What is a Poor, Bumpy or Rough Road?
“Roll-Up-The-Rim” has a different meaning when, every spring, Ontario drivers pay thousands of dollars to replace rims damaged from striking roadway “potholes”. The meaning conveyed to the public is that this is some kind of God-sent, but innocuous, plague that we can only curse at when we are the lucky ones who hit the jackpot. The reality is not so cute.
Those potholes occur when road surfaces are beyond the threshold of minor repair. They are not just isolated dots in an otherwise safe and smooth road surface. They are comparable to a World War II minefield in which we play: rarely do we blow up, but when we do it can be deadly. The deadly aspect of road surface problems, where you could be the unlucky “Roll-Up-The-Rim” winner, is simply not discussed.
But what can you do when your vehicle is damaged from a road surface problem? Many drivers cannot file a claim with their insurance company because that could lead to an increase in their premiums. They might also chose to file a claim with the municipality that is responsible for the road’s maintenance. But Risk Management departments of municipalities are not isolated bodies living in a cave. Risk Managers talk among themselves and know precisely what has been successful in past incidents and in other localities. Their procedures are fine-tuned so that denial of a claim is most likely to wear down most claimants. Often the erection of a “Bump Ahead” or “Rough Road” sign is all that is necessary to deny the claim even though a driver may not be given any useful information from such signs to distinguish a minor surface problem from a damaging one.
This (Sunningdale Road) is a rough road, as the sign says. But how rough? Is it safe for 40 or 70 km/h? Does if make a difference if it is nighttime or the surface is wet or snow-covered?
The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) has developed a well-publicized campaign to allow drivers to vent their frustrations by electing roadways with the prized “Worst Road” designation in Ontario. The program requires drivers to submit their complaints to the CAA which then tallies up which roads received the most. Then the road with the most complaints receives the Worst Road designation. This would work well if the number of complaints could reliably differentiate between a bad road in Ottawa from one in Windsor. But subjective comments from participants with unknown intentions or hidden motives is simply a bad way to decide which roads should be fixed while others remain unfixed.
Yet there is a simple way to obtain a scientifically reliable description of the quality and safety of a road surface. By simply using the spying features of a smart phone. Almost everyone carries a smart phone yet few are particularly concerned that these sensing and tracking devices can detect every detail about the user’s actions and where they are located. As an example, the Apple Iphone senses every minute detail about its motion and location in the guise that this data is needed by computer gamers who often communicate their scores over the internet. It does not take much imagination to conceive how such data can also be used to track what a person is doing just from the motions of the Iphone that are detected when it is located on the user’s body. Data can differentiate whether the user is walking, running or travelling in a vehicle.
Those abilities to illegally snoop on everyone’s private actions can be turned into a useful asset. The detailed motions of a person that are sensed by the Iphone can also be used to detect the motions of a vehicle as the principle is exactly the same. Details about the position of the Iphone within the axes of space (x,y,z) can be a direct descriptor of a vehicle’s position when the Iphone is attached, with reasonable security, to the body of the vehicle. Since the Iphone also detects the rate of change in its angle this also provides a very useful descriptor of the rate of change in the motion of a vehicle, and this is where the road surface comes in. By knowing the rate at which the vehicle angle changes we can know how the qualities of a road surface have caused a vehicle to be “bumped around” in space as it travels along a roadway.
At Gorski Consulting we have chosen to use the rate of change in the lateral and longitudinal motions of a vehicle to describe what the road surface must be like in order to produce those reactions. Given that a cyclical motion can provide angles that are either negative or positive it was decided to take the standard deviation of those data as a way of describing the magnitude of that motion regardless of its direction. Through our testing on a variety of roads in South-Western Ontario we have developed a set of guidelines for the interpretation of the data. The rate of rotation of the vehicle is expressed in radians per second. One radian is equal to 57.3 degrees. We have observed that the following descriptions apply for the following, data ranges:
Below 0.0200 radians per second = A good, smooth road surface,
0.0200 to 0.0500 radians per second = A range of relatively good surface at the low end and approaching a poor surface at the high end,
Above 0.0500 radians per second = A poor road surface that may be a safety risk depending on the type of vehicle and the existing environmental factors.
