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Abstract

Every year, people die in road accidents across the world, despite the advancement in technology and safety. Passively safe poles are designed to reduce fatalities when a vehicle leaves the carriageway, through minimising the forces exerted onto the vehicle that collides with the pole. This research project explored the factors that affect road traffic accidents that an engineer can influence, so that current passively safe guidance documentation could be reviewed through understanding the influences the factors have on the severity of an accident. The research also explored the type of passively safe poles that can be deployed. Another aim of the study was to review significant factors that influence slight or severe traffic accidents. Engineers require clear, understandable details to make decisions, which can be provided through a guidance document. Accident data (provided by The Department for Transport) over a 5-year period in Hampshire where a vehicle struck a pole was analysed through answering 5 research questions. The research questions were based upon findings within the literature review, which found speed limits, road type, road class, object struck & urban/rural settlement as factors that can cause severe accidents. Cross tabulation Chi-Square tests were performed followed by various regression models. The analysis found that all the factors had an influence on traffic accidents. However, most notably, the analysis found that severe accidents were more likely to occur on rural roads. Case studies of passively safe poles being struck were also reviewed to determine if they follow the findings from the data. The use of Non-Energy absorbing passively safe poles were found to be effective in the case studies as all the accidents were reported as slight in severity. The findings indicate that passively safe poles should be deployed on rural roads and the type of passively safe pole should be Non-Energy absorbing in this scenario. It is recommended that the other guidance set by Hampshire County Council is to still be followed, but a focus on prioritising rural roads over different speed limits would be more suitable based off the research findings.

Course: Civil Engineering (Degree Apprenticeship) - BEng - U2896PDC

Date Deposited: 2023-07-13

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14160.html