The highway transportation
system is a sub-system of the
National Transportation System
(HTS), composed of
many man/machine/environment
combinations interacting in a
loosely coordinated fashion.
Seven Sub-systems are:
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Highway
Rail
Water
Air
Pipeline
Transit
Statistics
The Goal of the HTS?
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To provide safe, rapid and efficient
transportation of persons and goods to a
desired destination, in an environmentally
sound fashion.
Balance is Key
• There has to be a balance between safe, rapid,
and efficient. There is a balance between speed
and safety, the faster we allow people to drive,
the most speed related deaths. The more left
turn yield traffic lights, the most accidents at
those intersections. Right turn on red produces
more accidents.
• The HTS must decide what is the "acceptable"
accident/injury/death rate for each.
Outside reading
• Assignment: Go to the internet, and find
articles regarding speed limits, accidents
and resulting deaths.
• www.highwaysafety.org
• What is the purpose of enforcing the
speed limits?
Death rate per miles traveled
• In traffic, we judge ourselves by how safe the
system is by the number of accidents and
deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
• We are currently near 1.3 deaths per 100 million
miles traveled. (2008)
• This is down from 4.7 deaths, 40 years ago.
Much of this decrease is due to seat belts laws ,
airbags and stricter DWI enforcement. There
are many other factors we will address later.
• Question. What else has contributed?
What does it mean?
• We kill about 34,000 people on the highways
each year.
• We injure millions more and spend hundreds of
Billions on this issue.
• If this were an illness, the CDC would be going
crazy trying to stop it. It is an epidemic.
• The number one killer of teens.
• Question. What are numbers two and three?
Other numbers
• Of the 34,000 motor vehicle related
deaths, about 13,000 were alcohol related.
(38% with any alcohol and 28% with .10
BAC)
• Drugs other than alcohol are now involved
in about 18% of fatal accidents. Alcohol is
involved in 96% of these. That is not a
misprint.
• Question. Why is this number so high?
There are many users the HTS
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Cars
SUVs
Trucks
Busses
Bicycles
Motorcycles (the only one that has more deaths than 10
years ago)
Tractors
RVs
Pedestrians
Emergency vehicles
Even military vehicles.
Question. Which of these is the safest user?
Quite a MIX
• All of these users want safe, rapid and efficient
use of the system.
• Variations in size and speed can create real
problems. In identifying them and in the physics
of a collision.
• Hit a pedestrian with a 3,000 lb car at 30 mph
and you will probably kill them. That is a physics
problem, not a design issue.
• Question. Can we improve vehicle design to
help this?
What’s all the fuss?
• SUVs are bigger, higher and usually safer for there occupants. But
they are deadly for the smaller, lower vehicles that they run into (or
over).
• The new SUVs weight 7,000 lbs. compared to most small cars
weighing between 2000-3000 lbs. In accidents, the bigger, wins.
• The problems of SUVs include high center of gravity, causing them
to roll over, and gas mileage.
• The new full size SUV gets about ten miles per gallon. With gas at
$4 and rising, the fuel consumption of these vehicles will become
even more of an issue.
• The federal government is looking into ways to reduce size, height,
rigidity of these SUVs. The purpose is make them safer for the
OTHER vehicle.
• Question. What should the government do about these?
• www.highwaysafety.org has several articles about these issues.
What about 18 wheelers?
• Large trucks create problems too. Although they account
for only 3% of registered vehicles, they
account for 7% of the miles traveled, and 11% of the
fatal accidents. (5000 deaths in 2005).
• When cars and large trucks collide, a very small
percentage (3%) of those killed are the truck driver.
Again, bigger wins. Trucks can weigh in excess of
80,000 lbs.
• Although alcohol involvement in fatal truck crashes is
only about 4%, marijuana use in fatal truck crashes, is
reported around 23%. (Not a misprint)
• Watch out for doped drivers! It only takes one to ruin
your day.
• Question. Why marijuana?
What about murdercycles?
• Motorcycles are by far the most dangerous form
of transportation. The death rate for motorcycles
is about 37 deaths per 100,000,000 miles
traveled, compared to 1.3 for all motor vehicles.
(that’s about 25 times more)
• You do not have to be wrong to die on a
motorcycle, 70% of MC deaths are failure to
yield to the motorcycle, but the motorcyclist is
still the one dead.
