The research project FE 82.509/2010 'Verkehrssicherheit in Einfahrten auf BAB' investigates entry-gateways of the type E1 on German motorways. Since the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development started a field test on longer trucks, the task of the research project was extended to this subject. Therefore the behaviour of the road users in the entering areas on motorways meeting a longer truck should be observed. The aim is to derive an evaluation of road safety for the permanent use of longer trucks. To investigate this task, trips of longer trucks were monitored by a front- and a side camera, to observe the traffic in the area next and in front of the truck. To compare the trips of the longer truck with today already usual heavy goods vehicles, the trips of a truck-trailer combination were observed in the same way. The localisation of the entry-gateways was realized by GPS-tracking of the trips. Overall 534 passings with longer trucks and 271 passings with a truck-trailer combination were recorded on entry-gateways. In addition to the systematic analysis of the traffic situation in the entering areas the speed of the trucks passing the entry-gateways was analysed. Altogether the investigations showed no abrupt driving manoeuvre in the entering areas. Furthermore it was found out, that both the behaviour of the road users as well as the measured truck speed showed no reasonable differences between the longer truck and the usual truck-trailer combination. Therefore the behaviour of the road users in the entering areas of the analysed vehicle combinations can be considered as comparable. The investigations showed no higher safety risk of the longer truck in comparison with the truck-trailer combination. Based on this the road safety in the analysed entry-gateways is expected to be comparable for both longer trucks and truck-trailer combinations passing by. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting