influence, it is difficult, in factimpossible in case of fatal accidents, todescribe and to measure just how sleepy adriver involved in a crash was. Anotherproblem may be the lack of interest – Annabelieves that the problem is not takenseriously enough.

VTI now hopes that the problem of dri-ver sleepiness will attract attention and

Fatigue in Traffic

awareness of the problem will grow, andthat all the research projects on new war-ning systems will produce good results.

Magdalena GreenVTI, Sweden

Examples of research projects:

DROWSI prevents fatigue in trafficIn the research project DROWSI, DrowsinessIntervention, authorities are in dialogue withindustry in order to develop, through research anddevelopment, concepts and technologies for realtime prediction of driver fatigue, and also to findeffective countermeasures. The project is to resultin technical aids that can detect when the driver issleepy and stop him/her falling asleep. There aresystem solutions for both cars and trucks.

The project extends over four years and is per-formed within the framework of the national rese-arch and development programme IVSS (IntelligentVehicle Safety Systems).

Sensation – EU project on fatigue, sleep andstressSENSATION, Advanced sensor development forattention, stress, vigilance and sleep/wakefulnessmonitoring, is an EU project in which partnersfrom both industry and various institutes inEurope are involved. The project focuses on theproblem area stress, fatigue and sleep in trans-port, industry and health care. VTI's involvementin the project has mainly focused on problemsassociated with transport.

The object of Sensation is to highlight health,safety and quality of life and to protect the sur-roundings by reducing the number of fatigue-rela-ted accidents. The core issue in the work is deve-lopment of a cost effective and efficacious tech-nology that can detect fatigue symptoms and warnthe driver before an accident occurs. Several sen-sors have been developed in the project whichmeasure pulse (stress), brain activity (sleep andwakefulness) and blink rate (sleepiness).

Contact: Anna Anund, anna.anund@vti.se

PHOTO: VTI/HEJDLÖSA BILDER

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 2928 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Safety Effects by the Use of ITS in Connection with the Extension of M3in Copenhagen

M3 which runs around the western partof greater Copenhagen is under

extension from four to six lanes in theperiod 2005–2009. To achieve a satisfyinglevel of safety, traffic flow and service forthe road users during the time of construc-tion, the DRD has chosen to use trafficmanagement systems and information toinfluence the road user’s choice of speed,travel time and route. Information on thesystems used can be found in an article inNordic Road & Transport Research 1/2008and on www.nordicroads.com.

Effects concerning the traffic safetyThree years after the Danish RoadDirectorate launched the extension of M3,new statistics show that the traffic manage-ment system is helping the road users toget safe and smooth through the 17 kilo-metres of roadwork.

The DRD has studied the number ofaccidents in the years before the construc-tion began and compared these with thenumber of accidents during the construc-tion from Easter 2005 to October 2007,

In connection with the extension of M3 in Copenhagen, theDanish Road Directorate (DRD) has established a set of trafficmanagement systems and information services for the users ofthe road in order to achieve a satisfying level of safety, trafficflow and service during the time of construction. The establishingof ITS at M3 is so far the most comprehensive ITS applicationthe DRD has implemented.

which is the latest useable statistics. Tomake a direct comparison of the twoperiods possible, it has been chosen to con-vert the statistics into number of accidentper year before and during construction.

This shows that the overall number ofaccidents barely has changed in connec-tion with the roadwork. Before the con-struction began there were 75.3 accidentsper year and during construction therewere 77.2 accidents per year.

Fewer injuredWhen looking in more detail into these sta-tistics, it shows that the number of acci-dents with injured is halved. There were10.3 serious accidents per year before theconstruction began, while the number ofserious accidents reached 5.6 accidents peryear during the time of construction.

The number of accidents with materialdamage has increased slightly from 65 acci-dents per year before construction to 71.6accidents per year during construction.

Experience shows that in connectionwith similar roadwork where ITS is notused the number of accidents is doubled.

Kasper Rosenstand

TRAFFIC SAFETY

S leeping problems and stress are theserious public health issues of our

times, and they often cause inattentivenesson the part of drivers. In our new 24 hoursociety, people tend to give priority to workand pleasure at the expense of sleep.About 20 per cent of the Swedish popula-tion suffers from some form of sleep distur-bance or stress related disease. Because ofthis, many people become part of a highrisk group that can cause serious crashes intraffic and at work.

Since 2000, VTI has been involved inseveral studies which, in different ways,deal with the problem of driver sleepiness.The risk groups are young drivers, profes-sional drivers, shift workers and peoplewho suffer from sleep disturbance.

Warning systemsThrough various research projects, VTIaims to produce effective measures such as,for example, warning systems in both thecar and in the road environment. Warningsystems in the car will detect if the drivingperformance of the driver is impairedbecause of sleepiness, and will warn the dri-ver. The systems in the car are based eitheron the way the car is steered and where onthe road it is placed, or they register eyemovements and blink rate, which are oftena reflection of the driver's level of sleepi-ness. In addition, account can also be takenof the time of day and the sleepiness/wake-

Every year, fatigue in traffic causes around 100,000 accidents allover the world. In Sweden, sleepy drivers are involved in morethan 25 per cent of all road crashes. Driving when sleepy is justas dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. In spite ofthis, many people decide to drive when sleepy, and expose boththemselves and others to danger. VTI is engaged in several pro-jects in order to enhance knowledge in this field and thus reducethe number of crashes associated with driver sleepiness.

fulness behaviour of the driver.Warning systems that are coupled to this

are often based on a combination of feed-back to the driver regarding his/her per-formance, and one or more warnings.Warnings can be given in the form of war-ning sounds, spoken announcements, visu-al messages or via vibrations in e.g. thewheel and seat. As regards the road envi-ronment, VTI has studied rumble strips onthe road, which have been found effectivein waking sleepy drivers.

Lack of statisticsFatigue may be involved in as many as fourout of ten road accidents in Sweden. This iswhat Anna Anund of VTI has found in astudy carried out together with the policein Umeå. The study is based on policeinterviews with drivers involved in roadcrashes leading to injuries.

– We are, broadly speaking, certain that25 per cent of all slight and severe acci-dents are caused by fatigue. But the pro-portion may be as high as 38 per cent, saysAnna.

Statistics concerning sleepiness areincomplete, something that may be due tothe fact that, in contrast to e.g. drivingunder the influence, it is difficult, in factimpossible in case of fatal accidents, todescribe and to measure just how sleepy adriver involved in a crash was. Anotherproblem may be the lack of interest – Annabelieves that the problem is not takenseriously enough.

VTI now hopes that the problem of dri-ver sleepiness will attract attention and

Fatigue in Traffic

awareness of the problem will grow, andthat all the research projects on new war-ning systems will produce good results.

Magdalena GreenVTI, Sweden

Examples of research projects:

DROWSI prevents fatigue in trafficIn the research project DROWSI, DrowsinessIntervention, authorities are in dialogue withindustry in order to develop, through research anddevelopment, concepts and technologies for realtime prediction of driver fatigue, and also to findeffective countermeasures. The project is to resultin technical aids that can detect when the driver issleepy and stop him/her falling asleep. There aresystem solutions for both cars and trucks.

The project extends over four years and is per-formed within the framework of the national rese-arch and development programme IVSS (IntelligentVehicle Safety Systems).

Sensation – EU project on fatigue, sleep andstressSENSATION, Advanced sensor development forattention, stress, vigilance and sleep/wakefulnessmonitoring, is an EU project in which partnersfrom both industry and various institutes inEurope are involved. The project focuses on theproblem area stress, fatigue and sleep in trans-port, industry and health care. VTI's involvementin the project has mainly focused on problemsassociated with transport.

The object of Sensation is to highlight health,safety and quality of life and to protect the sur-roundings by reducing the number of fatigue-rela-ted accidents. The core issue in the work is deve-lopment of a cost effective and efficacious tech-nology that can detect fatigue symptoms and warnthe driver before an accident occurs. Several sen-sors have been developed in the project whichmeasure pulse (stress), brain activity (sleep andwakefulness) and blink rate (sleepiness).

Contact: Anna Anund, anna.anund@vti.se

PHOTO: VTI/HEJDLÖSA BILDER

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3130 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Automatic Speed Control in Norway

In Norway the Norwegian Public RoadsAdministration and the police work

together on the ASC project. The PublicRoads Administration cooperates with thepolice on the development and operationof the system, while the police are respon-sible for follow-up of drivers who are pho-tographed.

Norway has had ASC since 1988, and itwas initially implemented in ten police dis-tricts. Great attention is paid in the equip-ment to protection of privacy, and all pas-sengers are omitted from pictures. Radar-based equipment was abandoned at anearly stage in favour of sensors embeddedin the asphalt road pavement. Measuringequipment and procedures are qualityassured by the Norwegian MetrologyService, Det norske Veritas and SPTechnical Research Institute of Sweden(SP Sveriges tekniska forskningsinstitut).

Automatic speed control (ASC) is an important trafficsafety measure which has gradually become wide-spread in Norway and we now have some 360 ASCsites throughout the country. Evaluations of ASC indi-cate that it both results in a reduction of around 20%in the average accident rate and causes motorists toreduce their speed. It is the drivers who significantlyexceed the speed limit who reduce their speed most.We also know that most motorists (about 75%) statetheir support for this type of traffic safety measure.

EquipmentBoth technical equipment and softwarehave undergone steady development up tothe present day. Initially only wet film andold-fashioned flash photography wereused. Because of the growing number ofspeed checks and the desire for a simplerway of working with the aid of digital trans-fer of pictures, work to develop digitalcameras commenced early. The work star-ted in connection with the Olympic Gamesat Lillehammer, where digital pictures wereused for traffic surveillance. It was time-consuming work, and high resolution wasimportant. Wet-film cameras are now beinggradually replaced, and today over 90% ofall pictures are taken with digital cameras.The old-fashioned flash has been a challen-ge. They are expensive to use, and cannotbe used in ASC between two fixed points,where pictures have to be taken of all vehic-les passing the points. Infra-red photograp-hy was tested instead, and today it is rapid-ly taking over from the old flash photos.

Automatic red light enforcementThe first tests of automatic red-light enfor-cement took place in 1990. The testing wasterminated in 1997–1998 after a thoroughevaluation because the resources used werefound to a great deal outweigh the bene-fits.

Section ASCAnother branch of ASC, section ASC, hasnow been tested in an experimental step-ping up of surveillance at Lillehammer.Technically, the tests functioned well, andthe Public Roads Administration recom-mended to the political authorities thatsection ASC should be used as a traffic safe-ty measure. With section ASC, the averagevelocity of a vehicle is measured over astretch of road, typically 2–3 km. Thelength of the stretch will depend on howaccurately we “choose” to identify thevehicles. The method depends on ourbeing able to recognise a vehicle at an arri-val point A and a calculation point B.

Anne Beate BudalenNPRA, Norway

ASC in NorwayStarted in 1988Number of sites in 2008: 360Number of pictures taken in 2007: 240 000Number of vehicles monitored in 2007: 120 mil-lionMeasuring method: Piezoelectric cables

Number of vehicles monitored with spot ASC in Norway 1992–2007.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

When the distance between the points isknown, and we know the time it took forthe vehicle to drive from A to B, the avera-ge speed over the stretch can be calculated.With ordinary spot ASC, a camera is trigge-red when a vehicle exceeds a pre-set speed,the photo-triggering threshold. Section

ASC uses a similar photo threshold to thatin spot ASC, and only pictures of vehiclesthat have exceeded the chosen photothreshold are stored.

DevelopmentsThe number of photographs taken has

Contact: Anne Beate Budalen, anne-beate.budalen@vegvesen.no

increased from some 6 000 in 1989 toabout 240 000 in 2007. To illustrate thescope of ASC surveillance, 33% of thosewho are fined for having driven too fast inNorway are recorded by means of ASCphotographs (the Central Mobile PoliceService accounts for 30% and the localpolice districts for the remainder). Thenumber of vehicles monitored has risenfrom 10 million in 1992 to 120 million in2007. This shows clearly that ASC is beco-ming a very important part of overall surve-illance efforts in Norway, and it will conti-nue to be used as a traffic safety measure. Itis to be hoped that it will be taken furtherto section ASC in the near future.

PHOTO: ARNE NYBORG, NPRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3130 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Automatic Speed Control in Norway

In Norway the Norwegian Public RoadsAdministration and the police work

together on the ASC project. The PublicRoads Administration cooperates with thepolice on the development and operationof the system, while the police are respon-sible for follow-up of drivers who are pho-tographed.