• Question. Should we still require helmets?
Drunk Bikes!!
• MOPEDs are a recent addition to the US
highways. (70s). They are not a bicycle, not a
motorcycle. They are slow, often operated by
persons without a driver's license, or insurance.
Use great caution as you approach them with a
motor vehicle.
• Predict the worst.
• Question. What’s the deal with these new
unlicensed motorcycles, called mopeds?
Farm Vehicles
• Farm vehicles have a right to use the
highways. They create problems because
they are slow, 15-18 mph, and often larger
than the highway lane. They may be
operated by unlicensed persons, non
English speaking or even minors.
• They can cause drivers to take
unnecessary chances in passing them.
• Can you cross a yellow line to pass them?
Pedestrians
• There are about 5200 pedestrian/vehicle
deaths each year in the US, 18% of all
motor vehicle deaths.
• What’s the deal with all these striped
crosswalks? Are drivers always required
to stop for pedestrians?
Bicycles in Traffic
• There are about 750 bicycle related deaths in
the US each year.
• Although bicycles are required to follow are
moving motor vehicle laws, they usually don’t,
watch out for them.
• Vehicles are required to share the road with
bicycles, even when they ride in groups.
• Children under 16 are required to wear a helmet.
Emergency vehicles
• It is the responsibility of the driving public to yield to
emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicles do NOT have
the “right of way”, BUT drivers are required to yield to
them.
• Each year many deaths are a result of failure to yield
right of way to emergency vehicles. Of further concern is
the vehicle the police are chasing. They have no lights,
siren and seeming disregard for the safety of others.
• Many enforcement agencies are rethinking the need to
"chase". NEVER assume right of ways at intersections,
green means go when the way is clear.
The Driving Task
• The driving task involves everything it
takes to operate a motor vehicle.
Everything is a lot.
The three skills of the driving task
• . The three skills of the driving task are:
a. Physical skill. The person's coordination with the vehicle.
Although an important part of driving, it is often over emphasized.
b. Social skill. The social interaction with others on the highways.
Unfortunately, we are not very social people. Drivers are often rude
and inconsiderate. Road rage is on the rise and much of that has to
do with our unsociable behavior while driving.
c. Mental skill. Driving is a mental skill, sometimes known as
decision making. Anyone can physically drive a vehicle, but break
downs in the HTS are usually a lack of mental alertness.
• What is distracted driving?
The five mental skills
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1. Understanding the motor vehicle. We must understand the vehicle, anti-lock brake
systems are a good example of lack of understanding. People pump the brakes
instead just push the pedal. This will not work with anti-lock systems. People still
pump the gas pedal with fuel injection.
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2. Perception based on stored knowledge. The brain's interpretation of what the eyes
based on similar things seen before.
No driving situation is completely new, it is similar to one we have driven before.
3. Understanding traffic laws. You must understand what the laws are before you can
abide by them. Ignorance is never an excuse.
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4. Judging time/space relationships. Such as judging the speed of oncoming cars
when you are going to pass another vehicle.
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5. Concentration. We are distracted by lots of things beyond cell phones.
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What is the #1 thing that distracts drivers?
Six means of management of the
Highway Transportation System
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a. DMV. The department of motor vehicles regulates drivers licenses, truck
weights and operators, license plates, fees, registration, taxes, titles to
name a few. All with the intent of making the system safer for all users.
b. Enforcement agencies. Each of the police units, highway patrol, sheriff
departments help in maintaining safe travel.
c. Traffic courts. The courts help assure proper enforcement of the law.
d. Engineering:
1. Highway engineering helps to make our HTS the safest system in the
world.
2. Vehicle engineering helps to make vehicles the safest and easiest to
operate. (As well as the cleanest)
e. Medical Aid. The emergency response system and trauma centers in the
US, reduce the losses caused by collisions.
f. Education. PSAs, high school driver education, truck drivers education,
alcohol drugs education treatment schools, etc.
Three goals of driver education
• a. Provide entry level competencies
(abilities) for beginning drivers.
b. Knowledge and thought processes.
c. Motivate students to be better/safer
drivers.
30 and 6
• Try to achieve this in 30 hours of
classroom and 6 hours of behind the
wheel.