Understanding the highway and traffic system to drive safely. Gopinath Menon Vice-Chairman, Singapore Road Safety Council

Transcription

1 Understanding the highway and traffic system to drive safely Gopinath Menon Vice-Chairman, Singapore Road Safety Council

2 Roadusers Motorist Business community Public Transport user Cyclist Pedestrian -All their needs conflict, roadusersdo not like each other

3 Safety in road traffic Roads and traffic systems are built with safety uppermost in mind Every feature on a road has a purpose to guide roaduserson a safe journey Roadusersshould use these features to their advantage We take many of these features for granted I will discuss some of these in my talk

4 Driving task -Depends entirely on the visual sense -Reacts to objects in cone of vision -Unable to concentrate on more than one activity, other than by habit -Reaction time varies ( affected by age, distractions, alcoholic drinks) -Many distractions in field of view

5 Road and traffic design system Roadusers svisual abilities Roaduser sreaction time to spot danger Roaduser scognativeabilities Laws of physics Properties of materials

6 Stopping sight distance -At each moment of his journey, a motorist should be able to see for a distance in front of him, which is not lower than the distance required for him to bring his vehicle to a complete stop, if he is forced to by circumstances to do so

7 Sufficient sight distance

8 Convex mirror

9 Stopping distance when moving The distance between the back of a vehicle and the front of the following vehicle (need to keep a safe gap when driving to be able to stop in time) (d)

10 Speed in road design Roads are designed for certain speeds a value higher than the speed limit Speed limits 90 km/hr to 40 km/hr Speeding by itself does not cause accidents Reckless speeding does Severity increases with speed

11 Road design Road bends need banking to ensure that vehicles do not lose control Road surfaces need proper drainage to ensure that vehicles do not ride on a film of water

12 Forces on vehicle on bend

13 HYDROPLANING

14 Drainage

15 Road markings The most noticeable instructions for roadusers Sets the route and the boundaries for different roadusers To demarcate how roadusers should move To prevent misinformation Follow instructions of road markings

16 Road markings

17 -Prohibitory -Mandatory -Warning - Information signs -Temporary works Signs -Pay attention to all types of signs. They are all there to guide

18 Signs in Singapore

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20 Directional signs Is not meant to replace a street directory Is meant to guide vehicles to prominent destination Plan journeys before starting off

21 Expressway driving Vehicles in distress are towed away Other vehicles are forewarned of incidents Breakdowns cause traffic congestion and secondary accidents Maintain vehicles in good condition to prevent breakdowns

22 Expressways

23 Lane use signals in tunnels

24 Incidents (1313) on expressway in July 2008 ( 363 accidents)

25 Breakdowns (881) on expressways (July 2008) Maintain your vehicles

26 Traffic lights Amber period is a clearance period Any residual vehicles should be cleared during amber period It is possible that some vehicles are too close to the stoplineand may not be able to stop in time and need to cut amber But Amber is not an extension of green period Hence there is no excuse to beat red lights

27 Area Traffic Control Signal linking

28 Linking of traffic lights When traffic lights operate in a linking system, no point in beating a red or amber light No point in speeding You will be stopped at the next one Do not beat red lights

29 Forgiving road Features are built into the road and traffic system to Reduce severity of accidents e.gcrash cushions To divert vehicles back to road if they lose control e.g guard rails To provide refuge for motorcyclists

30 Guard rail to deflect vehicles

31 Vibralinesto jolt the driver

32 Crash cushions

33 Motorcycle shelter

34 Bus stop protection

35 Conclusion Roads and traffic systems are built with safety in mind Every feature on a road has a purpose to guide roaduserson a safe journey. Do not ignore them. A motorist/roaduser who faithfully follows the guidance and protection provided by the traffic systems has a lesser probability of being involved in road accidents.