This report, which provides an overview of the compulsory basic training for train drivers in Sweden, highlights the occurrence of simulator-based training in education, along with the training efforts being made with regards to the future introduction of ERTMS/ETCS. The report also shows the possibilities and limitations of increased use of simulators in driver training and describes the most important governing documents for train drivers and train driver training. Furthermore, the Swedish Transport Agency curriculum for train driver licenses is presented along with the institutions engaged in basic education, training and examination of train driver’s. Also, the Swedish Transport Administration’s E-learning tool for ERTMS, the ERSA-simulator and company specific ERTMS education at SJ and Green Cargo are described. Moreover, Swedish train companies’ and educators’ current use and future needs of simulators for train driver training were examined. Examples from other domains where simulators are used in a training context are also presented.

Antalet dödsfall på cykel var 19 450 mellan 2010 och 2018 i Europa. Antalet cyklister som dödats när de var berusade av alkohol är svårare att fastställa med tanke på bristen på tillförlitliga uppgifter. I Sverige är det socialt acceptabelt och lagligt att cykla om du har druckit alkohol så länge du inte uppträder vårdslöst.

Syftet med experimentet var att undersöka hur olika nivåer av berusning påverkade cykelprestationen (stabilitet), kognitiva funktioner och självskattad cykelförmåga. I experimentet studerade vi även hur dessa tre mått var relaterade till attityder och intentionen att cykla när de var berusade.

Experimentet genomfördes på ett brett rullband med möjlighet att kontrollera flera påverkande faktorer såsom hastighet och fysisk ansträngning. Berusade och nyktra deltagare cyklade på rullbandet fem gånger á 10 minuter och BrAC-nivåerna mättes 5 gånger. Deltagarna försågs med alkohol till dess att de nådde en alkoholnivå på 0,8 ‰.

The Swedish Road Administration considers permitting longer and heavier trucks on Swedish roads, provided that they do not affect traffic safety. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of truck length, particularly accident risk associated with overtaking. Interviewed drivers of 30 meter trucks had not experienced the problems predicted by drivers of ordinary trucks concerning narrow roundabouts and intersections, but mentioned the importance of a supportive truck company, working environment and truck equipment. A simulator study investigated car drivers overtaking trucks 30 m and 18.75 m long on a 2+1 road where two lanes merges to one. The headway time gap was 0.2 sec. (sign.) shorter after overtaking the 30 meter truck in situations where the back was in the same relative position as of the 18.75 meter truck. A field study analysed video-recorded overtakings of a 30 meter and a 24 meter timber truck on a 2+1 road and a two-lane road. No significant differences were found between headway time gaps when overtaking the two trucks, regardless of road type. The latter result should be interpreted with great caution because of unevenly distributed data collected during specific conditions. The conclusions are that longer trucks may have a small negative effect on overtaking situations, and that further field studies are required.

Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut (VTI) har på uppdrag av Trafikverket genomfört ett pilotprojekt med syfte att, baserat på mänskliga förutsättningar och begränsningar, öka kunskapen kring, och förståelsen för, grundorsaker till mänskliga felhandlingar vid operativ tågtrafikledning. Ett annat syfte var att ge underlag till förbättringar av stödsystem, rutiner och arbetssätt för insamling, analys och återföring av erfarenheter från oönskade händelser, vilket förväntas bidra till en effektivare prioritering av Trafikverkets utvecklingsarbete inom detta verksamhetsområde. För att avgränsa pilotprojektet fokuserade vi i detta projekt på tågklarerare. Med felhandlingar menar vi här beteenden som avsiktligt eller oavsiktligt avviker från säkerhetsreglerna och därmed, direkt eller indirekt, kan leda till avvikelse, tillbud eller olycka. I denna slutrapport redovisar vi följande:

l. En lägesbeskrivning av nationell och internationell forskning inom insamling, analys och erfarenhetsåterföring från händelser i säkerhetsrelaterade verksamheter (främst tågtrafikledning) samt klassificering av grundorsaker relaterade till Människa-Teknik- Organisation (MTO).

2. En kortfattad kartläggning och utvärdering av de befintliga stödsystemen och rutinerna för rapportering och erfarenhetsåterföring av händelser/felhandlingar.