These guidelines are for situations where a vehicle is travelling at a typical speed for the road in question and the data are an average over time of at least 20 seconds. As an example, at a highway speed of 80 km/h a vehicle travels about 22.2 metres every second. So a travel time of 20 seconds would result in a travel distance of about 444 metres, or almost a half a kilometre. The purpose of using such longer distances is so that the judged quality of the road surface is not dominated by an isolated defect on an otherwise, good-quality road. Although the data is reported for such longer distances it can be appreciated that the raw data is always in its original form and any shorter or longer segments can be selected to a user’s preference. Descriptors for shorter distances may be preferred for those instances where an analyst is examining a specific road feature.
As an example, the standard deviation of a lateral rate of rotation of 0.0500 radians per second would be equal to a rotation of 2.9 degrees per second. This means that the vehicle’s body could be moving up or down, alternating on each side, in a cyclical fashion such that the speed of that lateral rotation results in a change of lateral angle of 2.9 degrees every second.
The type of surface that would produce that type of lateral motion has been found on Sunningdale Road between Highbury Ave and Clarke Road in the north-eastern outskirts of the City of London, Ontario. This road segment of about 2.5 kilometres long and has a posted maximum speed of 80 km/h. A large amount of testing has been done at this site at speeds ranging between 40 and 90 km/h. A number of articles have been uploaded to the Gorski Consulting website in 2014 and 2015.
This view of Sunningdale Road taken in February, 2011, shows one of the many depressions in the surface that resulted in excessive motion of the test vehicle.
While these discussions may appear to be detailed, the procedure to obtain reliable, scientific data that identifies the character of a road surface is not that complicated. Usually an app is purchased at a nominal price that allows access to the Iphone data. A location in the test vehicle is found which is preferably in the centre and at a low vertical level. The Iphone needs to be attached securely to the vehicle body and that can often be accomplished with Velcro tape. A button is pressed in the app which starts the recording and the same button is used to stop. The recorded file is then sent in an e-mail to the user’s office computer. At the office the file is transferred to an Excel spreadsheet where changes are made to remove unneeded data while making changes to the format so that it can be easily displayed in Excel charts. Finding the columns containing the “X rate of Rotation” and the “Y rate of Rotation” data is straightforward as the titles will be displayed at the top of each column. Excel proves a variety of formulas that allow a selection of a subset of the recording and display of statistics such as standard deviations.
At Gorski Consulting the capture of the Iphone data is also accompanied by the use of multiple video cameras. The instrument panel cluster is videotaped to document the vehicle speed and the value of other instruments. A camera may be positioned at the brake/accelerator pedals. A large protractor is often attached to the steering wheel and a video camera documents the steering inputs. Views of the underside of the test vehicle may display the motions of the vehicle suspension. External views of the roadway enable a visual record of the surface conditions that resulting in the Iphone data.
None of these videotaping procedures are essential to the average person unless there is a need to demonstrate how the data was captured for official purposes such as potential civil or criminal litigation. Whatever data is captured can be compared to what is uploaded in the Road Data page of the Gorski Consulting website and we would be pleased to cooperate with such ventures if asked. Up to now a single test vehicle (2007 Buick Allure) has been used in gathering the data. Some maintenance procedures such as the replacement of all the struts had to be made to make sure the aging of the test vehicle did not produce confounds in the data.
In the end, the objective data that is obtained via a smart phone in a test vehicle can be a reliable way of comparing the severity of problems with one road surface versus another. The utility of the procedure is in the fact that almost everyone carries a smart phone and no special equipment needs to be purchased to obtain the road data. Similarly, any roadworthy motor vehicle can be used in the testing although consideration needs to be given to how the data might change if the vehicle characteristics are largely variant. Thus a passenger car with a cruising-type of suspension may provide different data from a sports car with a tight suspension and possible low-profile tires. Obviously a truck test vehicle is likely to produce different data from a passenger car. A car with small diameter rims may produce different data than one with large rims. And so on.