Norway has had ASC since 1988, and itwas initially implemented in ten police dis-tricts. Great attention is paid in the equip-ment to protection of privacy, and all pas-sengers are omitted from pictures. Radar-based equipment was abandoned at anearly stage in favour of sensors embeddedin the asphalt road pavement. Measuringequipment and procedures are qualityassured by the Norwegian MetrologyService, Det norske Veritas and SPTechnical Research Institute of Sweden(SP Sveriges tekniska forskningsinstitut).

Automatic speed control (ASC) is an important trafficsafety measure which has gradually become wide-spread in Norway and we now have some 360 ASCsites throughout the country. Evaluations of ASC indi-cate that it both results in a reduction of around 20%in the average accident rate and causes motorists toreduce their speed. It is the drivers who significantlyexceed the speed limit who reduce their speed most.We also know that most motorists (about 75%) statetheir support for this type of traffic safety measure.

EquipmentBoth technical equipment and softwarehave undergone steady development up tothe present day. Initially only wet film andold-fashioned flash photography wereused. Because of the growing number ofspeed checks and the desire for a simplerway of working with the aid of digital trans-fer of pictures, work to develop digitalcameras commenced early. The work star-ted in connection with the Olympic Gamesat Lillehammer, where digital pictures wereused for traffic surveillance. It was time-consuming work, and high resolution wasimportant. Wet-film cameras are now beinggradually replaced, and today over 90% ofall pictures are taken with digital cameras.The old-fashioned flash has been a challen-ge. They are expensive to use, and cannotbe used in ASC between two fixed points,where pictures have to be taken of all vehic-les passing the points. Infra-red photograp-hy was tested instead, and today it is rapid-ly taking over from the old flash photos.

Automatic red light enforcementThe first tests of automatic red-light enfor-cement took place in 1990. The testing wasterminated in 1997–1998 after a thoroughevaluation because the resources used werefound to a great deal outweigh the bene-fits.

Section ASCAnother branch of ASC, section ASC, hasnow been tested in an experimental step-ping up of surveillance at Lillehammer.Technically, the tests functioned well, andthe Public Roads Administration recom-mended to the political authorities thatsection ASC should be used as a traffic safe-ty measure. With section ASC, the averagevelocity of a vehicle is measured over astretch of road, typically 2–3 km. Thelength of the stretch will depend on howaccurately we “choose” to identify thevehicles. The method depends on ourbeing able to recognise a vehicle at an arri-val point A and a calculation point B.

Anne Beate BudalenNPRA, Norway

ASC in NorwayStarted in 1988Number of sites in 2008: 360Number of pictures taken in 2007: 240 000Number of vehicles monitored in 2007: 120 mil-lionMeasuring method: Piezoelectric cables

Number of vehicles monitored with spot ASC in Norway 1992–2007.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

When the distance between the points isknown, and we know the time it took forthe vehicle to drive from A to B, the avera-ge speed over the stretch can be calculated.With ordinary spot ASC, a camera is trigge-red when a vehicle exceeds a pre-set speed,the photo-triggering threshold. Section

ASC uses a similar photo threshold to thatin spot ASC, and only pictures of vehiclesthat have exceeded the chosen photothreshold are stored.

DevelopmentsThe number of photographs taken has

Contact: Anne Beate Budalen, anne-beate.budalen@vegvesen.no

increased from some 6 000 in 1989 toabout 240 000 in 2007. To illustrate thescope of ASC surveillance, 33% of thosewho are fined for having driven too fast inNorway are recorded by means of ASCphotographs (the Central Mobile PoliceService accounts for 30% and the localpolice districts for the remainder). Thenumber of vehicles monitored has risenfrom 10 million in 1992 to 120 million in2007. This shows clearly that ASC is beco-ming a very important part of overall surve-illance efforts in Norway, and it will conti-nue to be used as a traffic safety measure. Itis to be hoped that it will be taken furtherto section ASC in the near future.

PHOTO: ARNE NYBORG, NPRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3332 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Road Safety in Northern Cyprus

Cyprus is known as a brilliant place forholidays. It has per tradition close rela-

tions to United Kingdom, having Britishroad rules and left side driving. Citiesalong the coast are developing rapidly dueto the construction of houses owned byforeigners, especially British citizens. Theisland entered into the EU as part of thefifth enlargement of 1st May 2004. Due tothe division of the island into a Greek part(south) and a Turkish part (north), Cyprusentered into EU as a “de facto” dividedisland. This means that the northern partof the Island is outside the customs and fis-cal territory of the EU. Said in EU terms:“The acquis communautaire” is suspendedin northern Cyprus. The suspension hasterritorial effect, but does not concern thepersonal rights of Turkish Cypriots as EUcitizens, as they are considered as citizensof the Member State Republic of Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus has a high rate of roadaccidents. Judged by statistics, the relativefrequency of road accidents is much higherin northern Cyprus than it is in other coun-tries in the EU, specifically the Nordic

Placed under the “Belly of Turkey”, Cyprus is an island on theoutskirts of Europe. A Danish Road Institute (DRI) employee isinvolved in a traffic safety programme in northern Cyprus. Theprogramme includes various activities that are normally includedin the strategies for improving traffic safety. In the following, abrief outline of the initiatives of the programme is given andsome of the expected results are descried.

countries. EU is presently financing a num-ber of initiatives for various sectors on nort-hern Cyprus, and included in these sectorsis the transport sector. Specific attentionhas been drawn to the traffic safety pro-blems and the EU has launched a largeprogramme to improve the present situa-tion. To guide the local EU office in Nicosia,Helge Skovbjerg, Regional Manager of theOperations and Maintenance Unit in

Skanderborg has been engaged. His task isto advise on activities, project specifica-tions, selection of consultants etc. Allmanagement issues related to implementsuch a large 3 million EURO programme isdone under his advice.

What is being done to improve trafficsafety in northern Cyprus? The main effortincludes the implementation of six diffe-rent projects to obtain the objectives of

Helge Skovbjerg

improving the traffic situation. The six pro-jects are:

Organisational Structure• This project is aimed at outlining a new

structure for the Traffic SafetyCommission. Like most other countriesin EU, the Commission comprisesrepresentatives from all the key stake-holders including the most importantNGOs. In this variety of a Traffic SafetyCommission, there are no representati-ves from parliament.

Accident Information System• This project comprises the setting up of

an Accident Information System withthe facility of making detailed accidentanalyses and identifying black spots. Italso comprises training in data collec-tion, accident analysis and consequentlycampaigning and enforcement. Thisproject involves mainly the Traffic

Police, who already have quite sophisti-cated databases for road safety informa-tion. In this project there will be anadjustment of the present system tocater for information to all the stakehol-ders, not only the Police.

Vehicle Inspection and Licensing• This project aims at setting up a regula-

tory framework and new structures forvehicle inspection and licensing. Itinvolves mainly the entity of Finance,entity of Internal Affairs, VehicleInspection Centres and Driving Schools.

Road Safety Education• This project aims at developing and

implementing broader campaigns andinvolves training and public relations. Itinvolves mainly the Mass Media, NGOs,and Traffic Safety Commission.

Primary Road Network• This project comprises the development

of a National Highway Plan and reme-diation of accident prone road sectionsand black spots. It involves mainly theentity for Public Works and Transport,Highway Department.

Traffic Operation.• This project comprises the development

of an Urban Traffic Management Planfor three cities. It also comprises specificmeasures for increasing traffic safety inurban areas. It involves mainly theMunicipalities and Northern Cyprus forInternal Affairs.

The programme will be implementedduring the coming years and hopefullyfinalised by 2011. At that time, appropriatedata will create fair documentation that theaccident rate on the road of northernCyprus has decreased.

Like in UK, the new drivers have the L on the vehicle.

Meeting at police headquarters; Nicosia.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3332 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Road Safety in Northern Cyprus

Cyprus is known as a brilliant place forholidays. It has per tradition close rela-

tions to United Kingdom, having Britishroad rules and left side driving. Citiesalong the coast are developing rapidly dueto the construction of houses owned byforeigners, especially British citizens. Theisland entered into the EU as part of thefifth enlargement of 1st May 2004. Due tothe division of the island into a Greek part(south) and a Turkish part (north), Cyprusentered into EU as a “de facto” dividedisland. This means that the northern partof the Island is outside the customs and fis-cal territory of the EU. Said in EU terms:“The acquis communautaire” is suspendedin northern Cyprus. The suspension hasterritorial effect, but does not concern thepersonal rights of Turkish Cypriots as EUcitizens, as they are considered as citizensof the Member State Republic of Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus has a high rate of roadaccidents. Judged by statistics, the relativefrequency of road accidents is much higherin northern Cyprus than it is in other coun-tries in the EU, specifically the Nordic

Placed under the “Belly of Turkey”, Cyprus is an island on theoutskirts of Europe. A Danish Road Institute (DRI) employee isinvolved in a traffic safety programme in northern Cyprus. Theprogramme includes various activities that are normally includedin the strategies for improving traffic safety. In the following, abrief outline of the initiatives of the programme is given andsome of the expected results are descried.

countries. EU is presently financing a num-ber of initiatives for various sectors on nort-hern Cyprus, and included in these sectorsis the transport sector. Specific attentionhas been drawn to the traffic safety pro-blems and the EU has launched a largeprogramme to improve the present situa-tion. To guide the local EU office in Nicosia,Helge Skovbjerg, Regional Manager of theOperations and Maintenance Unit in

Skanderborg has been engaged. His task isto advise on activities, project specifica-tions, selection of consultants etc. Allmanagement issues related to implementsuch a large 3 million EURO programme isdone under his advice.

What is being done to improve trafficsafety in northern Cyprus? The main effortincludes the implementation of six diffe-rent projects to obtain the objectives of

Helge Skovbjerg

improving the traffic situation. The six pro-jects are:

Organisational Structure• This project is aimed at outlining a new

structure for the Traffic SafetyCommission. Like most other countriesin EU, the Commission comprisesrepresentatives from all the key stake-holders including the most importantNGOs. In this variety of a Traffic SafetyCommission, there are no representati-ves from parliament.

Accident Information System• This project comprises the setting up of

an Accident Information System withthe facility of making detailed accidentanalyses and identifying black spots. Italso comprises training in data collec-tion, accident analysis and consequentlycampaigning and enforcement. Thisproject involves mainly the Traffic

Police, who already have quite sophisti-cated databases for road safety informa-tion. In this project there will be anadjustment of the present system tocater for information to all the stakehol-ders, not only the Police.

Vehicle Inspection and Licensing• This project aims at setting up a regula-

tory framework and new structures forvehicle inspection and licensing. Itinvolves mainly the entity of Finance,entity of Internal Affairs, VehicleInspection Centres and Driving Schools.

Road Safety Education• This project aims at developing and

implementing broader campaigns andinvolves training and public relations. Itinvolves mainly the Mass Media, NGOs,and Traffic Safety Commission.

Primary Road Network• This project comprises the development

of a National Highway Plan and reme-diation of accident prone road sectionsand black spots. It involves mainly theentity for Public Works and Transport,Highway Department.

Traffic Operation.• This project comprises the development

of an Urban Traffic Management Planfor three cities. It also comprises specificmeasures for increasing traffic safety inurban areas. It involves mainly theMunicipalities and Northern Cyprus forInternal Affairs.

The programme will be implementedduring the coming years and hopefullyfinalised by 2011. At that time, appropriatedata will create fair documentation that theaccident rate on the road of northernCyprus has decreased.

Like in UK, the new drivers have the L on the vehicle.

Meeting at police headquarters; Nicosia.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3534 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Traffic Safety Campaigns in Norway

An important part of traffic safety workis to provide information to the public,

i.e. traffic safety campaigns.

Nationwide campaignsKnowledge from accident analysis and rese-arch is used as a basis to provide the mostefficient campaigns. Norwegian PublicRoads Administration (NPRA) aspires tomaximise the combination of informationand enforcement because this combina-tion is efficient. Traffic safety campaignsshould express preferred behaviour inorder to change behaviour in a safer direc-tion.

Ongoing campaignsNPRA carries through two nationwide cam-paigns. One is to raise the use of seat beltand the other to reduce the number ofsleep related accidents. We also carrythrough a campaign called Speak out! inmajor parts of Norway.

