Appeal to Nottinghamshire drivers and cyclists to send in videos of near-crashes
Road users across Nottinghamshire are being called on to help researchers identify areas where accidents are likely to happen by sending in videos of their near-crashes. Researchers from the University of Nottingham[1]‘s Accident Research Unit are undertaking a research project to identify potential accident hotspots. “Near-crash events” are moments on the road where accidents almost happen but are narrowly avoided.
The team need car drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians to take part and send in their dashcam or phone footage to help create a map of hotspots. The results of the research will be shared with Nottingham City Council[2] to potentially initiate future road safety measures or campaigns. Researcher Karl Miller, from the School of Psychology, is leading the project.
He said: “We know from previous research that road users have many near-crash incidents on a regular basis, with some road users being more exposed to these than others. However, there is little evidence to really identify where these near-crashes happen.
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“We want people to help us collect these data so that we can have a greater understanding of exactly where and how often near crashes are happening and pinpoint those particularly dangerous hotspots that could eventually lead to a serious accident occurring.” The project, called FOCUS (Footage from Observant Citizen Scientists to Underpin Road Safety) is running until March and people need to sign up to agree to send in their footage. If people don’t have access to cameras these can be loaned out by the university.
Volunteers will be asked to share videos of near-crashes they experience in Nottinghamshire, and asked to make some judgments about the incidents. A few weeks after sharing the videos people will be asked to make some judgments about anonymised versions of videos. Dr Peter Chapman, associate professor and director of the Accident Research Unit at the University of Nottingham, said: “As well as identifying potential accident hotspots we are also keen to understand people’s perceptions of these near-crash events and whether revisiting the videos later changes their opinion of how dangerous the event was.
“We hope that the insights we gather into what’s happening on the roads and people’s recollections of incidents can help to inform road safety measures and ultimately help make the roads safer for everyone.”
The FOCUS project is funded by the University of Nottingham’s Institute for Policy and Engagement.
Anyone interested in taking part can visit the project website to find out more or sign up here[3].
References
- ^ University of Nottingham (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ City Council (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ here (www.nottingham.ac.uk)