School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, Kelowna, BC, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Okanagan, 3333 University Way, Canada V1V 1V7.
Accid Anal Prev. 2012 Jan;44(1):140-8. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.12.005. Epub 2011 Feb 11.
Both the UN (2007) and World Health Organizations (2004) have declared the enormous social and economic burden imposed on society by injuries due to road collisions as a major global problem. While the road safety problem is not new, this prominent global declaration sends an important signal of frustration regarding progress to date on reducing road collisions. It is clear that governments, communities, businesses and the public must discover ways of reducing this burden, especially as it relates to vulnerable road users (VRUs), typically meaning pedestrian and bicyclist road users. Recent comparisons of global VRU collisions statistics suggest that, in addition to mixed land use density, the layout of neighbourhood roads plays a vital role in the encouragement of walkable, safe and quiet, yet accessible and sustainable communities. The purpose of this paper was to: The Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Program has produced a number of innovative land use and transportation initiatives for vehicular road users as well as non-vehicular VRUs. Following from the Dutch initiatives, these new 3-way offset, and fused grid neighbourhood patterns appear to not only have positive effects in encouraging mode split (i.e. increasing walking and bicycling, and transit), slowing traffic, and reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions; but also, to hold potential to improve road safety. To test the road safety hypothesis, UBCO researchers evaluated the level of road safety relative to five neighbourhood patterns - grid, culs-de-sac, and Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) (or limited access), 3-way offset, and fused grid networks. Analysis using standard transportation planning methodology revealed that they would maintain both mobility and accessibility. Analysis using standard road safety analysis methodology further revealed that these 3-way offset, and fused grid patterns would significantly improve road safety levels by as much as 60% compared to prevalent patterns (i.e. grid and culs-de-sac). It is important to note that these results ignore the road safety effects of providing convenient off-road trails along trip desire lines to shift mode choice from auto to non-auto VRU modes. Subject to further research, it is intuitive that shifting trips from auto to pedestrian/bike modes will lead to reduced auto collisions. Hence, these initial results should be considered as conservative estimates, subject to further research. In before and after studies to date, researchers have shown that increasing bicycle use does not lead to a commensurate increase in bicycle collisions, but no predictive relationship has been found in the literature. Therefore, the next steps in this research are to develop collision prediction models that provide insight on VRU mode split and overall road safety.
联合国（2007 年）和世界卫生组织（2004 年）都宣布，由于道路碰撞造成的伤害给社会带来的巨大社会和经济负担是一个主要的全球问题。虽然道路安全问题并不是新问题，但这一突出的全球宣言发出了一个重要信号，表明迄今为止在减少道路碰撞方面进展甚微。显然，政府、社区、企业和公众必须想方设法减轻这一负担，尤其是与弱势道路使用者（VRU）相关的负担，通常是指行人及骑自行车的道路使用者。最近对全球 VRU 碰撞统计数据的比较表明，除了混合土地利用密度外，社区道路布局在鼓励可行走、安全和安静、但可及且可持续的社区方面发挥着至关重要的作用。本文旨在：荷兰可持续道路安全（SRS）计划为机动车和非机动 VRU 提出了一些创新的土地使用和交通举措。继荷兰的举措之后，这些新的 3 路交错和融合网格社区模式不仅似乎具有积极的效果，鼓励模式分离（即增加步行、骑自行车和公交出行）、降低交通速度以及减少能源消耗和温室气体排放；而且还有可能提高道路安全水平。为了检验道路安全假设，UBCO 研究人员评估了相对于五种社区模式（网格、死胡同和荷兰可持续道路安全（SRS）（或有限接入）、3 路交错和融合网格网络的道路安全水平。使用标准交通规划方法进行的分析表明，它们将保持机动性和可达性。使用标准道路安全分析方法进行的进一步分析表明，与流行模式（即网格和死胡同）相比，这些 3 路交错和融合网格模式将显著提高道路安全水平 60%。需要注意的是，这些结果忽略了沿着出行意愿线提供便捷的非道路小径以将模式选择从机动车转换为非机动车 VRU 模式的道路安全效果。在进一步研究之前，直观地说，将出行从机动车转换为行人/自行车模式将减少机动车碰撞。因此，这些初步结果应被视为保守估计，有待进一步研究。在迄今为止的前后研究中，研究人员表明，增加自行车使用并不会导致自行车碰撞相应增加，但文献中尚未发现预测关系。因此，下一步的研究将是开发 VRU 模式分离和整体道路安全的碰撞预测模型。