Nationwide seat belt campaignThe use of seat belts is an efficient measu-re to reduce the numbers of killed andinjured in road accidents. Research tellsus that the risk of being killed can bereduced by 50% in the front seats whenseat belt is used. Our depth analysis

groups on fatal accidents found that 41%of the car users killed in traffic in Norwayin 2006 did not use seat belts. 40 livescould have been saved if the rate of usagewere 100%.

The main target set for seat belt use ingeneral in Norway is 90% in urban areasand 94% outside urban areas within 2010.The main target group for the campaignactivities is young men, 18–30 years old.

Three emotional pictures 2003–2008The three pictures are emotional and advi-ce us to use seat belt. Through this combi-nation, several evaluations show very goodresults on attention and knowledge to thecampaign, up to 94% in the target group in2005. The pictures are also used on nation-wide special designed roads signs, andalready adopted by other countries.

Further, the campaign includes trafficcontrol and information through mass

media and PR. The mail target group hasbeen involved in development of the cam-paign through a competition to write thebest script for a TV-commercial.

ResultsIn urban areas the use of seat belts hasincreased from 84% in 2004 to 89,4% in2007.

For rural areas the usage has risen from91,4 % to 93,7% in 2007. The increase ishigher for young people than for adults.

The Stop & Sleep CampaignInternational research shows that between15–30% percent of all road accidents arecaused by drivers falling asleep.

A Norwegian study by the Institute ofTransport Economics revealed that asmuch as 80% of private drivers have eitherfallen asleep or been close to falling asleep.For professional drivers the figure was

Cecilie WaterlooLindheim, NPRA, Norway

Contact: Cecilie Waterloo Lindheim. E-mail: cecilie.lindheim@vegvesen.noBjarte Skaugset, NPRA. E-mail: bjarte.skaugset@vegvesen.no

Serious road accidents are viewed as a serious national concern.The Government has established the Vision Zero as the basis fortraffic safety work in Norway – a vision of no one being killed orpermanently injured in traffic.

75%. 11% of the fatal accidents in 2005and 18% in 2006 were sleep related.

Campaign message: Sleepy behind thewheel? Stop and sleep for 15 minutes. Aim:To reduce the number of sleep relatedaccidents by 50% by the end of 2008.

Research shows that drivers often use avariety of non-effective strategies in orderto stay awake, like singing to themselves,playing loud music etc. The Stop and SleepCampaign emphasises that the only effecti-ve measure is to sleep. 15 minutes sleep willrevitalise the driver sufficiently for him/herto keep driving for a couple of hours.

Measures Towards Professional DriversInformation from the Stop and SleepCampaign was combined with routine con-trols of hours of service regulation. Three main messages are:• Following the regulations is no guaran-

tee against falling asleep• Drivers who violate the regulations are

most likely to fall asleep

• Drink water instead of beverages contai-ning sugar!

Speak out!The main target group of the campaignSpeak out! are adolescents from 16–24,with a particular focus on 16–19 year oldpassengers. This is the group with highestrisk in traffic, with high numbers of fatali-ties and serious injuries. Their lack of expe-rience as drivers and negative peer/grouppressure might explain the high risk.

It is found that many young people feelfear as passengers, but remain silent. Thiscampaign therefore offers support throughordinary roadside controls with informa-tion and giveaways with the Speak out!logo.

But this strategy will not affect all the

risk takers to moderate their driving. Somehigh risk takers will not change behaviourdue to information or peer pressure. Thepolice are involved to react on this group.

EvaluationThe campaign was evaluated by theNorwegian Institute of TransportEconomics in 2007. The effect is strong inthe counties with intensified police con-trols. The reduction of killed and seriouslyinjured drivers and passengers in the targetgroup is estimated to 25,5%, with a netbenefit estimated to about 49 million Euro.

DINAMO RRA62 Foto: M

assimo Leardini

Det spiller ingen rolle om du bare skal på en kort kjøretur – hvis du ikke kommer tilbake. Husk bilbeltevegvesen.no/bilbelte

50 km/t virker ikke mye – men kolliderer du uten bilbelte, tilsvarer det et fritt fall på 10 meter. Husk bilbeltevegvesen.no/bilbelte

DINAMO RRA62 Foto: M

assimo Leardini

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHOTO: NPRA

DINAMO RRA62 Foto: M

assimo Leardini

Å miste en venn er ekstra vondt – dersom det kunne vært unngått. Husk bilbeltevegvesen.no/bilbelte PH

OTO

: M

ASS

IMO

LEA

RD

INI

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3534 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Traffic Safety Campaigns in Norway

An important part of traffic safety workis to provide information to the public,

i.e. traffic safety campaigns.

Nationwide campaignsKnowledge from accident analysis and rese-arch is used as a basis to provide the mostefficient campaigns. Norwegian PublicRoads Administration (NPRA) aspires tomaximise the combination of informationand enforcement because this combina-tion is efficient. Traffic safety campaignsshould express preferred behaviour inorder to change behaviour in a safer direc-tion.

Ongoing campaignsNPRA carries through two nationwide cam-paigns. One is to raise the use of seat beltand the other to reduce the number ofsleep related accidents. We also carrythrough a campaign called Speak out! inmajor parts of Norway.

Nationwide seat belt campaignThe use of seat belts is an efficient measu-re to reduce the numbers of killed andinjured in road accidents. Research tellsus that the risk of being killed can bereduced by 50% in the front seats whenseat belt is used. Our depth analysis

groups on fatal accidents found that 41%of the car users killed in traffic in Norwayin 2006 did not use seat belts. 40 livescould have been saved if the rate of usagewere 100%.

The main target set for seat belt use ingeneral in Norway is 90% in urban areasand 94% outside urban areas within 2010.The main target group for the campaignactivities is young men, 18–30 years old.

Three emotional pictures 2003–2008The three pictures are emotional and advi-ce us to use seat belt. Through this combi-nation, several evaluations show very goodresults on attention and knowledge to thecampaign, up to 94% in the target group in2005. The pictures are also used on nation-wide special designed roads signs, andalready adopted by other countries.

Further, the campaign includes trafficcontrol and information through mass

media and PR. The mail target group hasbeen involved in development of the cam-paign through a competition to write thebest script for a TV-commercial.

ResultsIn urban areas the use of seat belts hasincreased from 84% in 2004 to 89,4% in2007.

For rural areas the usage has risen from91,4 % to 93,7% in 2007. The increase ishigher for young people than for adults.

The Stop & Sleep CampaignInternational research shows that between15–30% percent of all road accidents arecaused by drivers falling asleep.

A Norwegian study by the Institute ofTransport Economics revealed that asmuch as 80% of private drivers have eitherfallen asleep or been close to falling asleep.For professional drivers the figure was

Cecilie WaterlooLindheim, NPRA, Norway

Contact: Cecilie Waterloo Lindheim. E-mail: cecilie.lindheim@vegvesen.noBjarte Skaugset, NPRA. E-mail: bjarte.skaugset@vegvesen.no

Serious road accidents are viewed as a serious national concern.The Government has established the Vision Zero as the basis fortraffic safety work in Norway – a vision of no one being killed orpermanently injured in traffic.

75%. 11% of the fatal accidents in 2005and 18% in 2006 were sleep related.

Campaign message: Sleepy behind thewheel? Stop and sleep for 15 minutes. Aim:To reduce the number of sleep relatedaccidents by 50% by the end of 2008.

Research shows that drivers often use avariety of non-effective strategies in orderto stay awake, like singing to themselves,playing loud music etc. The Stop and SleepCampaign emphasises that the only effecti-ve measure is to sleep. 15 minutes sleep willrevitalise the driver sufficiently for him/herto keep driving for a couple of hours.

Measures Towards Professional DriversInformation from the Stop and SleepCampaign was combined with routine con-trols of hours of service regulation. Three main messages are:• Following the regulations is no guaran-

tee against falling asleep• Drivers who violate the regulations are

most likely to fall asleep

• Drink water instead of beverages contai-ning sugar!

Speak out!The main target group of the campaignSpeak out! are adolescents from 16–24,with a particular focus on 16–19 year oldpassengers. This is the group with highestrisk in traffic, with high numbers of fatali-ties and serious injuries. Their lack of expe-rience as drivers and negative peer/grouppressure might explain the high risk.

It is found that many young people feelfear as passengers, but remain silent. Thiscampaign therefore offers support throughordinary roadside controls with informa-tion and giveaways with the Speak out!logo.

But this strategy will not affect all the

risk takers to moderate their driving. Somehigh risk takers will not change behaviourdue to information or peer pressure. Thepolice are involved to react on this group.

EvaluationThe campaign was evaluated by theNorwegian Institute of TransportEconomics in 2007. The effect is strong inthe counties with intensified police con-trols. The reduction of killed and seriouslyinjured drivers and passengers in the targetgroup is estimated to 25,5%, with a netbenefit estimated to about 49 million Euro.

DINAMO RRA62 Foto: M

assimo Leardini

Det spiller ingen rolle om du bare skal på en kort kjøretur – hvis du ikke kommer tilbake. Husk bilbeltevegvesen.no/bilbelte

50 km/t virker ikke mye – men kolliderer du uten bilbelte, tilsvarer det et fritt fall på 10 meter. Husk bilbeltevegvesen.no/bilbelte

DINAMO RRA62 Foto: M

assimo Leardini

TRAFFIC SAFETY

PHOTO: NPRA

DINAMO RRA62 Foto: M

assimo Leardini

Å miste en venn er ekstra vondt – dersom det kunne vært unngått. Husk bilbeltevegvesen.no/bilbelte PH

OTO

: M

ASS

IMO

LEA

RD

INI

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3736 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Full Activity in the VTI Driving Simulator

VTI is far ahead in the field of drivingsimulation. Today, VTI has two simula-

tors, one for passenger cars and one forheavy vehicles. Both simulators feature areal vehicle cabin and have a sophisticatedmotion system for a realistic reproductionof the forces exerted on the body when dri-ving. Under the cabin there is a vibratingtable that simulates high frequency vibra-tions caused by road roughness, whichmakes the driving experience very true tolife. When it comes to the motion system,the most recent driving simulator repre-sents some of the best that can be achievedwith today's technology. Together with anadvanced graphics system, this gives a simu-lator of world class, with a very realistic dri-ving experience.

From driver behaviour to vehicle technologyThe driving simulator has a wide field ofuse, extending from driver behaviour,through the man-machine interface,effects of fatigue and drugs, to road design,tunnel design, reactions of the body, dri-vers with functional impairment and newcomponent systems in the vehicle. A dri-ving simulator is a higly effective, riskfreeand cost effective way of simulating in alaboratory the traffic situation to be stu-died. The ability to perform safe tests, withidentical scenarios for each test subject is agreat advantage of the simulator.

Just now, a lot of research is in progressregarding driver fatigue, and a simulator is

of great help in this. The simulator hasbeen used, for example, to study how dri-vers in a tired state react to various types ofwarning system. The ability to monitor dri-ver behaviour as fatigue develops is absolu-tely critical in designing reliable driver sup-port systems which can predict dangerousbehaviour due to fatigue. In principle, dri-vers go on until they fall asleep and have anaccident. The procedure is then replayedto see how this could have been predictedin the best way.

Varying research projectsIn the spring, a large number of projectswere carried out in the VTI simulator.Examples are a study of rumble strips on theroad, and a warning management systemwhich is to handle warnings received fromactive safety systems. In the VTI heavy vehic-le simulator, a study was also carried out tostudy the safety implication of different tiresand tire configurations for buses driving onicy roads. The fatigue projects DROWSI andSensation, and the EU project Druid, alsomade use of the simulator.

The activities will continue in theautumn. The simulator facilities will then beused in the project Heavy Route (IntelligentRoute Guidance for Heavy Vehicles), theaim of which is to develop a route guidancesystem that selects the safest and most costeffective routes for goods transport inEurope. The simulators will also be used inprojects where road experience and sensiti-vity to side wind are studied.

Magdalena Green, VTI, Sweden

VTI provides world class simulation and simulator know-how formost research projects regarding road safety. In recent times,the VTI simulators have been running at full steam both day andnight.

Fauna Passages in Denmark

During recent years, many fauna passa-ges have been constructed under

motorways and bigger roads. Most fre-quently they have been constructed in con-nection with running water, where bermshave been constructed which can create aconnection under the road alongside thewater for bigger or smaller animals. Today,tunnels for streams are always constructedwith berms. On sites where it is necessaryfor larger animals to pass, such as deer andstags, the passage is considerably largerthan the requirements of a water passage.

