The number of bicycling fatalities was 19 450 between 2010 and 2018 in Europe. The number of bicyclists killed when intoxicated by alcohol is harder to establish given the lack of reliable data. In Sweden, drunk bicycling is socially acceptable and legal (unless reckless). This experiment aimed to investigate how alcohol intoxication affect bicycling stability performance, executive functions, and self-rated ability. The experiment was completed on a wide treadmill that allowed control of several influencing factors such as speed and physical effort. Intoxicated and sober participants bicycled on the treadmill for five 10 minute sessions. Alcohol as administered incrementally to reach a target breath alcohol concentration level of 0.8‰. Stability decreased with intoxication; especially roll rate measurements were identified as being adequate indicators of bicycling instability. Executive function was negatively affected, and ability ratings decreased due to intoxication. The intoxicated participants were aware of their reduced ability to bicycle in a safe manner on a group level but not on an individual level. However, this insight does not affect their intention to bicycle intoxicated.

Fran den 1 november 2009 infordes en obligatorisk riskutbildning for behorighet A och A1 (tung respektive latt motorcykel) for att oka motorcyklisters riskmedvetenhet. Utbildningen bestar av tva de ...

The present study describes a simulator study on the merging of traffic from entry-ramp tunnels into the main Stockholm bypass tunnel. The present study focuses on two of the five junctions with connections at Lovo and Vinsta. Three research questions were formulated relating to 1) Is there a difference in the subjective and/or objective measures between the two different entry-ramp tunnels (Lovo, 1.5 km and Vinsta, 0.5 km)? 2) Is driver performance when merging affected by the drivers’ experience when entering the main tunnel from the entry-ramp tunnel? 3) Does traffic intensity and its subsequent effect on the gap size between vehicles influence the frequency and character of hazardous situations such as late merging? Twenty-one participants completed the study. The main results of the reported study suggest that the merging zones were too short for some of the drivers in order to merge comfortably and safely. The merging zones are found at the point where the entry-ramp tunnel merges with the main motorway tunnel. For the Vinsta (0.5 km) merging zone with heavy traffic the distance-to-wall measure (the measure that gauges how much of the merging zone remains at the time of merge-completion) is particularly concerning from a road traffic safety perspective because more than 25% of the drivers completed the merging manoeuvre with less than two seconds of Time Headway (THW) remaining before the end of the completion section. Two seconds of travel before the ending of the tapered completion section of the merging zone was considered to be the bare minimum in terms of safe driving and safe merging. Two seconds equates to 44.4 m when travelling at 80 km/h. The completion section of the merging zone also tapers to the width of a car (approx. 2 m) 40 m from the end of the merging zone.

The time saving bias predicts that the time saved when increasing speed from a high speed is overestimated, and underestimated when increasing speed from a slow speed. In a questionnaire, time saving judgements were investigated when information of estimated time to arrival was provided. In an active driving task, an alternative meter indicating the inverted speed was used to debias judgements. The simulated task was to first drive a distance at a given speed, and then drive the same distance again at the speed the driver judged was required to gain exactly 3 min in travel time compared with the first drive. A control group performed the same task with a speedometer and saved less than the targeted 3 min when increasing speed from a high speed, and more than 3 min when increasing from a low speed. Participants in the alternative meter condition were closer to the target. The two studies corroborate a time saving bias and show that biased intuitive judgements can be debiased by displaying the inverted speed. Practitioner Summary: Previous studies have shown a cognitive bias in judgements of the time saved by increasing speed. This simulator study aims to improve driver judgements by introducing a speedometer indicating the inverted speed in active driving. The results show that the bias can be reduced by presenting the inverted speed and this finding can be used when designing in-car information systems.

This study examined whether phone interface - touch screen keyboard vs. numeric keypad - moderates the impact of sending and receiving text messages on simulated driving performance and eye glance behaviour. The high visual manual demands of text messaging are known to degrade driving performance and these effects may be exacerbated by the absence of tactile cues when using a touch screen phone. Twenty-four participants (25-50 years) sent and received text messages on either a touch screen or numeric keypad phone while driving a simulated freeway environment. As expected, compared to baseline, receiving and particularly sending text messages led to decrements in speed monitoring, decreased the amount of time spent looking at the forward roadway by up to 29%, and increased subjective workload. The performance degradations observed were similar across the numeric keypad and touch screen keyboard phones. Future research should further investigate the possible moderating effects of phone interface type on distraction using longer text message tasks and under more challenging driving conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Text messaging while driving can be distracting and significantly increases the risk of being involved in a collision. Compared to freeway driving, driving in a tunnel environment introduces factors that may interact with driver attentional resources to exacerbate the effects of distraction on driving safety. With planning and design of the 18km Stockholm Bypass tunnel ongoing, and because of the potentially devastating consequences of crashes in long tunnels, it is critical to assess the effects of driver distraction in a tunnel environment. Twenty-four participants (25-50 years) drove in simulated highway and tunnel road environments while reading and writing text messages using their own mobile phones. As expected, compared to driving alone, text messaging was associated with decrements in driving performance and visual scanning behavior, and increases in subjective workload. Speeds were slower compared to baseline (no text-messaging) driving when participants performed the text-messaging tasks in the tunnel environment compared to the freeway, suggesting that drivers may have attempted to compensate more for the increased text-messaging-related workload when they were in the tunnel. On the other hand, increases in lane deviation associated with the most complex text-messaging task were more pronounced in the tunnel compared to on the freeway. Collectively, results imply that driver distraction in tunnels is associated with generally similar driving decrements as freeway driving; however, the potential consequences of these decrements in tunnels remain significantly more serious. Future research should attempt to elucidate the nature of any differential compensatory behavior in tunnel, compared to freeway, driving. In the meantime, drivers should be advised to refrain from text messaging, especially when driving in tunnels.