For collision reconstruction experts procedures like these can be used to compare the data that may be captured in an Event Data Recorder (“Black Box”). The newer vehicles are often equipped with modules that may capture the tri-axial accelerations as well as the vehicle motions. As these data are generated from proprietary sensors and algorithms it is not always possible to understand how the EDR data was generated even when general descriptors are provided. Using an independent method of capturing data while travelling over the same collision site may provide additional insights into the meaning of the EDR data. This is particularly so with the use of the additional equipment such as the multiple video cameras and steering wheel protractor.
Hiring of a Ford Friend And Firing of a OPP Deputy Commissioner is Just Plain Wrong
No matter how you spin the story, the notion that the OPP Commissioner should be a good friend of the Premier of Ontario is just wrong. Independence between the top of the Ontario’s police and the top of the Ontario government must be a fundamental necessity for obvious reasons. The fact that the Deputy OPP Commissioner who complained about that wrong has now been fired is even more wrong.
Collision Reconstruction sometimes enters the whelm of police and politics because some much relies on maintaining persons in the field who are trustworthy. When that trustworthiness comes into question it is a domino that has an effect on the functioning of many people and institutions.
When Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford was allegedly involved in the hiring of his close friend, Superintendent Ron Taverner, as the OPP Commissioner, bypassing more senior members of the OPP, the perception that something dishonest took place should have been recognized as a detriment to public perceptions of both the Ontario government and those in charge of the Commissioner’s hiring process. When the Deputy Commissioner of the OPP, Brad Blair, raised concerns over the hiring process persons should have taken notice. Commissioner Blair was not just an ordinary bloke off the street with an uninformed opinion. His request for a review of that hiring process should have commenced a review. Instead Premier Ford made some accusations about Blair that led to Blair seeking court action. Now Blair has been fired. As if his disagreement with Ford, or his raising a red flag about the hiring process, had nothing to do with the firing. There are many gullible persons but very few would believe that there was no connection. Even if the firing proceeds, the incoming OPP Commissioner will have a large cloud hanging over him, a cloud that cannot exist at the top of the Provincial police force which could be called upon to investigate actions of members of the Provincial Government and possibly even Premier Ford himself. This is reminiscent of the tactics of “the-man-in-the-white-house”, whose constant lies become longer by the day like the nose of some cartoon Pinocchio.
We are not better off when being led by Al Capones while closing our eyes and ears to the warnings of honest men.
Three Incidents That Did Not Happen on Highway 401 East of Chatham
Thousands of vehicles, including heavy trucks carrying valuable cargo were stranded in Chatham yesterday when a series of “Three Incidents” did not occur – or at least from an official news point-of-view.
Thousands of vehicles needed to be re-routed onto local roads as a result of several unexplained incidents that occurred on Highway 401 near Chatham on March 4, 2019.
Social media provided photos showing major destruction between colliding trucks that would most likely cause fatal injuries. Yet nothing has been officially reported by major news groups such as CTV London, The London Free Press or the Windsor Star. A brief summary was mentioned in the Chatham Daily News but no details appeared to be available.
The most comprehensive report appears to have come from Kirk Dickinson, possibly associated with Blackburn News. In his internet article he provided a photo, submitted by Tammy Heather (shown below) that appears to show a transport truck that caught fire.
Photo courtesy of Tammy Heather possibly showing a truck fire that preceded two collisions that occurred on Highway 401 near Chatham.
The quality of Mr. Dickinson’s report leads us to include it below in its entirety:
“Two collisions and a vehicle fire caused some headaches for drivers between Ridgetown and Highgate on Highway 401 on Monday.
The Ontario Provincial Police said a transport truck fully engulfed in flames near the kilometre marker 120 on Highway 401 at around 11:30 a.m. which prompted the closure of the eastbound lanes between Orford Road (Exit 117) and Furnival Road (Exit 129). One lane was reopened to traffic at around 5 p.m.