Fauna passages over bigger roadsIn 2000, the motorway between Ålborg andFrederikshavn was opened and nearJutland Ridge the first bigger fauna passageover the motorway was inaugurated at thesame time. The motorway cut through theridge and the road was placed in two tun-nels, which created a 25 m wide passageover the motorway, which gives a passage-way mainly for stags.

Also a number of fauna passages havebeen constructed as regular bridges.

Route 9The motorway alongside Route 9 which isunder construction at present passes northof Svendborg through a big and cohesivenatural area with forests both east and westof the corridor, where Route 9 and themotorway are situated. In the forest, thereis a large number of roe deer and there are

also foxes, badgers, various martens andcommon dormice.

The heavy traffic on Route 9 has formany years created a barrier for the ani-mals between the forests on both sides ofthe corridor. In connection with environ-mental screening it was therefore decidedto construct a fauna passage like the one atJutland Ridge.

The Danish Forest and Nature Agencyhowever pointed out a construction abroadwhich was bigger than the construction atJutland Ridge and experiences from thereshowed that really good results were onlyobtained at greater widths so that biggeranimals were prepared to cross there. TheDanish Road Directorate and Danish Forestand Nature Agency agreed that at this placea fauna passage should be constructed of 50m width across the motorway.

Common dormouseSpecial consideration should be taken tothe common dormouse. The forests northof Svendborg are one of the few places inDenmark where the common dormousehas its natural abode. It is included in theEU’s Habitats Directive and is included onthe list of animal species requiring protec-tion.

The existing Route 9 has always createda barrier for the common dormouse. It wastherefore decided also to establish a faunapassage over the existing Route 9.

The motorway is at its deepest point, a10 meter cut, and thus it is possible to esta-blish good afforestation over the motor-way. An afforestation with trees and bushesand with a clearing which creates goodspace for bigger animals to go through andalso bushes that make allowance for thecommon dormouse.

Steen Ogstrup, sco@vd.dk.

Denmark has for many years taken the fauna of the countrysideinto consideration, when planning major construction works. Anenvironmental screening always takes place in the very earlystage of planning a motorway or highway.

Contact: Jonas Jansson, jonas.jansson@vti.seFor more information: www.vti.se/drivingsimulator

Denmarks’ widest fauna passage, 50 metres wide.

PHO

TO:

STE

EN O

GS

TRU

P

PHOTO: VTI

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3736 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Full Activity in the VTI Driving Simulator

VTI is far ahead in the field of drivingsimulation. Today, VTI has two simula-

tors, one for passenger cars and one forheavy vehicles. Both simulators feature areal vehicle cabin and have a sophisticatedmotion system for a realistic reproductionof the forces exerted on the body when dri-ving. Under the cabin there is a vibratingtable that simulates high frequency vibra-tions caused by road roughness, whichmakes the driving experience very true tolife. When it comes to the motion system,the most recent driving simulator repre-sents some of the best that can be achievedwith today's technology. Together with anadvanced graphics system, this gives a simu-lator of world class, with a very realistic dri-ving experience.

From driver behaviour to vehicle technologyThe driving simulator has a wide field ofuse, extending from driver behaviour,through the man-machine interface,effects of fatigue and drugs, to road design,tunnel design, reactions of the body, dri-vers with functional impairment and newcomponent systems in the vehicle. A dri-ving simulator is a higly effective, riskfreeand cost effective way of simulating in alaboratory the traffic situation to be stu-died. The ability to perform safe tests, withidentical scenarios for each test subject is agreat advantage of the simulator.

Just now, a lot of research is in progressregarding driver fatigue, and a simulator is

of great help in this. The simulator hasbeen used, for example, to study how dri-vers in a tired state react to various types ofwarning system. The ability to monitor dri-ver behaviour as fatigue develops is absolu-tely critical in designing reliable driver sup-port systems which can predict dangerousbehaviour due to fatigue. In principle, dri-vers go on until they fall asleep and have anaccident. The procedure is then replayedto see how this could have been predictedin the best way.

Varying research projectsIn the spring, a large number of projectswere carried out in the VTI simulator.Examples are a study of rumble strips on theroad, and a warning management systemwhich is to handle warnings received fromactive safety systems. In the VTI heavy vehic-le simulator, a study was also carried out tostudy the safety implication of different tiresand tire configurations for buses driving onicy roads. The fatigue projects DROWSI andSensation, and the EU project Druid, alsomade use of the simulator.

The activities will continue in theautumn. The simulator facilities will then beused in the project Heavy Route (IntelligentRoute Guidance for Heavy Vehicles), theaim of which is to develop a route guidancesystem that selects the safest and most costeffective routes for goods transport inEurope. The simulators will also be used inprojects where road experience and sensiti-vity to side wind are studied.

Magdalena Green, VTI, Sweden

VTI provides world class simulation and simulator know-how formost research projects regarding road safety. In recent times,the VTI simulators have been running at full steam both day andnight.

Fauna Passages in Denmark

During recent years, many fauna passa-ges have been constructed under

motorways and bigger roads. Most fre-quently they have been constructed in con-nection with running water, where bermshave been constructed which can create aconnection under the road alongside thewater for bigger or smaller animals. Today,tunnels for streams are always constructedwith berms. On sites where it is necessaryfor larger animals to pass, such as deer andstags, the passage is considerably largerthan the requirements of a water passage.

Fauna passages over bigger roadsIn 2000, the motorway between Ålborg andFrederikshavn was opened and nearJutland Ridge the first bigger fauna passageover the motorway was inaugurated at thesame time. The motorway cut through theridge and the road was placed in two tun-nels, which created a 25 m wide passageover the motorway, which gives a passage-way mainly for stags.

Also a number of fauna passages havebeen constructed as regular bridges.

Route 9The motorway alongside Route 9 which isunder construction at present passes northof Svendborg through a big and cohesivenatural area with forests both east and westof the corridor, where Route 9 and themotorway are situated. In the forest, thereis a large number of roe deer and there are

also foxes, badgers, various martens andcommon dormice.

The heavy traffic on Route 9 has formany years created a barrier for the ani-mals between the forests on both sides ofthe corridor. In connection with environ-mental screening it was therefore decidedto construct a fauna passage like the one atJutland Ridge.

The Danish Forest and Nature Agencyhowever pointed out a construction abroadwhich was bigger than the construction atJutland Ridge and experiences from thereshowed that really good results were onlyobtained at greater widths so that biggeranimals were prepared to cross there. TheDanish Road Directorate and Danish Forestand Nature Agency agreed that at this placea fauna passage should be constructed of 50m width across the motorway.

Common dormouseSpecial consideration should be taken tothe common dormouse. The forests northof Svendborg are one of the few places inDenmark where the common dormousehas its natural abode. It is included in theEU’s Habitats Directive and is included onthe list of animal species requiring protec-tion.

The existing Route 9 has always createda barrier for the common dormouse. It wastherefore decided also to establish a faunapassage over the existing Route 9.

The motorway is at its deepest point, a10 meter cut, and thus it is possible to esta-blish good afforestation over the motor-way. An afforestation with trees and bushesand with a clearing which creates goodspace for bigger animals to go through andalso bushes that make allowance for thecommon dormouse.

Steen Ogstrup, sco@vd.dk.

Denmark has for many years taken the fauna of the countrysideinto consideration, when planning major construction works. Anenvironmental screening always takes place in the very earlystage of planning a motorway or highway.

Contact: Jonas Jansson, jonas.jansson@vti.seFor more information: www.vti.se/drivingsimulator

Denmarks’ widest fauna passage, 50 metres wide.

PHO

TO:

STE

EN O

GS

TRU

P

PHOTO: VTI

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3938 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Fire-safety in the Bjørvika Tunnel

The consequences of a fire in Norway’s first immersed tunnelcould be catastrophic. If the unprotected structure is exposed toprolonged and extreme heat, the concrete could start to spalland compromise the integrity of the construction. Two levels offire-protection were therefore a prerequisite in the design of theproject. In the event of a fire, if the primary fire-protection shouldfail, a unique secondary system is in place.

The primary fire-protection is dividedinto two systems. Firstly, the roof, and

the upper part of the wall will be coveredwith a board or a sprayed material. Thiscontract is currently out to tender and willbe decided in August 2008. Secondly, pre-fabricated fire resistant concrete panels willprotect the wall from the road level and 3.5metres up the wall.

In the bidding-process, the NorwegianPublic Roads Administration set their ownrequirements concerning documentationand testing of the fire-protection. One ofthe requirements was a secondary fire-pro-tection system, where a specific amount ofpolypropylene fibres were mixed with theconcrete in the ceiling of the tunnel.

According to Claus K. Larsen, senior-engineer at the Directorate of PublicRoads, the Bjørvika Tunnel will get the bestfire-protection possible today.

In the late 1990’s, three fatal incidentsput tunnel fire-safety on the agenda. TheMont Blanc tunnel fire in Italy/France in1999 cost 39 lives, a similar fire in Tauern,Austria, a few months later cost 12 lives,and 11 lives were lost in the St. Gotthardtunnel fire in Switzerland in 2001. It wasduring these years that the design-processof the Bjørvika tunnel was in full activity.

In this environment, and with no inter-

national standards for testing and docu-menting tunnel fire-protection, theDirectorate of Public Roads started its ownConcrete-project in 2003. Its goal was tofind out how concrete structures can beprotected from losing their load carryingcapacity during intense fires.

A series of full-scale experiments in theDirectorate of Public Roads’ test-tunnel,Runehamar in Åndalsnes, revealed weak-nesses in some types of fire-protection.Exposure to the RWS fire-curve, a tempera-ture curve that simulates a tank-vehicleburning freely for two hours with tempera-tures up to 1 350 degrees, caused up to 15centimetres of spalling and direct exposu-re/melting of the reinforcement.

Through several experiments inRundhamar, the Directorate of PublicRoads came up with an efficient solution.Adding two kilos of polypropylene fibres(pp-fibres) per cubic metre of concrete

prevents spalling. The minuscule fibres,only 18 micrometres in diameter and 6 mil-limetres long, can potentially be life-savingduring intense tunnel-fires.

This relatively simple and inexpensivesolution gave good results.

Although it is not entirely understoodhow these fibres work, it is generally accep-ted that it is the melting of the pp-fibres bet-ween 360–400 degrees that alleviates thespalling problem. This is achieved either bycreating small air pockets counteractingpressure build-up or vents for steam to esca-pe.

Adding pp-fibres to the concrete mixesis a requirement in the Bjørvika-contractand in the Skansen Tunnel in Trondheimwhich will also be built with concrete.

Johanne Solheim NPRA, Norway

Johanne Solheim NPRA, Norway

Sprayed fire protection with different surface treatments(test mock-up in tunnel).

Fire protection boards (test mock-up in tunnel).

What's Going Down in Oslo?

The transport route for the Bjørvikaconcrete tunnel elements is long. It is,

in fact, the longest such transport routeknown. The elements, 112.5 m long andweighing 30,000 tonnes, were built in a drydock at Askøy just outside the city ofBergen, Western Norway; their destinationis Bjørvika in Oslo, approximately 800 kmaround the coast. Waves, wind and currentsput the elements through some of theirgreatest challenges.

To minimise the risk, the elements werenot to be exposed to waves higher than fivemetres. Therefore transport could onlyoccur during the summer months and onlyif calm weather was forecasted.

Along the transport route safe-havenswere identified so that the elements couldseek refuge if needed. The elements, floa-ting in the water, were in general pulled bytwo tug-boats, but in congested channels athird tug-boat was used. The elements tra-velled at a speed of 2–3 knots.

In ideal circumstances, transport wasestimated to take five days. Five of BjørvikaTunnel’s six elements arrived after exactlyfive days in transit. The final element arri-ved on Monday 2nd June 2008, after six daysin transit. The reason for this delay was notwaves or winds, but a fairly strong countercurrent.

In conclusion, one can say that thetransport of the Bjørvika Tunnel elements,the longest known route for such a cargo,was a success. The immersion and installa-tion of the tunnel elements is scheduled tobe started in August 2008.

Map showing the transport route for the tunnel elements from Bergen to Bjørvika in Oslo.

Pulling 30 000 tons of concrete through the sound of Drøbak last autumn.

PHO

TO:

NPR

A

Contact: Johanne Solheim, johanne.solheim@vegvesen.no

Contact: Johanne Solheim, johanne.solheim@vegvesen.no

PHO

TO: IA

N M

ARK

EY, N

PRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 3938 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Fire-safety in the Bjørvika Tunnel

The consequences of a fire in Norway’s first immersed tunnelcould be catastrophic. If the unprotected structure is exposed toprolonged and extreme heat, the concrete could start to spalland compromise the integrity of the construction. Two levels offire-protection were therefore a prerequisite in the design of theproject. In the event of a fire, if the primary fire-protection shouldfail, a unique secondary system is in place.

