Worldwide, 1.2 million people die in road crashes yearly; 43,000
just in Europe. This implies a cost to the European society of
approximately 160 billion euro, making use of 10% of all health
care resources. Sharp objects like crash barriers may lead
vulnerable road users into serious injuries. Different road
restraint system designs have been developed in recent years to
improve vulnerable road users' safety.
SMART RRS is an FP7 SST 2007 RTD1 European collaborative project
funded by the EC with the participation of 10 institutions from 5
countries. The project aims to develop a new smart road restraint
system that will reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused in
road traffic accidents by integrating primary and tertiary sensor
systems in it, providing greater protection to all road users,
warning motorists and emergency services of danger for prevention
purposes and alerting emergency teams of accidents as they happen
to minimize response time to the exact location of the incident.
This new smart restraint system will: - Reduce the number of
accidents through better information on the actual state of the
road and traffic flow (climatic conditions, traffic flow,
obstructions, hazards, accidents). - Eliminate dangerous profiles
from road restraint systems (crash barriers) that currently
endanger vulnerable road users. - Optimize road safety by providing
exact information of where and when accidents happen in real
time.
The project obtained interesting results from an in-depth review
of motorcycle accidents, showing that the most aggressive elements
for riders are protection systems installed on roadsides
(continuous, punctual, rigid, wire rope). Also the accidents
involving roadside protective systems include high speeds and the
rider commonly impacts the barrier in an upward position, with
severe outcome. Some of the most important injuries received by
riders are blunt impacts to the head, member amputation and severe
thoracic intrusion.