Road safety in China, India, and Brazil:

Challenges and opportunities

Michael Sivak

The University of Michigan

Transportation Research Institute

Sustainable Worldwide Transportation

• Bendix

• Bosch

• Continental

• FIA Foundation

• Ford

• GM

• Nissan

• Toyota

Sustainable Transportation

That combination of available transportation optionsthat optimizes the tradeoffs among the safety,environmental, economic, and social consequences

Guiding principle of safety

research:

Reduce total harm

Exposure

Consequences

of a crashCra

sh ri

sk

Exposure

Consequences

of a crashCra

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Adapted from Thulin and Nilsson (1994)

Exposure

Consequences

of a crashCra

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Exposure

Modification

Exposure

Consequences

of a crashCra

sh ri

sk CrashAvoidance

Exposure

Modification

Exposure

Consequences

of a crashCra

sh ri

sk CrashAvoidance

Exposure

Modification

Crash

Mitigation

Safety sustainability

• Traffic safety in the U.S.: Re-examining majoropportunities

• Mechanisms involved in the recent large reductions inthe U.S. road fatalities

• A road-safety upside of the current economic downturn

• The future of personal transportation the megacities ofthe world

• Road safety in China: Challenges and opportunities

• Road safety in India: Challenges and opportunities

• Road safety in Brazil: Challenges and opportunities

Common elements

• Lead authors from the respective countries

(Wei Zhang, Dinesh Mohan, Eduardo Vasconcellos)

• Identification of the largest “cubes” of total harm

• Identification of effective countermeasures for each

“cubes” that reduce the exposure, crash risk, or crash

consequences

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areas

Nighttime

Motorcycles

- Motorcycles and small cars

Vehicle passengers

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways

Trucks and buses

Two-lane roads

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians E R C

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists E R C

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areasE R C

Nighttime E R C E R C E R C

Motorcycles E R C E R C

- Motorcycles and small cars E R C

Vehicle passengers E R C

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways E R C

Trucks and buses E R C

Two-lane roads E R C

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

Promising interventions

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areas

Nighttime

Motorcycles

- Motorcycles and small cars

Vehicle passengers

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways

Trucks and buses

Two-lane roads

Example 1

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areas

Nighttime

Motorcycles

- Motorcycles and small cars

Vehicle passengers

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways

Trucks and buses

Two-lane roads

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

Delayed activation of

headlights

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians E R C

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists E R C

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areasE R C

Nighttime E R C E R C E R C

Motorcycles E R C E R C

- Motorcycles and small cars E R C

Vehicle passengers E R C

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways E R C

Trucks and buses E R C

Two-lane roads E R C

Automatic headlights

in the dark

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areas

Nighttime

Motorcycles

- Motorcycles and small cars

Vehicle passengers

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways

Trucks and buses

Two-lane roads

Example 2

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areas

Nighttime

Motorcycles

- Motorcycles and small cars

Vehicle passengers

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways

Trucks and buses

Two-lane roads

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

Much lower seatbelt

usage rates than drivers

Large “cubes” / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians E R C

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists E R C

- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in

urban areasE R C

Nighttime E R C E R C E R C

Motorcycles E R C E R C

- Motorcycles and small cars E R C

Vehicle passengers E R C

Wrong-way drivers on divided highways E R C

Trucks and buses E R C

Two-lane roads E R C

Education to increase

passenger seatbelt use

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

Conclusion

Major safety improvements could be

made worldwide by using targeted

countermeasures based on scientific,

system-wide understanding of the

mechanisms that contribute to the

occurrence of large components of the

overall problem in each country

Reports

Road safety in China: Challenges and opportunities

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60474/1/100702.pdf

Road safety in India: Challenges and opportunities

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61504/1/102019.pdf

Road safety in Brazil: Challenges and opportunities

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63586/1/102260.pdf

Sponsoring consortium

Sustainable Worldwide Transportation http://www.umich.edu/~umtriswt