The primary fire-protection is dividedinto two systems. Firstly, the roof, and

the upper part of the wall will be coveredwith a board or a sprayed material. Thiscontract is currently out to tender and willbe decided in August 2008. Secondly, pre-fabricated fire resistant concrete panels willprotect the wall from the road level and 3.5metres up the wall.

In the bidding-process, the NorwegianPublic Roads Administration set their ownrequirements concerning documentationand testing of the fire-protection. One ofthe requirements was a secondary fire-pro-tection system, where a specific amount ofpolypropylene fibres were mixed with theconcrete in the ceiling of the tunnel.

According to Claus K. Larsen, senior-engineer at the Directorate of PublicRoads, the Bjørvika Tunnel will get the bestfire-protection possible today.

In the late 1990’s, three fatal incidentsput tunnel fire-safety on the agenda. TheMont Blanc tunnel fire in Italy/France in1999 cost 39 lives, a similar fire in Tauern,Austria, a few months later cost 12 lives,and 11 lives were lost in the St. Gotthardtunnel fire in Switzerland in 2001. It wasduring these years that the design-processof the Bjørvika tunnel was in full activity.

In this environment, and with no inter-

national standards for testing and docu-menting tunnel fire-protection, theDirectorate of Public Roads started its ownConcrete-project in 2003. Its goal was tofind out how concrete structures can beprotected from losing their load carryingcapacity during intense fires.

A series of full-scale experiments in theDirectorate of Public Roads’ test-tunnel,Runehamar in Åndalsnes, revealed weak-nesses in some types of fire-protection.Exposure to the RWS fire-curve, a tempera-ture curve that simulates a tank-vehicleburning freely for two hours with tempera-tures up to 1 350 degrees, caused up to 15centimetres of spalling and direct exposu-re/melting of the reinforcement.

Through several experiments inRundhamar, the Directorate of PublicRoads came up with an efficient solution.Adding two kilos of polypropylene fibres(pp-fibres) per cubic metre of concrete

prevents spalling. The minuscule fibres,only 18 micrometres in diameter and 6 mil-limetres long, can potentially be life-savingduring intense tunnel-fires.

This relatively simple and inexpensivesolution gave good results.

Although it is not entirely understoodhow these fibres work, it is generally accep-ted that it is the melting of the pp-fibres bet-ween 360–400 degrees that alleviates thespalling problem. This is achieved either bycreating small air pockets counteractingpressure build-up or vents for steam to esca-pe.

Adding pp-fibres to the concrete mixesis a requirement in the Bjørvika-contractand in the Skansen Tunnel in Trondheimwhich will also be built with concrete.

Johanne Solheim NPRA, Norway

Johanne Solheim NPRA, Norway

Sprayed fire protection with different surface treatments(test mock-up in tunnel).

Fire protection boards (test mock-up in tunnel).

What's Going Down in Oslo?

The transport route for the Bjørvikaconcrete tunnel elements is long. It is,

in fact, the longest such transport routeknown. The elements, 112.5 m long andweighing 30,000 tonnes, were built in a drydock at Askøy just outside the city ofBergen, Western Norway; their destinationis Bjørvika in Oslo, approximately 800 kmaround the coast. Waves, wind and currentsput the elements through some of theirgreatest challenges.

To minimise the risk, the elements werenot to be exposed to waves higher than fivemetres. Therefore transport could onlyoccur during the summer months and onlyif calm weather was forecasted.

Along the transport route safe-havenswere identified so that the elements couldseek refuge if needed. The elements, floa-ting in the water, were in general pulled bytwo tug-boats, but in congested channels athird tug-boat was used. The elements tra-velled at a speed of 2–3 knots.

In ideal circumstances, transport wasestimated to take five days. Five of BjørvikaTunnel’s six elements arrived after exactlyfive days in transit. The final element arri-ved on Monday 2nd June 2008, after six daysin transit. The reason for this delay was notwaves or winds, but a fairly strong countercurrent.

In conclusion, one can say that thetransport of the Bjørvika Tunnel elements,the longest known route for such a cargo,was a success. The immersion and installa-tion of the tunnel elements is scheduled tobe started in August 2008.

Map showing the transport route for the tunnel elements from Bergen to Bjørvika in Oslo.

Pulling 30 000 tons of concrete through the sound of Drøbak last autumn.

PHO

TO:

NPR

A

Contact: Johanne Solheim, johanne.solheim@vegvesen.no

Contact: Johanne Solheim, johanne.solheim@vegvesen.no

PHO

TO: IA

N M

ARK

EY, N

PRA

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 4140 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Non-technical Improvements ReduceRail Border-crossing Delays

Rail infrastructure upgrading is often advocated in order to solvethe problem of freight train border-crossing delays. According tonew research, regulatory and administrative factors are just asimportant. The agreement “Train of Trust” has reduced the stop-ping time from 24 hours to 2-3 hours on several border crossingsbetween Poland and Czech Republic.

As markets in the enlarged EU haveincreasingly become cross border,

growth of the transport sector as a wholewas led by cross-border traffic. When theinternational dimension of European railfreight transport is so large, problems atrail border crossing points are becomingincreasingly influential. Delays upon cros-sing borders and lack of reliability of inter-national freight trains threaten the servicequality. Rail freight has been losing marketshare to road on cross-border transportdue to its disappointing performance. Thetable below gives an overview of delays suf-fered by international freight trains ofunaccompanied traffic.

An explanation for the delays?Causes for the wide-spread delays of bordercrossing freight trains still remain to bedebated. In existing industrial and scienti-fic literatures, there is a lack of systematicanalysis on causes of freight train bordercrossing delays. Extensive literature reviewhowever does reveal a widely held view oncause of border crossing delays, i.e. techno-logical interoperability problem among dif-ferent European national rail networks.The incompatibility of national rail net-work lies in the difference in for exampleloading gauge, electrical voltages, signal-ling systems, licensing schemes, as well asdifferent national approaches to railwaysafety. It is based on this view that rail infra-structure upgrading is often advocated inorder to solve the problem of freight trainborder-crossing delays.

Is the explanation satisfactory? Could

there be other factors/causes except thetechnological incompatibilities which actu-ally explain a large portion of discrepancybetween the scheduled and the actual bor-der-crossing time? More than 70 percent oftrains are delayed in the very sensitivetrans-Alpine market. In comparison, someprivate rail operators operating on thesame routes and same infrastructure haveachieved a rate of delay which is less than20 percent. Freight train border-crossingdelays are not just a matter of technicalobstacles.

Case study A case study which was funded by theREORIENT project has provided insightsconcerning the above questions. REORI-ENT project assesses the process of trans-forming the European railways from natio-nally fragmented into internationally integ-rated rail operating system as a consequen-ce of the EC interoperability legislation.The case study was conducted at two bor-der sections (see map) between Polandand Czech Republic: Zebrzydowice(Poland)—Petrovice (Czech Republic)and Chalupki (Poland)---Bohumin (CzechRepublic). International freight trains ope-rated jointly by CTL Logistics (the largestprivate rail operator in Poland) and CzechRailways were investigated.

Yu Bai, Institute ofTransport Economics,Norwa

The case study data collection wentthrough three main stages. Firstly, anexploratory questionnaire survey was con-ducted during July 2005–May 2006. Basedon the results from the questionnaires, twofield visits were organized. The first field-work happened at the above border stationsin September of 2006. Representatives ofthe two rail operators, dispatchers from thetwo nations’ infrastructure managers andstation masters were interviewed. Thesecond fieldwork was conducted at the bor-der region and informants came from PKPPLK (the Polish infrastructure manager),CTL’s regional office at Katowice andCzech Railways’ regional office at Ostrava.

Alternative explanationsBorder-crossing freight trains need to gothrough strict border formalities control-led by rail carriers, infrastructure mana-gers, border police and other administrati-ve bodies. The regulatory bodies of thesecountries’ transportation sectors and railtrade unions are not directly engaged inthe controls but may be influential on thehandling of international freight trains.The case study shows that to uncover thecomplexity of freight train border-crossingdelays, the phenomenon should be exami-ned from not only technical but also regu-latory, operational, managerial and multi-

national perspectives. These conditionsmay differ from border to border.Therefore, conditions on for instancehandling of data exchange among the con-trol bodies, path allocation for border-cros-sing trains, legal regimes and types of con-signment notes adopted in relevant nationsneed to be clarified before any validconclusion on cause of border-crossingdelays can be drawn.

The different railway and administrativecontrols freight trains go through at bor-der stations and the layout of these con-trols is a key issue to take into considera-tion. The investigated CTL–CD freight tra-ins are under joint border controls wherevarious controls by both the Polish andCzech side are conducted jointly at a com-mon border control zone. This has redu-ced the time freight trains spend at borderstations, while otherwise the same time-saving effect would have required a hugeamount of infrastructure investment.

How the cargos and responsibilities aretransferred from one railway undertakingto the next one upon crossing the border isanother factor which might cause substan-tial delays. An effective measure here is theagreement on “Train of Trust” where CTLand CD or among others agree that rollingstock inspections performed by one railwayundertaking shall be valid for the successi-

ve railway undertakings without doubleinspection. Evidence from the two bordersections shows that operating Train ofTrust has reduced freight train borderstopping time to current 2–3 hours whichused to be as along as 24 hours.

Alternative operating models of hand-ling international rail traffic were evalua-ted in the study, which also have directimpacts on border-crossing time and trans-portation performance. There exist a fewkey organizations, different from border toborder, which can facilitate or block thepossibilities of removing border-crossingdelays. This type of sources of delaysshould not be neglected.

The case findings suggest that the atten-tion for solving international freight trainborder-crossing delays should move more towhat happened prior to trains’ arrival at theborder stations. An amplifying effect havebeen revealed due to delays en route whichlengthened the idle time trains stop at borderstations when no controls are conducted.

The above examples of findings suggestthat the technical solutions by itself as men-tioned in the beginning of the article forhandling widespread delays of internatio-nal freight trains will only have limitedeffects on actual reduction of the delays.

Table: Delays to the freight trains of members of International Union of Combined Road-Rail TransportCompanies. (Source: UIRR)

2001 2003 2006

Number of monitored trains run by UIRR members 21,324 27,247 23,232

Late over 30 min. than scheduled arrival time 57% 43% 47%

Late over 3 hours than scheduled time 32% 24% 30%

Late over 24 hours than scheduled time 7% 5% 10%

Train of Trust has reduced freight train border stopping time to current 2—3 hours whichused to be as along as 24 hours.

The case study was conducted at two border sections betweenPoland and Czech Republic: Zebrzydowice (Poland)—Petrovice(Czech Republic) and Chalupki (Poland)---Bohumin (CzechRepublic).

Contact: Yu Bai, yba@toi.no

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 4140 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

Non-technical Improvements ReduceRail Border-crossing Delays

Rail infrastructure upgrading is often advocated in order to solvethe problem of freight train border-crossing delays. According tonew research, regulatory and administrative factors are just asimportant. The agreement “Train of Trust” has reduced the stop-ping time from 24 hours to 2-3 hours on several border crossingsbetween Poland and Czech Republic.

As markets in the enlarged EU haveincreasingly become cross border,

growth of the transport sector as a wholewas led by cross-border traffic. When theinternational dimension of European railfreight transport is so large, problems atrail border crossing points are becomingincreasingly influential. Delays upon cros-sing borders and lack of reliability of inter-national freight trains threaten the servicequality. Rail freight has been losing marketshare to road on cross-border transportdue to its disappointing performance. Thetable below gives an overview of delays suf-fered by international freight trains ofunaccompanied traffic.

An explanation for the delays?Causes for the wide-spread delays of bordercrossing freight trains still remain to bedebated. In existing industrial and scienti-fic literatures, there is a lack of systematicanalysis on causes of freight train bordercrossing delays. Extensive literature reviewhowever does reveal a widely held view oncause of border crossing delays, i.e. techno-logical interoperability problem among dif-ferent European national rail networks.The incompatibility of national rail net-work lies in the difference in for exampleloading gauge, electrical voltages, signal-ling systems, licensing schemes, as well asdifferent national approaches to railwaysafety. It is based on this view that rail infra-structure upgrading is often advocated inorder to solve the problem of freight trainborder-crossing delays.