3. En analys av händelserapporter och uppgiftsanalyser, i kombination med observationer och intervjuer, där syftet har varit att:

a. identifiera och klassificera felhandlingar (samt orsaker till dessa) kopplat till tågklarerares uppgifter, inklusive att se över de klassificeringar som finns idag.

b. identifiera vilka arbetsprocesser och beslutstillfällen som behöver stöttas.

c. identifiera eventuella fördjupade kunskaps- och forskningsbehov.

Litteraturstudien och den efterföljande datainsamlingen visar att kommunikation är en central del i arbetet for att skapa ett säkert och effektivt trafikledningssystem. Studerade händelserapporter har även visat att kompetensaspekter är betydelsefulla att beakta. Det som framgår i rapporterna och händelsebeskrivningarna är att arbetsbelastningsproblematiken möjligtvis inte beaktats tillräckligt. Den matrismodell, KKA-matrisen (Kommunikation, Kompetens och Arbetsbelastning), som har utvecklats inom detta projekt - och som syftar till att underlätta för organisationen att omsätta åtgärder i praktiken - tar därför fasta på dessa aspekter.

The present report presents four studies that were conducted with the aim to evaluate how electronic billboards (ERS) affect traffic safety. Study 1 is a literature review to examine how billboards impact road safety. The conclusions from the review showed that animated pictures and the location of the billboards have a major impact on driver behaviour as well as that darkness and adverse weather conditions can create glare which makes driving difficult especially for older drivers.

The second and third studies compared the speed and the number of accidents before and after the installation of the billboards. Neither difference in traffic volume nor in average speed could be demonstrated. There was nothing in the studied accidents to suggest that the accident was affected by a billboard.

The fourth sub-study is a field study investigating 41 drivers (driving and visual behaviour) on the E4 as they pass the billboards. Results showed several cases of visual distraction. The results also show a negative attitude to the billboards for a majority of the drivers.

In summary, no effects from the billboards on traffic safety could be showed at the macro level. However, the effects of visual distraction must be taken into consideration and investigated further before deciding whether billboards will be implemented on Swedish roads.

The aim was to investigate whether travel speed on two lane roads is influenced by the type of edge line. Another aim was to investigate whether there is a difference in durability for different line types. The study was carried out on a rural road segment. In year one, the entire road segment had a continuous edge line. In year two and three, half the segment had a continuous edge line, while the other half had a broken edge line. Travel speed of free flow passenger cars was measured each year, both in daylight and at night. The function of the edge lines was measured in terms of retroreflection and luminance coefficient. The results showed that the type of edge line did not have an influence on travel speed, neither in daylight nor at night. The preview time was significantly higher for the continuous than for the broken edge line. No difference in durability between the two line types could be observed during the two years the study was carried out. From a traffic safety and comfort perspective, the results point toward the use of continuous edge lines on two lane roads, at least on hilly and curving roads.

The general aim of this study was to help in improving road safety for motorcyclists by examining their experience and educational backgrounds of those who have been seriously injured. Another purpose was to investigate the reason why accidents occur and motorcyclists' risk perception. The study included four sub-studies: register study, questionnaire study and two interview studies. In the register study and the survey injured motorcyclists was compared with a control group. The results from the register study showed that about 80 percent of the injured drivers had a valid license. Compared with the control group, the injury group was more likely to have failed their theoretical test. The survey showed that the most common accidents were single accidents and that about one-fifth were wholly or partly to blame for the accident. According to the interview with injured motorcyclists who also were to blame, accidents were due to inattention and that the driver's behaviour was misinterpreted. 

The results from the regression analysis showed that 55 percent of the variables included in the Theory of Planned Behaviour explained their intention to speed. Questions based on the T-Locus of Control showed that the most likely cause of an accident is the behaviour of other drivers. This was true regardless of whether they were responsible for the accident or not. 

The conclusion is that education cannot be linked to accident involvement, however, it was possible to establish that speeding can be linked to violations. The latter support the need for a range of educational initiatives. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that education must be of high quality and be student-centred, i.e., based on the student's previous experiences whilst at the same time challenge already established beliefs. The study concludes with a series of recommendations to increase motorcyclists' road safety.

Under år 2007 genomförde NTF Gävleborg i samarbete med Vägverket Region Mitt, Polisen i Sandviken och Hofors kommun en kampanj med syftet att höja bilbältesanvändningen bland invånarna i Hofors. Rapporten redovisar såväl projektresultat som processerfarenheter av projektet, med SUMO (System för utvärdering av mobilitetsprojekt) som utvärderingsverktyg.

