Summary

Roadway incidents, especially collisions, often result in traffic congestion and travel delays, in addition to the direct damage to the vehicles and the injuries to the people involved. The subsequent congestion is mainly caused by stopped vehicles or lane closure, but it is intensified by slowing vehicles with drivers observing the accident scene. The effects of these phenomena on highway traffic are significant in terms of their direct hazards and the associated losses in travel delays, energy usage, and environmental impact.

This proposal suggests the implementation of technologies that will bring direct and immediate benefits to the users and operators that are involved in the handling of collision sites and subsequent investigations. The proposed work is built on previous research that was developed under the sponsorship of California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the collaboration of California Highway Patrol (CHP) with an emphasis on the deployment of technical tools. The deliverables for the project includes technological tools and training seminars for CHP and Caltrans safety and operational personnel.

One primary objective of the proposed work is focused on the development of user specifications for a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit that can be readily used by CHP officers and crash site investigators to facilitate expedient documentation of collision sites. The availability of GPS data can further be incorporated into the data entry process and statistical analysis in SWITRS (Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System) and TASAS (Traffic Surveillance Accident Surveillance and Analysis System), which subsequently is used to derive critical information for highway improvements such as High Concentration Collision Location (HCCL Table C) and to perform safety studies.

The mobility and efficiency of California highways are impeded by the recurrent and non-recurrent congestion on a daily basis. A significant portion of the congestion is caused by collision-induced delays, especially major accidents where the crash sites take a lengthy period to document and to clean up before traffic can return to capacity flows. It is extremely important that all means are explored to expedite the collision investigation and clean-up process. The outcome of this research project will bring considerable direct and indirect benefits in safety improvements and congestion relief towards achieving the goals of Caltrans on mobility, efficiency, and safety.

Proposed Work

This focus of realizing incremental improvements in the crash handling process is the cornerstone of this proposal. The objectives of this project are two-fold:

1. Continue to monitor the state of development of the national VII program, based on close interaction with the Caltrans representatives who are directly involved in the discussions at the national level. As new issues arise or old issues are settled at the national level, adjust the plan for this project accordingly.
   • Continue to monitor the state of development of the national VII program, based on close interaction with the Caltrans representatives who are directly involved in the discussions at the national level. As new issues arise or old issues are settled at the national level, adjust the plan for this project accordingly.Defining user's specifications and deployment options of GPS that allow easy to use features for law enforcement officers and crash site investigators to collect longitude and latitude measurements into collision reports.
   • Exploring technology options of an integrated mobile unit that may include GPS, bar-code and magnetic-stripe reader, voice recorder, remote measurement devices and other commercial-off-the-shelf products that can assist in the evidence collection process on crash sites.
2. Enhancement of software for post-processing of photographic evidence:
   • Training users (CHP/Caltrans) on the use of a basic version of photogrammetry tool, and improve the functionality of the software application through user feedback.