Is the explanation satisfactory? Could

there be other factors/causes except thetechnological incompatibilities which actu-ally explain a large portion of discrepancybetween the scheduled and the actual bor-der-crossing time? More than 70 percent oftrains are delayed in the very sensitivetrans-Alpine market. In comparison, someprivate rail operators operating on thesame routes and same infrastructure haveachieved a rate of delay which is less than20 percent. Freight train border-crossingdelays are not just a matter of technicalobstacles.

Case study A case study which was funded by theREORIENT project has provided insightsconcerning the above questions. REORI-ENT project assesses the process of trans-forming the European railways from natio-nally fragmented into internationally integ-rated rail operating system as a consequen-ce of the EC interoperability legislation.The case study was conducted at two bor-der sections (see map) between Polandand Czech Republic: Zebrzydowice(Poland)—Petrovice (Czech Republic)and Chalupki (Poland)---Bohumin (CzechRepublic). International freight trains ope-rated jointly by CTL Logistics (the largestprivate rail operator in Poland) and CzechRailways were investigated.

Yu Bai, Institute ofTransport Economics,Norwa

The case study data collection wentthrough three main stages. Firstly, anexploratory questionnaire survey was con-ducted during July 2005–May 2006. Basedon the results from the questionnaires, twofield visits were organized. The first field-work happened at the above border stationsin September of 2006. Representatives ofthe two rail operators, dispatchers from thetwo nations’ infrastructure managers andstation masters were interviewed. Thesecond fieldwork was conducted at the bor-der region and informants came from PKPPLK (the Polish infrastructure manager),CTL’s regional office at Katowice andCzech Railways’ regional office at Ostrava.

Alternative explanationsBorder-crossing freight trains need to gothrough strict border formalities control-led by rail carriers, infrastructure mana-gers, border police and other administrati-ve bodies. The regulatory bodies of thesecountries’ transportation sectors and railtrade unions are not directly engaged inthe controls but may be influential on thehandling of international freight trains.The case study shows that to uncover thecomplexity of freight train border-crossingdelays, the phenomenon should be exami-ned from not only technical but also regu-latory, operational, managerial and multi-

national perspectives. These conditionsmay differ from border to border.Therefore, conditions on for instancehandling of data exchange among the con-trol bodies, path allocation for border-cros-sing trains, legal regimes and types of con-signment notes adopted in relevant nationsneed to be clarified before any validconclusion on cause of border-crossingdelays can be drawn.

The different railway and administrativecontrols freight trains go through at bor-der stations and the layout of these con-trols is a key issue to take into considera-tion. The investigated CTL–CD freight tra-ins are under joint border controls wherevarious controls by both the Polish andCzech side are conducted jointly at a com-mon border control zone. This has redu-ced the time freight trains spend at borderstations, while otherwise the same time-saving effect would have required a hugeamount of infrastructure investment.

How the cargos and responsibilities aretransferred from one railway undertakingto the next one upon crossing the border isanother factor which might cause substan-tial delays. An effective measure here is theagreement on “Train of Trust” where CTLand CD or among others agree that rollingstock inspections performed by one railwayundertaking shall be valid for the successi-

ve railway undertakings without doubleinspection. Evidence from the two bordersections shows that operating Train ofTrust has reduced freight train borderstopping time to current 2–3 hours whichused to be as along as 24 hours.

Alternative operating models of hand-ling international rail traffic were evalua-ted in the study, which also have directimpacts on border-crossing time and trans-portation performance. There exist a fewkey organizations, different from border toborder, which can facilitate or block thepossibilities of removing border-crossingdelays. This type of sources of delaysshould not be neglected.

The case findings suggest that the atten-tion for solving international freight trainborder-crossing delays should move more towhat happened prior to trains’ arrival at theborder stations. An amplifying effect havebeen revealed due to delays en route whichlengthened the idle time trains stop at borderstations when no controls are conducted.

The above examples of findings suggestthat the technical solutions by itself as men-tioned in the beginning of the article forhandling widespread delays of internatio-nal freight trains will only have limitedeffects on actual reduction of the delays.

Table: Delays to the freight trains of members of International Union of Combined Road-Rail TransportCompanies. (Source: UIRR)

2001 2003 2006

Number of monitored trains run by UIRR members 21,324 27,247 23,232

Late over 30 min. than scheduled arrival time 57% 43% 47%

Late over 3 hours than scheduled time 32% 24% 30%

Late over 24 hours than scheduled time 7% 5% 10%

Train of Trust has reduced freight train border stopping time to current 2—3 hours whichused to be as along as 24 hours.

The case study was conducted at two border sections betweenPoland and Czech Republic: Zebrzydowice (Poland)—Petrovice(Czech Republic) and Chalupki (Poland)---Bohumin (CzechRepublic).

Contact: Yu Bai, yba@toi.no

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 4342 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

The Implementation of the NorwegianCycling Strategy

The Norwegian Cycling Strategy: Does itstand a chance? It certainly does. As a

result of the environmental challenges andthe recognition for the need of a greenermode of transport, the Norwegian govern-ment adopted a National Cycling Strategyas part of the National Transport Plan(NTP) for 2006–2015. The overall ambi-tions are a more environmentally friendlytransport and a healthier population. Themain objective of the Strategy is to make itsafer and more attractive to cycle throughlarger investment budgets, better mainte-nance of existing cycle facilities, improvedtraffic regulations and competence-buil-ding.

The Cycling Strategy is based on inter-national best practise and recommendsknown measures to make cycling a saferand more attractive mode of transport.The strategy was drafted by the NorwegianPublic Roads Administration (NPRA) incooperation with the Directorate of Health

and Social Affairs, the NorwegianAssociation of Local and RegionalAuthorities and the Norwegian NationalCycling Association.

The goal of the National Cycling Strategy

SAFER AND MORE ATTRACTIVE TOCYCLE

Increased safety for cyclists

The share of bicycle traffic in “cyclingcities” is to increase by 50%

Bicycle traffic in Norway is to compri-se at least 8 % of all travels

Vision Zero for traffic safety is a vision ofno fatalities or permanent injuries in roadtraffic. The national cycling strategy isbased on this vision and a prerequisite is aninfrastructure that is safe for cycling.

Measures to obtain the National Goals: Down to business. How do we do it?Building separate foot and cycle pathsalong the national highway network began

early in the 1970s, with a total of 3,200 kmnow built. The regulation pursuant toSection 13 of the Road Act stipulates thatplanning and expanding the road net-works shall include facilitating foot andcycle traffic.

The Public Roads Administration hasnow been given a new role regarding cycletraffic. NTP 2006–2015 states that ThePublic Roads Administration shall "be theinitiator of increased cycle use, and spreadknowledge about cycling and cycling mea-sures to municipalities, counties, the publictransport industry, employers, the travelindustry and others". The main focus is onplanning and building a comprehensiveand coherent cycle network in all townsand cities, including facilities for parkingbicycles. There is also a continuous focuson safe school routes.

Larger investment budgetsBy 2010 we will have formal plans for 73out of 102 towns and cities. The govern-mental investment budget is more thandoubled, and the action programme forthe period 2006–2009 has a frame budget

Hege Herheim TassellNPRA, Norway

for cycle infrastructure of 1,5 billion NOK.In addition cycle facilities are included inall new road projects and there is also fun-ding from toll roads.

Better maintenance of existing cyclefacilitiesCyclists are a type of road users that is extrasensitive to uneven roadways, mud splas-hing and poor surface quality. The concept“user-optimal standard” has been broughtin to describe conditions that are impor-tant to cyclists. To improve the existingcycle infrastructure, cycle path inspectionsand the necessary improvements are to becarried out on 25% of the total facilitieswithin 2009.

Competence trainingCompetence training is a key measure inorder to achieve the above. In order toincrease competence the NPRA has esta-blished a National Network of CyclingCities. The network has its own web site.

Status: Does it really work and whathappens next?We already see payouts. Where the NPRA,the municipality and the county have agenuine ambition to increase cycling, wesee results in the shape of joint funding ofcycle infrastructure both on national,county and municipal roads. The NTP andthe Cycle Strategy is under revision and thecompetitive interface between modes oftransport is addressed. Extensive use ofbicycles will only be achieved if they haveadvantages over other modes of transport.This means that all measures that make itless attractive to drive will make it more att-ractive to cycle, provided that the infra-structure is available and up to standards.Restrictive measures on car traffic, such asroad prising and parking restrictions arenow discussed.

More information at: www.sykkelby.no

Norway has 4,7 million inhabitants. About 60 % lives in townsand cities of over 5,000 inhabitants. The modal share of cyclingon a national level is 5 % out of the total number of trips. Thisshare has been on a stand still since 2001, after a long andslow drop since the car rationing was abandoned in 1960.Cycling as a mode of transport has been neglected until recently.Some of the Norwegian cities, however, have a higher share ofcycle trips than the national average. This is for example thecase for Trondheim (population 150,000) and the Stavanger area(population 180,000) with 8,5 and 7% respectively.

PHOTO: MATTON

PHO

TO:

IMAG

ELIB

RAR

Y

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 4342 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

The Implementation of the NorwegianCycling Strategy

The Norwegian Cycling Strategy: Does itstand a chance? It certainly does. As a

result of the environmental challenges andthe recognition for the need of a greenermode of transport, the Norwegian govern-ment adopted a National Cycling Strategyas part of the National Transport Plan(NTP) for 2006–2015. The overall ambi-tions are a more environmentally friendlytransport and a healthier population. Themain objective of the Strategy is to make itsafer and more attractive to cycle throughlarger investment budgets, better mainte-nance of existing cycle facilities, improvedtraffic regulations and competence-buil-ding.

The Cycling Strategy is based on inter-national best practise and recommendsknown measures to make cycling a saferand more attractive mode of transport.The strategy was drafted by the NorwegianPublic Roads Administration (NPRA) incooperation with the Directorate of Health

and Social Affairs, the NorwegianAssociation of Local and RegionalAuthorities and the Norwegian NationalCycling Association.

The goal of the National Cycling Strategy

SAFER AND MORE ATTRACTIVE TOCYCLE

Increased safety for cyclists

The share of bicycle traffic in “cyclingcities” is to increase by 50%

Bicycle traffic in Norway is to compri-se at least 8 % of all travels

Vision Zero for traffic safety is a vision ofno fatalities or permanent injuries in roadtraffic. The national cycling strategy isbased on this vision and a prerequisite is aninfrastructure that is safe for cycling.

Measures to obtain the National Goals: Down to business. How do we do it?Building separate foot and cycle pathsalong the national highway network began

early in the 1970s, with a total of 3,200 kmnow built. The regulation pursuant toSection 13 of the Road Act stipulates thatplanning and expanding the road net-works shall include facilitating foot andcycle traffic.

The Public Roads Administration hasnow been given a new role regarding cycletraffic. NTP 2006–2015 states that ThePublic Roads Administration shall "be theinitiator of increased cycle use, and spreadknowledge about cycling and cycling mea-sures to municipalities, counties, the publictransport industry, employers, the travelindustry and others". The main focus is onplanning and building a comprehensiveand coherent cycle network in all townsand cities, including facilities for parkingbicycles. There is also a continuous focuson safe school routes.

Larger investment budgetsBy 2010 we will have formal plans for 73out of 102 towns and cities. The govern-mental investment budget is more thandoubled, and the action programme forthe period 2006–2009 has a frame budget

Hege Herheim TassellNPRA, Norway

for cycle infrastructure of 1,5 billion NOK.In addition cycle facilities are included inall new road projects and there is also fun-ding from toll roads.

Better maintenance of existing cyclefacilitiesCyclists are a type of road users that is extrasensitive to uneven roadways, mud splas-hing and poor surface quality. The concept“user-optimal standard” has been broughtin to describe conditions that are impor-tant to cyclists. To improve the existingcycle infrastructure, cycle path inspectionsand the necessary improvements are to becarried out on 25% of the total facilitieswithin 2009.

Competence trainingCompetence training is a key measure inorder to achieve the above. In order toincrease competence the NPRA has esta-blished a National Network of CyclingCities. The network has its own web site.

Status: Does it really work and whathappens next?We already see payouts. Where the NPRA,the municipality and the county have agenuine ambition to increase cycling, wesee results in the shape of joint funding ofcycle infrastructure both on national,county and municipal roads. The NTP andthe Cycle Strategy is under revision and thecompetitive interface between modes oftransport is addressed. Extensive use ofbicycles will only be achieved if they haveadvantages over other modes of transport.This means that all measures that make itless attractive to drive will make it more att-ractive to cycle, provided that the infra-structure is available and up to standards.Restrictive measures on car traffic, such asroad prising and parking restrictions arenow discussed.