A project has been carried out to find methods that effectively decrease drivers’ speeds at road work sites through real-time audio warnings. The project consisted of two parts. First, a survey of existing studies took place. The results show that the characteristics of a successful audio alert are female voice, direct and informative messages, an interaction between semantics and acoustics, successively increased intensity, and the dimming of secondary audio distractions. Based on the results of the survey, a practical evaluation of the potential use of audio warnings at road work sites was carried out in a VTI driver simulator. Twenty-two car drivers drove 25 kilometer on a motorway where two road works were placed on the hard shoulder. Half of the subjects were given an audio warning before the first road work and the other half prior to the second roadwork. The audio warning consisted of a sound similar to that of a GPS warning signal, followed by a female voice saying "Warning! Road work within 500 meters. Adjust the speed!". The message was sent via the car's internal speaker system. The speed reducing effect is significant and the average decrease is estimated to be 9–17 km/h greater with audio warning than without. Furthermore, there was still a small effect (0.5–3.3 km h) left of the audio alert after the road works. More results of the simulation tests are presented along with the drivers’ subjective opinions of such systems.

The overall aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about road studs’ potential impact on road user behavior, how they are perceived and the possible contribution they make to other road equipment. The study consisted of three parts. Part one was a literature study, part two was a field study with speed measurements in a sharp rural road curve equipped with road studs either on the center or the right edge line, and part three was an interview study. The results from the literature review showed that there were relatively few studies on road studs and road user behavior. The general conclusion was that the use of road studs seems to increase speeds slightly, while the lateral position will be shifted slightly in the direction from the markings. The results from the speed measurements in a sharp curve equipped with active illuminated road studs showed no significant differences in speed in any of the conditions. The results from the interview study showed that the first contact with the studs was perceived that something had been done in order to attract attention on something, which created curiosity, but also uncertainty about what to expect and how to act ahead. An impression of a slight help to determine the road's stretching before entering the curve was expressed, but at the same time, some competition from delineator posts of the visual space was experienced which created a sense of visual overload. It was thought that non-familiar drivers, probably would reduce the speed slightly ahead of the curve when they noticed the road studs. Familiar drivers were regarded not to be affected in this sense. Regarding what unique contribution the use of road studs could give, it was expressed that they could help road users by warning that a sharp curve that required special adaptation approached. However, the overall perception was that road studs most likely would not contribute much in improving the visual guidance through curves. Instead, it was considered that road markings and delineator posts would usually be sufficient.

Background: Road signs are crucial for informing road users and need to be bright enough to be visible and readable, but not so bright that they cause glare. The brightness levels of road signs should also be appropriate for the vast majority of road users.

Purpose: The purpose was to evaluate readability of road signs of retroreflection classes RA2 and RA3B, with regard to factors affecting the retroreflection per se, amount of light onto the signs, and how well the driver sees. Objective measures of reading distance and visual status, and subjective measures of how different categories of drivers experience that they detect, read, and experience glare from road signs were also to be taken into account.

Methods: A field experiment measured reading distance (and visual acuity and contrast); and questionnaire studies measured opinions and experiences from different driver categories concerning driving in darkness in general, and about properties of road signs in darkness in particular.

The introduction of the new train protection system ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) aims, among other things, to simplify traffic management and to facilitate cross-border train traffic in Europe. To achieve these objectives, train drivers and signallers (am. Dispatcher) must have sufficient knowledge and competence to utilize the system’s advantages without risking safety. Future tracks to be equipped with ERTMS are Malmbanan 2023, Västerdalsbanan 2025 and ScanMed ost 2026 where the latter in particular entails a logistical problem regarding the possibility to practice practically when ERTMS-equipped tracks and vehicles are not available in geographical proximity. A low-fidelity train simulator has, in the latest years, been widely used in train driver training. This study aimed to find out how train driver- and signaler-training in such a simulator can be designed to create conditions for an efficient and safe future rollout of ERTMS. The driver study was carried out via an experiment where 16 drivers were divided into two groups, of whom eight carried out their practical training in a simulator and the other half using standard methodology. After the practical training, the train drivers conducted a simulator test individually where the performance was assessed through both measuring the number of errors made and via a subjective instructor assessment. 

