Digital reconstruction of real (near) accidents of vulnerable road users (VRU) in the Czech Republic – modern technology brings new perspectives

Abstract

Protecting vulnerable road users (VRUs) remains an issue despite significant advances in the development of integrated safety, autonomous driving and cooperative environments. As part of accident/collision processes, the urban area of municipalities continues to constitute a risk environment with a relatively high frequency of serious injuries (VRU) even at relatively low speeds. In order to understand and increase road safety, it is necessary to analyse the causes of traffic accidents in more detail using video recordings, virtual reality (VR) and automated computer vision methods. The state of the art in the Czech Republic is limited due to the absence of high-quality and extensive data sets. This article constitutes a proof-of-concept solution for the digital reconstruction of selected accident/collision events in 4 cities of the Republic, specifically in Prague, Liberec, Česká Lípa and Jaromeř. It makes it easier to identify, parameterize and virtualize the results of a traffic conflict study and can provide input data for the testing and validation of sensors, interaction models of road users’ behaviour, and preparation of scenarios for a simulated environment; ultimately it reinforces prevention efforts.