More information at: www.sykkelby.no

Norway has 4,7 million inhabitants. About 60 % lives in townsand cities of over 5,000 inhabitants. The modal share of cyclingon a national level is 5 % out of the total number of trips. Thisshare has been on a stand still since 2001, after a long andslow drop since the car rationing was abandoned in 1960.Cycling as a mode of transport has been neglected until recently.Some of the Norwegian cities, however, have a higher share ofcycle trips than the national average. This is for example thecase for Trondheim (population 150,000) and the Stavanger area(population 180,000) with 8,5 and 7% respectively.

PHOTO: MATTON

PHO

TO:

IMAG

ELIB

RAR

Y

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 4544 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

The Norwegian Network of CyclingCities

The Norwegian government has included a National CyclingStrategy in the recent National Transport Plan 2006–2009Parliamentary Bill no 2003–2004 (NTP). The strategy directs spe-cial focus on development of a Network of Cycling Cities as aninstrument to achieve increased competence and efforts concer-ning cycle traffic. Following this instruction the Norwegian PublicRoads Administration (NPRA) late 2004 established a Network ofCycling Cities in co-operation with the Norwegian Cyclists’Association.

The ambition is to motivate and inspireregional and local roads authorities as

well as NPRA’s own staff, to improve theconditions for cycling in Norway.

In order to achieve the objectives, it isnecessary to improve the knowledge ofcycle planning. The Norwegian plannershave a tradition for planning safe schoolroads for children in the countryside, buthave little experience when it comes toplanning for cycling as an efficient trans-port mode in cities.

Organisation of the networkThe project owner is the NPRA and theNorwegian Cyclists' Association has beenengaged as the secretariat. The Councilconsists of representatives from the munici-palities, the counties, the NPRA, theMinistry of Environment and theDirectorate of Health and Social Affairs.

Objectives for the work with the Networkof Cycling Cities Measures to increase the competence con-cerning arrangements for cycling in theparticipating towns and cities:• Provide information on and arrange for

suitable instruments for efforts atincreasing cycle traffic (cycle pathinspection, cycle accounting, the Area-and Transport Model for cycle plan-ning, cycle facilities handbook, etc.)

• Market efforts and communicate expe-riences from participating towns andcities

• Promote the role of the NPRA as the ini-tiator of increased use of cycles. This isdone by spreading knowledge about cyc-ling and cycling measures to municipali-ties, regional public authorities, thepublic transport industry, the travelindustries, employers and others

• Contribute to provide participatingcities with the necessary professional fol-low-up.

Target groups and players in the networkThe Network of Cycling Cities is open to allmunicipalities and counties. Membershipis free. The network will emphasise compe-tence building in cities and towns withmore than 5.000 inhabitants, but will wel-come all municipalities that wish to con-centrate efforts on increasing cycle traffic.Counties are also suitable participants inthe network based on their responsibilityfor the county roads and county plans. Sixcounties are members of the network. It isimportant that participation in the net-work is supported both politically andadministratively by the municipality orcounty.

The regions of the NPRA will participa-te based on the responsibility for nationalroads and our responsibility to be an initia-tor for increased cycle traffic.

Half of the municipalities that havetowns and cities with more than 5,000 inha-bitants are members of this network (51 inall). Six out of 19 counties are members.

Gyda Grendstad, NPRA,Norway

Activities in the networkThe Network of Cycling Cities are a profes-sional network and resource environmentfor participating towns and cities. The acti-vity in the network is connected to threemain areas: • Network meetings, professional mee-

tings and courses • Study tours • Gather information and establish infor-

mation channels (internet pages, news-letters). Municipalities with web sites oncycling are linked up.The network has arranged study tours to

Odense (Denmark), Groningen (theNetherlands), Stockholm (Sweden),Belgium (Gent) and also trips to Troisdorf,Bremen and Münster in Germany.

The network has arranged the followingcourses:

- introduction courses in all regions onthe National Cycling Strategy

- courses on planning of cycle infrastruc-ture

- courses on bicycle inspections ofexisting cycle facilities.The courses are free. The municipalities

only have to pay their own travel expenses.The responses to the courses have beengood. The courses have also been open toconsultants.

Newsletters are published regularly andthe web site is continuously updated. Thesecretariat and the NPRA also take part inlocal arrangements and give lectures wheninvited to seminars etc.

The effects of the competence networkare being monitored through a yearly sur-vey among the members. The questionsasked will give a good overview of their acti-

vities with respect to important measures toincrease cycle traffic.

In addition to these activities an annualNational Cycle Conference is arranged as aco-operation between the host city, the hostcounty, the NPRA and the NorwegianCyclists’ Association as the main respon-sible party. The National Cycle Conferencethis year is held in Kongsberg on the 20th tothe 21st of October.

More information about the network on:www.sykkelby.no Information about the National Cycle Conferenceon: www.sykkelkonferansen.no (only inNorwegian).

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 4544 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008 www.nordicroads.com

The Norwegian Network of CyclingCities

The Norwegian government has included a National CyclingStrategy in the recent National Transport Plan 2006–2009Parliamentary Bill no 2003–2004 (NTP). The strategy directs spe-cial focus on development of a Network of Cycling Cities as aninstrument to achieve increased competence and efforts concer-ning cycle traffic. Following this instruction the Norwegian PublicRoads Administration (NPRA) late 2004 established a Network ofCycling Cities in co-operation with the Norwegian Cyclists’Association.

The ambition is to motivate and inspireregional and local roads authorities as

well as NPRA’s own staff, to improve theconditions for cycling in Norway.

In order to achieve the objectives, it isnecessary to improve the knowledge ofcycle planning. The Norwegian plannershave a tradition for planning safe schoolroads for children in the countryside, buthave little experience when it comes toplanning for cycling as an efficient trans-port mode in cities.

Organisation of the networkThe project owner is the NPRA and theNorwegian Cyclists' Association has beenengaged as the secretariat. The Councilconsists of representatives from the munici-palities, the counties, the NPRA, theMinistry of Environment and theDirectorate of Health and Social Affairs.

Objectives for the work with the Networkof Cycling Cities Measures to increase the competence con-cerning arrangements for cycling in theparticipating towns and cities:• Provide information on and arrange for

suitable instruments for efforts atincreasing cycle traffic (cycle pathinspection, cycle accounting, the Area-and Transport Model for cycle plan-ning, cycle facilities handbook, etc.)

• Market efforts and communicate expe-riences from participating towns andcities

• Promote the role of the NPRA as the ini-tiator of increased use of cycles. This isdone by spreading knowledge about cyc-ling and cycling measures to municipali-ties, regional public authorities, thepublic transport industry, the travelindustries, employers and others

• Contribute to provide participatingcities with the necessary professional fol-low-up.

Target groups and players in the networkThe Network of Cycling Cities is open to allmunicipalities and counties. Membershipis free. The network will emphasise compe-tence building in cities and towns withmore than 5.000 inhabitants, but will wel-come all municipalities that wish to con-centrate efforts on increasing cycle traffic.Counties are also suitable participants inthe network based on their responsibilityfor the county roads and county plans. Sixcounties are members of the network. It isimportant that participation in the net-work is supported both politically andadministratively by the municipality orcounty.

The regions of the NPRA will participa-te based on the responsibility for nationalroads and our responsibility to be an initia-tor for increased cycle traffic.

Half of the municipalities that havetowns and cities with more than 5,000 inha-bitants are members of this network (51 inall). Six out of 19 counties are members.

Gyda Grendstad, NPRA,Norway

Activities in the networkThe Network of Cycling Cities are a profes-sional network and resource environmentfor participating towns and cities. The acti-vity in the network is connected to threemain areas: • Network meetings, professional mee-

tings and courses • Study tours • Gather information and establish infor-

mation channels (internet pages, news-letters). Municipalities with web sites oncycling are linked up.The network has arranged study tours to

Odense (Denmark), Groningen (theNetherlands), Stockholm (Sweden),Belgium (Gent) and also trips to Troisdorf,Bremen and Münster in Germany.

The network has arranged the followingcourses:

- introduction courses in all regions onthe National Cycling Strategy

- courses on planning of cycle infrastruc-ture

- courses on bicycle inspections ofexisting cycle facilities.The courses are free. The municipalities

only have to pay their own travel expenses.The responses to the courses have beengood. The courses have also been open toconsultants.

Newsletters are published regularly andthe web site is continuously updated. Thesecretariat and the NPRA also take part inlocal arrangements and give lectures wheninvited to seminars etc.

The effects of the competence networkare being monitored through a yearly sur-vey among the members. The questionsasked will give a good overview of their acti-

vities with respect to important measures toincrease cycle traffic.

In addition to these activities an annualNational Cycle Conference is arranged as aco-operation between the host city, the hostcounty, the NPRA and the NorwegianCyclists’ Association as the main respon-sible party. The National Cycle Conferencethis year is held in Kongsberg on the 20th tothe 21st of October.

More information about the network on:www.sykkelby.no Information about the National Cycle Conferenceon: www.sykkelkonferansen.no (only inNorwegian).

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 47www.nordicroads.com46 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008

PUBLICATIONS

Driver Approach Speeds onLightly Trafficked Roads atUnprotected Railway Crossings

Title: Driver approach speeds on lightly traffickedroads at unprotected railway crossingsAuthor: Mikko PoutanenSeries: Contractor Report VTT-R-10530-06Language: Finnish with English abstractAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Driver Approach Speeds

In Finland, some 50 accidents occur everyyear at railway level crossings. Restrictedand poor lateral sight distances and highdriving speeds are considered among themain reasons for the accidents. However,there are no research results demonstra-ting that people drive at high speed atunprotected level crossings. The main pur-pose of this study was to measure driverapproach speeds on lightly traffickedroads. Other objectives were to examinewhat kind of effect different sight distanceshave on driving speeds and to evaluate theproportion of drivers who would not beable to stop before the track. The approachspeeds were measured at four unprotectedrailway crossings in Southern Finland. Themeasurements lasted approximately twoweeks at the same location to get enoughfindings to measure mean speeds to anaccuracy of 2 km/h. The vehicles weretracked in both approaching directions atdistances of 70 m, 40 m and 10 m from thetrack. For measuring driving speeds Emfitsensors were used, which is a type ofoverflow detector.

The main results showed that peopledrive relatively slowly on lightly traffickedroads in Finland, because average speeds ata distance of 70 m from the track werebelow 50 km/h at all railway crossings.Drivers decelerate equally, irrespective oflateral sight distances, when they are app-roaching a level crossing; near the trackthe average speeds were around 20 km/h.Because the driving speeds were similarirrespective of sight distances, presumably

detecting the track and the railway crossingis not a problem for drivers. Since lightlytrafficked roads are used by pretty muchthe same people every day, it can be assu-med that they know the location of thelevel crossing.

However, despite the driving speedsbeing generally fairly low, people drive fartoo fast in the vicinity of the track. At a dis-tance of 10 m from the track 20–60% of allvehicles drove so fast that they would nothave been able to stop before the track ifneeded. The percentage of those whocould not stop depends only slightly on thesight distances of railway crossings.Therefore, increasing lateral sight distan-ces will not necessarily improve the safetyof level crossings.

The Road Weather Service WarnsDrivers about Poor Road WeatherConditions

Title: Determining the successfulness of the roadweather information service in the winter seasons1997–2007Authors: Niina Sihvola, Pirkko Rämä and IlkkaJugaSeries: Finnra Reports 15/2008Language: Finnish with English abstract

Title: Drivers’ opinions about road weather condi-tions and road weather information – interviewsduring winter conditions.Authors: Niina Sihvola and Pirkko RämäSeries: Finnra Reports 16/2008Language: Finnish with English abstractAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Poor Road Weather Conditions

The road weather service is a traffic infor-mation service that provides road userswith information on predicted road weat-her conditions, via the Internet and as partof weather forecasts on television andradio. The service collects and combinesdata on road weather, road maintenanceand current weather, and forecasts thedevelopment of road and weather condi-tions based on this data for the next 24hours.

The aim of the first part of this study wasto determine how well the objectives of theroad weather service were met. That is tosay, how often the different road weatherclasses were predicted, how the predictionssucceeded and whether the drivers werewarned about the conditions on days with amarkedly high accident rate. The studyexamined more carefully the winter sea-sons 2004–2007 and made a summary ofthe years 1997–2007 with the help of earli-er studies.

