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Safe System Snippet 340: Cyclist Distraction

Safe System Snippet 340: Cyclist Distraction

Research highlights the potential dangers of distractions for cyclists, particularly those related to mobile phone use and listening to music. Here's a breakdown of the findings:  Mobile Phone Use:  Impaired situational awareness: Cyclists engaged with their phones...

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Safe System Snippet 339: Median Barrier Selection

Safe System Snippet 339: Median Barrier Selection

Wire rope barrier systems (also called cable barrier systems) can be struck from either side by an errant vehicle and they will function as intended. This, and their narrow width, makes them a useful system for medians (wide or narrow).   There are also a variety of...

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Safe System Snippet 338: ANCAP

Safe System Snippet 338: ANCAP

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) includes Vulnerable Road User tests, including a pedestrian crash test that estimates likely head and leg injuries to child and adult pedestrians. The tests are conducted with head-forms and leg-forms fired at the...

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Safe System Snippet 335: Safe System Sketches

Safe System Snippet 335: Safe System Sketches

Each Friday of last year we published our engineers’ Safe System Sketches (AKA cartoons). Today we decided to share the 5 least understood.   Let us know if you get them, or if we’re on our own planet?  

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Safe System Snippet 334: Making Roads Motorcycle Friendly

Safe System Snippet 334: Making Roads Motorcycle Friendly

Unlike cars with their four-wheeled stability, motorcycles rely on only two small contact points with the road, making them highly sensitive to changes in surface conditions. Even subtle variations in texture, dips, ruts, or patches of loose gravel can disrupt their...

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Safe System Snippet 330: Pedestrians and roundabouts DO mix

Safe System Snippet 330: Pedestrians and roundabouts DO mix

Roundabouts with raised pedestrian crossings (Wombats) create a safe and accessible environment for all road users. And it’s great to see this now appear in the Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 4B: Roundabouts.  An evaluation of the installation of wombat crossings...

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Safe System Snippet 329: Median Barriers; real infrastructure.

Safe System Snippet 329: Median Barriers; real infrastructure.

Paint won't protect. Physical infrastructure is needed for safety in high-speed environments.  Flexible road safety median barriers are installed along the centre of the road to prevent head-on crashes, which are one of the most common types of fatal crash. They work...

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Safe System Snippet 327: Zebra Crossings; not the safest

Safe System Snippet 327: Zebra Crossings; not the safest

At-grade pedestrian crossings (AKA Zebra Crossings) leave the potential for high-speed crashes to occur. The Crash Reduction Factor/Crash Modification Factor for these facilities varies wildly amongst studies from around the world from a reduction in pedestrian safety...

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Safe System Snippet 326: Reverse Angle Parking

Safe System Snippet 326: Reverse Angle Parking

Converting angle parking to parallel parking reduces casualty crashes by up to 35% (Elvik and Vaa, 2004).  The awkward sight lines for drivers reversing out of angle parking causes them to be more likely to miss a vehicle in the through lane. This is particularly the...

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Safe System Snippet 325: Intersection crashes

Safe System Snippet 325: Intersection crashes

When people think about intersection crashes, they usually conjure up an image of a vehicle-to-vehicle crash. Or perhaps a vehicle to bike or pedestrian crash comes to mind. And while these are certainly major issues at intersections, there is also an increase in the...

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Safe System Snippet 323: Compact Urban Roundabouts

Safe System Snippet 323: Compact Urban Roundabouts

Safe System Solutions completed an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of this compact urban roundabout in Mildura. It showed a 19.20km/h reduction of entry speed (average), with new 85th percentile speed of entering vehicles of 19.26km/h (and 99th percentile...

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