Maintaining high levels of road traffic safety is always important and when the road is in a tunnel, and especially in a long tunnel, maintaining the highest possible level of safety is paramount. In Sweden, the Stockholm bypass tunnel has been scheduled to commence construction in 2013. The tunnel will be approximately 18 km in length. The length of the tunnel is expected to affect the drivers' experiences pertaining drowsiness, arousal, distraction and feelings of safety and security. The study included 24 participants, 12 men and 12 women, aged 30-45. All of the participants drove two versions of the tunnel, one version with a decoration design in terms of string lighting in the ceiling of the tunnel and one version of the tunnel without any decoration design. Eye tracking behaviour was measured during the study. CR10 ratings of four subjective dimensions (distraction, visually cluttered, visually stimulating/arousal and safety and well-being) during the drive were also measured. The results revealed that 58 per cent of the participants preferred the tunnel with the strings of light in the ceiling and 29 per cent preferred the tunnel without the ceiling lighting. 13 per cent prefer neither one design more than the other. The participants perceived feelings of their driving through the tunnel suggested that the tunnel with the ceiling light design was experienced as being more "visually cluttered" than the tunnel without the light strings but at the same time it was also experienced as more "arousing/stimulating". Mean glance duration times suggested that although there was a significant main effect of the tunnel with the string lighting and in specific areas of the tunnel, the drivers were looking at the ceiling lighting but using short glances (445.3 ms with lighting and 234.3 ms without lighting). The negative safety implications of the elaborate interior lighting features would appear to be minimal in terms of distraction and irritation whereas the safety benefits in this particularly long road tunnel, in terms of subjective feelings of visual stimulation is encouraging. Based on the participants' experiences of the interior design concept of the 18 km long tunnel, having stimulating lighting features in different locations alone the length of the tunnel is recommended.

Maintaining high levels of road traffic safety is always important and when the road is in a tunnel, and especially in a long tunnel, maintaining the highest possible level of safety is paramount. ...

Objective: There is an increase in electronic advertising billboards along major roads, which may cause driver distraction due to the highly conspicuous design of the electronic billboards. Yet limited research on the impact of electronic billboards on driving performance and driver behavior is available. The Swedish Transport Administration recently approved the installation of 12 electronic billboards for a trial period along a 3-lane motorway with heavy traffic running through central Stockholm, Sweden. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of these electronic billboards on visual behavior and driving performance.Method: A total of 41 drivers were recruited to drive an instrumented vehicle passing 4 of the electronic billboards during day and night conditions. A driver was considered visually distracted when looking at a billboard continuously for more than 2s or if the driver looked away from the road for a high percentage of time. Dependent variables were eye-tracking measures and driving performance measures.Results: The visual behavior data showed that drivers had a significantly longer dwell time, a greater number of fixations, and longer maximum fixation duration when driving past an electronic billboard compared to other signs on the same road stretches. No differences were found for the factors day/night, and no effect was found for the driving behavior data.Conclusion: Electronic billboards have an effect on gaze behavior by attracting more and longer glances than regular traffic signs. Whether the electronic billboards attract too much attention and constitute a traffic safety hazard cannot be answered conclusively based on the present data.

This report outlines possible means to reduce the dangerous usage of mobile phones and other communication devices while driving. An important aspect of this commission was to demonstrate alternatives to legislation. The suggested countermeasures cover several areas. One is technical solutions, including countermeasures directed towards the infrastructure, the vehicle and the communication device. Another area includes education and information and describes different ways to increase knowledge and understanding. Furthermore, there are different possibilities for how society can influence the behaviour of individuals, both via bans, recommendations and incentives. The usage of communication devices while driving has both advantages and disadvantages. How to deal with device usage is a complex problem, and it is unlikely that one single countermeasure can provide a complete solution. One countermeasure may even depend on the implementation of others. The exact effect of most countermeasures is hard to predict, and possible side effects may occur. It is therefore necessary to be pragmatic, meaning that countermeasures whose advantages outweigh their disadvantages should be implemented. Also, different countermeasures can reinforce each other which may attenuate negative side effects. It is our opinion that a combination of different countermeasures – which educate and inform the driver while at the same time support him or her in a safe usage of communication devices – is preferable to a law against communication device usage while driving. Continuous follow-ups are necessary to ensure the outcome of implemented countermeasures.