A collision near Victoria Road Monday afternoon then forced the closure of all eastbound lanes again. Chatham-Kent paramedics said an air ambulance were called to the scene and paramedics are working in collaboration with Ornge for a patient with critical injuries. Further details could not be provided at this time.
A third collision occurred shortly after in the same area, but no details have been released.
The eastbound lanes of Highway 401 between Kent Bridge Rd. and Orford Rd. reopened just after midnight Tuesday morning.”
The problem is that the two subsequent collisions may have occurred due to the closure of Highway 401 and the stoppage of traffic. It is the stoppage of traffic which is crucial to the issue.
Traffic stoppages on Highway 401 are the cause of many major collisions because drivers, particularly truck drivers who travel long distances at constant speed, do not expect them, and their ability to stop in an emergency is reduced compared to other, light vehicles. However, this is not the only cause of such collisions and this is why it is vital that good quality information be made available about those causes. That is why it is crucial that good quality reporting be performed by experienced journalists who know how to report a story. This good reporting cannot occur when journalists are hand-tied and prevented from getting close to an accident site. Good reporting also cannot occur when the news agency’s resources are cut to the bone due to the changes in revenue generation that are taking money away from many official news agencies. Investigative actions by journalists which would normally expose major problems or concerns do not occur resulting in stories that are simply based on what police have provided.
The additional independence of journalists that has been historically present is now in great jeopardy of being taken over by informal social media reporters. Social media has been of benefit in providing independent photos and video of situations such as the example of Tammy Heather above. However discussions on social media can be substantially off base and uninformed, leading much of the public astray. Specifically with motor vehicle collisions, lack of experience and training can lead many social media reporters to conclusions that are not in accordance with basic physics or their lack of understanding of the objective evidence leads them to misinterpret that evidence. Unfortunately that can also be true of professional journalists or even investigators who are presented as “experts” in the field. A proper discussion that involves comments from actual experts can do much to educate the public and get them thinking in the proper direction. But this discussion cannot be had when the reporting of an incident is so scant that not even a fully-experienced expert can improve on the quality of the discussion.
No News Of Highway 401 Incidents East of Chatham
Something happened on Highway 401 east of Chatham, Ontario sometime yesterday, or the day before that. We are not really sure. But something happened. The best that the London Free Press could accomplish on their website was to provide a historical view of Highway 401 – But nothing about the collisions and fire that reportedly occurred.
In response we have provided our own photo of Highway 401 (below) taken in January of 2010. It has nothing to do with the matter we are to discuss but neither does the photo produced by the London Free Press.
This is our example of an informative photo of Highway 401 taken in January of 2010. It is a pretty picture of the smooth asphalt leading up to Highbury Ave. Of course it has absolutely nothing to do with the case being discussed.
The serious fact is that a series of collision events supposedly occurred on Highway 401 east of Chatham, Ontario. There was a fire. There was a tractor-trailer that was involved. And the full highway had to be shut down. However there is nothing available about what happened. Only a single historical photo provided by the London Free Press.
Several decades ago there would have been numerous independent reports on the incident because there used to be numerous independent news organizations doing the reporting. The Chatham Daily Newspaper used to be an independent newspaper and it would undoubtedly have provided an independent news story about what happened. The Windsor Star Newspaper would also have been there. And many others. But not anymore.
Now CTV News, which is part of a conglomerate of news stations that have swallowed up many of the independents, have so far not produced anything about what happened.
The headline of the March 4, 2019 London Free Press article indicated “Fire, crashes force ‘full shutdown’ of eastbound 401 in Chatham -Kent”. Was there an earthquake? A massive nuclear attack by a foreign country? If any of these occurred we would only hear about it on Twitter, Facebook, or something similar. On that note, social media have displayed photos, apparently of the collision site, as shown below.
Social media photo, possibly showing some of the collision events on Hwy 401 east of Chatham.
Social media photo, possibly of the collision site on Hwy 401 east of Chatham.