In 1997–2007, poor road weather condi-tions were predicted about 27–35% of thetime and hazardous conditions 2–5% ofthe time. Studying accidents showed thatwarnings were usually successfully focusedon days with a distinctly high accident rate.

Modified Bitumen – Assessmentof Test Sections

Title: Modified bitumen in porous pavements -Assessement of test sectionsAuthor: Carsten B. NielsenSeries: Technical note 53Language: EnglishAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Modified Bitumen

The DRI-DWW Noise Abatement Program-me is a joint cooperation between the Roadand Hydraulic Engineering Institute(DWW) in the Netherlands and the DanishRoad Institute (DRI) for research anddevelopment in issues related to abatementof road traffic noise. In the present report,the morphology of modified bitumen inselected and Dutch road sections are inve-stigated. A catalogue of morphologies isorganised from visually characterising the

tive is to study the clogging of pavements ofdifferent ages in both the Netherlands andDenmark to be able to assess the effect ofmodifying cleaning processes to improvethe acoustic lifetime of the pavements.

Ageing of Porous Pavements –Acoustical Effects

Title: Ageing of Porous Pavements – AcousticalEffectsAuthor: Jørgen KraghSeries: Technical Note 56Language: EnglishAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Acoustical Effects

The report is based on the DWW databaseand deals with acoustical effects of the clog-ging of porous asphalt. Results from motor-ways A17 and A28 with two-layer porousasphalt indicate that during eleven years,passenger car noise levels increased 5 dB,heavy vehicle levels by 2 dB. Passenger carnoise levels on 11 year old porous asphaltwere 1 dB lower and heavy vehicle noiselevels 2–3 dB lower than Dutch referencevalues. At the new pavement on A28, levelswere 5 dB lower than the reference. Theresults indicate that no severe clogging hastaken place on A28 during its first 3 years.The older pavement on A17 was clogged,with more clogging between the wheeltracks than in the wheel tracks.

It is important to forecast poor road weat-her conditions already the previous eve-ning, so that drivers can change their travelplans and schedules if needed. Duringmost of the years studied, poor or hazar-dous road conditions on accident-pronedays were well warned of in advance.

For the second part of the study driverswere interviewed in poor road weatherconditions. This study showed that drivershad difficulties recognising slippery roadconditions. Those drivers, who had drivena longer distance before the interview, hadmore driving experience in general, or hadpre-information about predicted roadweather conditions assessed the road weat-her to be worse than other drivers. Thosewho had assessed the road weather to beworse than others drove at a slightly slowerspeed. About 20% of the interviewed dri-vers had made or considered making chan-ges in their travel plans because of the roadweather conditions. Based on the results ofthe study, the road weather informationservice is estimated to have an importantimpact on traffic safety.

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type of continuous phase, homogeneity ofthe dispersion and the size of the phases.Since no information on the amount ofbitumen and modifier in the mix wasgiven, it is not possible to relate the morp-hology found to other road sections. Thevolumetric properties and the mix and lay-ing conditions may differ from the roadsections investigated.

Clogging of Porous Pavements –Assessment of Test Sections

Title: Clogging of porous pavements - Assessmentof test sectionsAuthor: Carsten B. NielsenSeries: Technical note 54Language: EnglishAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Clogging of Porous Pavements

The DRI-DWW Noise Abatement Program-me is a joint cooperation between the Roadand Hydraulic Engineering Institute(DWW) in the Netherlands and the DanishRoad Institute (DRI) for research anddevelopment in issues related to abatementof road traffic noise. The present reportaddresses the analysis and assessment ofdrilling cores from highways A28 and A17in the Netherlands and an urban street(Øster Søgade) in Copenhagen. The objec-

NORDIC NO. 2 2008 | 47www.nordicroads.com46 | NORDIC NO. 2 2008

PUBLICATIONS

Driver Approach Speeds onLightly Trafficked Roads atUnprotected Railway Crossings

Title: Driver approach speeds on lightly traffickedroads at unprotected railway crossingsAuthor: Mikko PoutanenSeries: Contractor Report VTT-R-10530-06Language: Finnish with English abstractAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Driver Approach Speeds

In Finland, some 50 accidents occur everyyear at railway level crossings. Restrictedand poor lateral sight distances and highdriving speeds are considered among themain reasons for the accidents. However,there are no research results demonstra-ting that people drive at high speed atunprotected level crossings. The main pur-pose of this study was to measure driverapproach speeds on lightly traffickedroads. Other objectives were to examinewhat kind of effect different sight distanceshave on driving speeds and to evaluate theproportion of drivers who would not beable to stop before the track. The approachspeeds were measured at four unprotectedrailway crossings in Southern Finland. Themeasurements lasted approximately twoweeks at the same location to get enoughfindings to measure mean speeds to anaccuracy of 2 km/h. The vehicles weretracked in both approaching directions atdistances of 70 m, 40 m and 10 m from thetrack. For measuring driving speeds Emfitsensors were used, which is a type ofoverflow detector.

The main results showed that peopledrive relatively slowly on lightly traffickedroads in Finland, because average speeds ata distance of 70 m from the track werebelow 50 km/h at all railway crossings.Drivers decelerate equally, irrespective oflateral sight distances, when they are app-roaching a level crossing; near the trackthe average speeds were around 20 km/h.Because the driving speeds were similarirrespective of sight distances, presumably

detecting the track and the railway crossingis not a problem for drivers. Since lightlytrafficked roads are used by pretty muchthe same people every day, it can be assu-med that they know the location of thelevel crossing.

However, despite the driving speedsbeing generally fairly low, people drive fartoo fast in the vicinity of the track. At a dis-tance of 10 m from the track 20–60% of allvehicles drove so fast that they would nothave been able to stop before the track ifneeded. The percentage of those whocould not stop depends only slightly on thesight distances of railway crossings.Therefore, increasing lateral sight distan-ces will not necessarily improve the safetyof level crossings.

The Road Weather Service WarnsDrivers about Poor Road WeatherConditions

Title: Determining the successfulness of the roadweather information service in the winter seasons1997–2007Authors: Niina Sihvola, Pirkko Rämä and IlkkaJugaSeries: Finnra Reports 15/2008Language: Finnish with English abstract

Title: Drivers’ opinions about road weather condi-tions and road weather information – interviewsduring winter conditions.Authors: Niina Sihvola and Pirkko RämäSeries: Finnra Reports 16/2008Language: Finnish with English abstractAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Poor Road Weather Conditions

The road weather service is a traffic infor-mation service that provides road userswith information on predicted road weat-her conditions, via the Internet and as partof weather forecasts on television andradio. The service collects and combinesdata on road weather, road maintenanceand current weather, and forecasts thedevelopment of road and weather condi-tions based on this data for the next 24hours.

The aim of the first part of this study wasto determine how well the objectives of theroad weather service were met. That is tosay, how often the different road weatherclasses were predicted, how the predictionssucceeded and whether the drivers werewarned about the conditions on days with amarkedly high accident rate. The studyexamined more carefully the winter sea-sons 2004–2007 and made a summary ofthe years 1997–2007 with the help of earli-er studies.

In 1997–2007, poor road weather condi-tions were predicted about 27–35% of thetime and hazardous conditions 2–5% ofthe time. Studying accidents showed thatwarnings were usually successfully focusedon days with a distinctly high accident rate.

Modified Bitumen – Assessmentof Test Sections

Title: Modified bitumen in porous pavements -Assessement of test sectionsAuthor: Carsten B. NielsenSeries: Technical note 53Language: EnglishAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Modified Bitumen

The DRI-DWW Noise Abatement Program-me is a joint cooperation between the Roadand Hydraulic Engineering Institute(DWW) in the Netherlands and the DanishRoad Institute (DRI) for research anddevelopment in issues related to abatementof road traffic noise. In the present report,the morphology of modified bitumen inselected and Dutch road sections are inve-stigated. A catalogue of morphologies isorganised from visually characterising the

tive is to study the clogging of pavements ofdifferent ages in both the Netherlands andDenmark to be able to assess the effect ofmodifying cleaning processes to improvethe acoustic lifetime of the pavements.

Ageing of Porous Pavements –Acoustical Effects

Title: Ageing of Porous Pavements – AcousticalEffectsAuthor: Jørgen KraghSeries: Technical Note 56Language: EnglishAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Acoustical Effects

The report is based on the DWW databaseand deals with acoustical effects of the clog-ging of porous asphalt. Results from motor-ways A17 and A28 with two-layer porousasphalt indicate that during eleven years,passenger car noise levels increased 5 dB,heavy vehicle levels by 2 dB. Passenger carnoise levels on 11 year old porous asphaltwere 1 dB lower and heavy vehicle noiselevels 2–3 dB lower than Dutch referencevalues. At the new pavement on A28, levelswere 5 dB lower than the reference. Theresults indicate that no severe clogging hastaken place on A28 during its first 3 years.The older pavement on A17 was clogged,with more clogging between the wheeltracks than in the wheel tracks.

It is important to forecast poor road weat-her conditions already the previous eve-ning, so that drivers can change their travelplans and schedules if needed. Duringmost of the years studied, poor or hazar-dous road conditions on accident-pronedays were well warned of in advance.

For the second part of the study driverswere interviewed in poor road weatherconditions. This study showed that drivershad difficulties recognising slippery roadconditions. Those drivers, who had drivena longer distance before the interview, hadmore driving experience in general, or hadpre-information about predicted roadweather conditions assessed the road weat-her to be worse than other drivers. Thosewho had assessed the road weather to beworse than others drove at a slightly slowerspeed. About 20% of the interviewed dri-vers had made or considered making chan-ges in their travel plans because of the roadweather conditions. Based on the results ofthe study, the road weather informationservice is estimated to have an importantimpact on traffic safety.

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type of continuous phase, homogeneity ofthe dispersion and the size of the phases.Since no information on the amount ofbitumen and modifier in the mix wasgiven, it is not possible to relate the morp-hology found to other road sections. Thevolumetric properties and the mix and lay-ing conditions may differ from the roadsections investigated.

Clogging of Porous Pavements –Assessment of Test Sections

Title: Clogging of porous pavements - Assessmentof test sectionsAuthor: Carsten B. NielsenSeries: Technical note 54Language: EnglishAvailable at: www.nordicroads.com/publicationsName: Clogging of Porous Pavements

The DRI-DWW Noise Abatement Program-me is a joint cooperation between the Roadand Hydraulic Engineering Institute(DWW) in the Netherlands and the DanishRoad Institute (DRI) for research anddevelopment in issues related to abatementof road traffic noise. The present reportaddresses the analysis and assessment ofdrilling cores from highways A28 and A17in the Netherlands and an urban street(Øster Søgade) in Copenhagen. The objec-

Danish Road Institute Helen Hasz-SinghGuldalderen 12DK-2640 HedehusenePhone +45 72 44 70 00Fax +45 72 44 71 05Email hhz@vd.dkWeb www.roaddirectorate.dk

NORDICDENMARK

VTT Technical Research Centreof FinlandKari MäkeläP.O.Box 1000FI-02044 VTTPhone +358 20 722 4586Fax +358 20 722 7056Email kari.makela@vtt.fiWeb www.vtt.fi

FINLAND

Icelandic Road AdministrationG. Pétur MatthiassonBorgartún 7IS-105 ReykjavikPhone +354 522 1000Fax +354 522 1009Email gpm@vegagerdin.isWeb www.vegagerdin.is

ICELANDInstitute of Transport EconomicsHarald AasGaustadalléen 21NO-0349 OsloPhone +47 22 57 38 00Fax +47 22 60 92 00Email ha@toi.noWeb www.toi.no

NORWAYNorwegian Public RoadsAdministrationThorbjørn Chr. RisanP.O. Box 8142 DepNO-0033 OsloPhone +47 22 07 35 00Fax +47 22 07 37 68Email thorbjorn.risan@vegvesen.noWeb www.vegvesen.no

NORWAY

VTIMagdalena GreenSE-581 95 LinköpingPhone +46 13 20 42 26Fax +46 13 14 14 36Orderphone +46 13 20 42 69Email nordic@vti.seWeb www.vti.se

SWEDEN

Questionsconcerning the content ofthe articles, or orders forthe publications referred to,should be directed to thepublishing institution, seeaddressed above.

Requestsfor back issues, and notifi-cation of address changes.Readers outside the Nordiccountries: see Swedishaddress. Readers in theNordic countries: seeadresses above.

Web www.nordicroads.com

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