The results show that simulator training is more effective than practical training in reality, mostly because of the possibility of repeated training of different special cases. The signallers got to see, discuss and, via a survey, evaluate three films showing drivers handling different special cases in a simulator. The results indicate that the training method can be useful, especially for signallers without previous experience with ERTMS.

Damaged catenary lines lead to large costs for Sweden's taxpayers train passengers and freight companies. About half of the damaged catenary lines where the train operators are involved (about 600 hours of delay) can be prevented with better trained train staff. This project aimed to, in a simulator environment, study how train drivers handle the catenary in situations of varying complexity, what effect experience and practice have on practical knowledge as well as how a theoretical education material can contribute to increased knowledge about the catenary. A total of 49 driver students at the end of their basic education and 8 experienced drivers participated in a simulator study where they would handle outside signals connected to the catenary system in situations of varying difficulty.

The results show that novices as well as experienced drivers handle outside signals without distraction with a low error rate, but where especially the novices often forget the outside environment when distracted via an alarming train protection system. A repeated measurement indicates that the drivers handle similar situations better after repetition, but no improvement was measured regarding the handling of similar situations.

The result illustrates the benefit of the project where driver training in a simulator environment together with the supplementary training material probably can contribute to a more robust Swedish railway with fewer delays and reduced costs as a result.

Text messaging while driving can be distracting and significantly increases the risk of being involved in a collision. Compared to freeway driving, driving in a tunnel environment introduces factors that may interact with driver attentional resources to exacerbate the effects of distraction on driving safety. With planning and design of the 18 km Stockholm Bypass tunnel ongoing, and because of the potentially devastating consequences of crashes in long tunnels, it is critical to assess the effects of driver distraction in a tunnel environment.Twenty-four participants (25–50 years) drove in simulated highway and tunnel road environments while reading and writing text messages using their own mobile phones. As expected, compared to driving alone, text messaging was associated with decrements in driving performance and visual scanning behav-ior, and increases in subjective workload. Speeds were slower compared to baseline (no text-messaging) driving when participants performed the text-messaging tasks in the tunnel environment compared to the freeway, suggesting that drivers may have attempted to compensate more for the increased text-messaging-related workload when they were in the tunnel. On the other hand, increases in lane deviation associated with the most complex text-messaging task were more pronounced in the tunnel compared to on the freeway. Collectively, results imply that driver distraction in tunnels is associated with generally similar driving decrements as freeway driving; however, the potential consequences of these decrements in tunnels remain significantly more serious. Future research should attempt to elucidate the nature of any differential compensatory behavior in tunnel, compared to freeway, driving. In the meantime, drivers should be advised to refrain from text messaging, especially when driving in tunnels.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the new methods for increased speed compliance. Both the police's experience, as well as internal and external communication as effects on mean speeds and speed violations are studied. Police in the western region tested a new method during three autumn weeks in 2016.

The intervention entailed intensified speed enforcement on 13 designated routes and the aim was to reduce mean speed. The intervention focused on three different actions:

• short manual speed controls (20 minutes) on roads with high speeds and a high accident record
• civil police cars (so-called pilot cars) focusing on aggressive driving
• monitoring with mobile speed cameras as a complement to the manual speed controls.

According to the police’s experiences, the results show that most policemen involved were positive to the intervention overall. It was appreciated that traffic issues appeared on the agenda and the Police received a positive response from the citizens. Basically, they experienced that the 20-minutes method was a good way of working which leads to increased visibility of the Police. The effort also led to more controls than what would have been done otherwise, which was considered as important by the police. Suggestions for improvements are that local police men should be more involved in the selection of roads for enforcement and it was suggested to have several shorter interventions instead of one long.

The present study analyses a sub section of an international road safety survey ´ESRA´, which measures self-reported behaviour, attitudes and norms regarding road safety in 32 countries. In this study the focus is mainly on results from the Swedish survey. The aim is to gain a better understanding of road safety in Sweden and how Sweden compares with nine other countries with similar levels of road safety.

Analysis of the literature: the use of mobile phones while driving

I den här publikationen är det motorcyklisters hastighetsbeteende som belyses. Förhoppningen är att materialet kan användas som ett fortsatt diskussionsunderlag med gruppen motorcyklister.

I materialet och analyserna i detta dokument är det motorcyklisters hastighetsbeteende som belyses. Detta är det andra året som mätningar utförs i 24 punkter på 6 platser i landet.