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 options

that optimizes the tradeoffs among the safety,
environmental, economic, and social consequences
Guiding principle of safety
research:

Reduce total harm

 Consequences
of a crash

Exposure
k
ris
sh
ra
C
 Consequences
of a crash

Exposure
k
ris
sh
ra
C

Adapted from Thulin and Nilsson (1994)

 Consequences
of a crash

Exposure
Modification

Exposure
k
ris
sh
ra
C
 Consequences
of a crash

Exposure
Modification

Exposure
k

Crash
ris
sh

Avoida
nce
ra
C
 Consequences
of a crash

Crash
Mitigation

Exposure
Modification

Exposure
k

Crash
ris
sh

Avoida
nce
ra
C
 Safety sustainability
Traffic safety in the U.S.: Re-examining major
opportunities
Mechanisms involved in the recent large reductions in
the U.S. road fatalities
A road-safety upside of the current economic downturn
The future of personal transportation the megacities of
the 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

 Promising interventions

Large cubes / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians ERC
- Pedestrians and other non-motorists ERC
- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in
ERC
urban areas
Nighttime ERC ERC ERC
Motorcycles ERC ERC
- Motorcycles and small cars ERC
Vehicle passengers ERC
Wrong-way drivers on divided highways ERC
Trucks and buses ERC
Two-lane roads ERC

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

 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

 Delayed activation of
headlights

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

 Automatic headlights
in the dark

Large cubes / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians ERC
- Pedestrians and other non-motorists ERC
- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in
ERC
urban areas
Nighttime ERC ERC ERC
Motorcycles ERC ERC
- Motorcycles and small cars ERC
Vehicle passengers ERC
Wrong-way drivers on divided highways ERC
Trucks and buses ERC
Two-lane roads ERC

E: exposure R: risk C: consequences

 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

 Much lower seatbelt
usage rates than drivers

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

 Education to increase
passenger seatbelt use

Large cubes / areas for intervention China India Brazil

Pedestrians ERC
- Pedestrians and other non-motorists ERC
- Pedestrians and other non-motorists in
ERC
urban areas
Nighttime ERC ERC ERC
Motorcycles ERC ERC
- Motorcycles and small cars ERC
Vehicle passengers ERC
Wrong-way drivers on divided highways ERC
Trucks and buses ERC
Two-lane roads ERC

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