Social media photo, possibly of the collision site east of Chatham.
What normally happens these days is that the journalists from most news organizations are kept far away from anything of relevance on Highway 401. They will then submit a long distance telephoto view of a collision site, possibly after the most relevant evidence has been destroyed or removed, and they will then report precisely what the official police statement indicated as it was provided to them. But that is not really news reporting. It is just parroting what the police have indicated. That is not to criticize the official news media as they are limited in their abilities to do more than they do. There is no independent fact-gathering or investigation. That is what we have lost in this social media frenzy.
Consequences of Truck Crash Through Hwy 401 Median Barrier Generally Ignored
Do we need fatal consequences before the public is informed of a potential safety problem? Given the lack of reporting of a truck recently crashing through a Highway 401 barrier it would appear so.
This photo shows the median barrier located just west of Mill Road on Highway 401, approximately 15 kilometres south-west of London, Ontario, where an eastbound truck crashed through the barrier sometime before the afternoon of February 28, 2019.
There was no coverage of the incident by official news media other than information from police informing that the westbound lanes of Highway 401 would be closed west of Colonel Talbot Road (Highway 4) to remove a truck out the median. There was no indication when the incident occurred nor were there any photo images of the truck or how it managed to break through the barrier.
The character of the barrier where this breakage occurred appeared to be some form of a “Temporary Concrete Barrier” (TCB). These barriers are used in construction zones often to separate workers and to protect them traffic during road construction. The Ontario Traffic Manual, Book 7, Temporary Conditions describes such barriers as “…commonly used in section lengths of 2.5 to 4.0 m, connected together to form a continuous barrier”. Judging by the length of the slabs shown in the above photo they were likely 4 metres long.
Even if no injuries occurred the fact that there was a penetration through the barrier should be highlighted. These TCBs are used throughout North America and any failure could affect the safety of construction workers, occupants a the striking vehicle and other persons driving in vehicles in the immediate vicinity of the impact.
The strength of any barrier is related to its length. In order to displace the segment thus sustains direct contact, tension is increased along the segments making that displacement progressively more difficult. However, when there is a separation in the barrier that tension is released. It is only the mass of the individual segments that become the obstructions to a striking vehicle’s post-impact motion. As can be seen from the above photo it is clear that the barrier segments separated thus weakening the barrier and resulting in the inappropriate displacement of the separated pieces.
In the photo below it can be seen at the area of displacement of the concrete segments was very local, involving perhaps only four or five segments. The remaining segments remained in their original position. This indicates that the energy was not dissipated along the longer length of the barrier but only by the four or five segments that were directly impacted. Such an outcome is not desirable. In the photo below one can see only of the concrete segments was actually thrown across the median and is resting near the wall of the concrete barrier for westbound traffic.
Separation of the barrier segments meant that they became displaced further from the original position and, if workers had been present, would likely cause significant injury or death to any standing nearby.
The photo below shows a clearer view of the one concrete segment that is lying on its side with its base facing the camera.
View of one of the concrete segments of the barrier that was thrown across the median.
A close-up view is needed of the wall of the struck barrier to determine how and why the separation occurred. The photo below shows a closer view of the struck side of the barrier but nothing of substance can determined without taking a much closer look.
A close examination need to be made of the struck wall of the barrier and its anchorages to see how and why the separation occurred.
Overall, there needs to be greater attention paid to these median impacts and their consequences. Gorski Consulting has mentioned in previous news items on this website that there is a lack of proper reporting of these median impacts and their consequences along Highway 401. At present there is a High Tension Median Barrier being installed in the area of the present impact. Many citizens in the area have concerns about whether such a cable barrier provides sufficient protection from median crossings by heavy trucks. The preference of some in to install a Jersey-type, concrete barrier that is believed to be more capable of redirecting large and heavy trucks. Data on the the real-life performance of a Temporary Concrete Barrier with impact by a heavy truck might provide some education into the discussion. Thus all incidents of impact with the median barrier need to be properly and publicly identified.
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