Observed Speed of Vehicles On Hwy 401 At Four Sites
View showing several cones placed at 100-metre intervals with video cameras pointed at each cone location along Highway 401. This method enables an average speed to be calculated within each road segment.
What kind of safety problems exist along the busiest highway in Canada? Government agencies such as the Ontario Ministry of Transportation monitor traffic along Highway 401 but that information is not made available to the public. Some of this data could be educational and therefore valuable for the public’s ability to make informed conclusions about what actions need to be taken to improve the Highway’s safety.
In response Gorski Consulting has engaged in a series of documentations of traffic with the use of multiple, synchronized, video cameras. The documentations typically involve a highway overpass where cameras can be set up to look along the length of the highway. Additionally, cameras are placed at markers spaced out at 100-metre intervals (example shown above) such that average speeds can be obtained within those intervals.These methods enable calculations of important facts regarding traffic motions and potential safety problems. Gorski Consulting will be presenting an number of findings from these studies in order to inform and educate the public on these important issues.
In this present article we present the general results of average speeds of westbound traffic at four different sites, as noted below.
Location of testing sites along Highway 401 where traffic observations were made.
The table below provides a summary of those observations.
Several explanations need to be provided to appreciate the meaning of these data. Firstly, heavy, Class 8 trucks, which are typically a tractor with one or more trailers, have their speeds governed (limited) to a maximum of about 105 km/h. These trucks are mixed in with the higher-speed, light vehicles such as passenger cars, pick-ups, SUVs, etc. While most of these trucks travel within the right lane, some of them travel in the median lane for short periods especially when proceeding with a passing motion of another, slower truck. The above data includes the speed of those slower trucks except in the Elgin Road site where no trucks were observed in the median lane. The explanation at the Elgin Road site is because the highway at this location is made up of 3 lanes. Thus heavy trucks that make a passing motion will move from the right lane into the middle lane so that they do not need to travel in the median lane.
Some appreciation of the traffic volumes can be had from noting that observations were made for just under 8 minutes at the Elgin Road site yet 62 vehicles were documented in that short time. Conversely at the Dillon Road site documentations were carried out for over 40 minutes, or about 5 times as long, while slightly over 2 times more observations (119) were made. So the volume of traffic in the median lane at the Dillon site was much less, there were fewer trucks in that lane and the average speed of vehicles was therefore higher.
Data like this needs to be evaluated when discussions are made about the safety of Highway 401. Many members of the public have questions about the safety of installations such as the high tension median barrier that is being installed between Tilbury and London. This installation is precisely in the zone of three of the four sites being discussed in this article. Construction is also being carried out in this zone and much concern has been expressed about how this leads to crashes with stopped vehicles. Also when snowfall arrives there will be conclusions expressed about the collisions that will result. All these concerns by the public need quality data which Gorski Consulting hopes to provide.
This report provides a preliminary example of the type of data that will be revealed and discussed in future items posted in this Gorski Consulting website in the near future.
The Honorable Mr. Harry Leslie Smith
“I am one of the last few remaining voices left from a generation of men and women who built a better society for our children and grandchildren out of the horrors of the second world war, as well as the hunger of the Great Depression. Sadly, that world my generation helped build on a foundation of decency and fair play is being swept away by neoliberalism and the greed of the 1%, which has brought discord around the globe. Today, the western world stands at its most dangerous juncture since the 1930s.” (Harry Leslie Smith)
Mr. Smith reminds us that each day we awake and step forward to a crossroad that has profound implications on where we arrive at sundown.
Honorably, Mr. Smith passed away on November 28, 2018.
Highway 401 – Four Sites Explored for Traffic Motions & Problems
Gorski Consulting has now completed four sites along Highway 401 in southwestern Ontario where video data was obtained to explore traffic motions and potential safety problems. The map below shows the sites.
Location of testing sites along Highway 401 where traffic observations were made.
Analysis of the video data is ongoing. One of several safety concerns along the highway is the installation of a high-tension cable barrier system between Tilbury and London, Ontario. Some local groups have expressed concerns whether the cable barrier will stop massive tractor-trailers from crossing the median.
Given that 40 to 50 % of traffic travelling along this section of Highway 401 is made up of heavy trucks it is imperative that a median barrier be of such a design that prevents median cross-over collisions.
Gorski consulting expects to study a variety of safety issues and traffic patterns. Results will be posted on the Gorski Consulting website (www.gorskiconulting.com). More scholarly assessments will be written as technical papers and will also be presented at a variety of future conferences.
World-Wide Only 10 % of Bicycle Accidents Are Reported
Under-reporting of bicycle accidents results in not knowing the dangers posed to them.
A recent article (by D. Shinar et. al.) published in the Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 110, January 2018) examined the official reporting of bicycle accidents in 17 nations. It was estimated that only about 10% of such collisions were officially reported. Such data indicates the concern that should be shared with respect to recent attempts to build infrastructure in Canada to accommodate cyclists without having a firm understanding of what environments may be more dangerous.
OPP Conduct Focused Patrols on Hwy 401 Near Chatham Resulting in 629 Charges
Reports indicate that the Ontario Provincial Police have been focused on the area of Highway 401 near construction zones between London and Chatham. 629 charges have been laid since June of 2018 including 469 for speeding.
One of the complaints of unsafe actions included late merging of vehicles where a lane is closed. The London Free Press quoted Constable Jay Denorer on this issue:
“A lot of times, coming down to one lane, people will start passing on the shoulder (of the road) to try and get in front of somebody,” he said. Noting there is ample notification of construction zones ahead, Denorer said “there’s no reason for it, it’s just people being impatient.”
Yet there could be other reasons.
In the past year or two there has been considerable publicity focused on drivers needing to adopt a new merging technique called the “Zipper Merge” when approaching a closed lane. The approach was supported in the State of Minnesota as well as by research from Germany and the Virginia Transportation Research Council. The City of London has also promoted the Zipper Merge as described on its website:
“The zipper merge is a late merge strategy where all available lanes of traffic are used right up to the lane closure. Drivers then alternate into the open lane. The zipper merge strategy is most effective when there are high traffic volumes on the road, combined with low average speeds due to congestion.”
On Hwy 401 this late merge while approaching a construction zone is safe because of a relatively low traffic volume.
There is plenty of room to complete this late merge because the traffic volume is low.
While it is believed that persons who approach a closed lane late are doing so to pass other traffic, that conclusion may not be clear when drivers are following the instructions of the Zipper Merge. Confusion and misunderstandings can occur when lane changes need to be made at the last instant without clear guidance as to what speeds are appropriate and which driver has the official right to cross in front of another. These misunderstandings can be sorted out when merging occurs earlier before the situation turns into an emergency.
With respect to speeding, the 469 charges laid by the OPP since June may need to be put into perspective. Recent observations by Gorski Consulting of traffic along Highway 401 between London and Chatham have shown that not a single vehicle was found to be travelling at, or below, the speed limit of 100 km/h. The typical traffic volume along this section of the highway might be in the range of 50,000 vehicles per day. Assuming 5 months of focused patrolling, or about 150 days, this would mean that there were a total of 7.5 million official speeders on Highway 401 but only 469 were charged. One could conclude that the probability of being charged for speeding would be about 0.006 percent!
Is this “99 km/h” speed understood to be speeding? If it was not in a construction zone the OPP might interpret that it is not. But who knows?
Everyone understands that the official speed limit of 100 km/h is not the practical speed limit that is enforced. Observations suggest that the enforced speed limit may be something in the range of 120 km/h, but only the OPP know for sure. But what speed is being enforced within a construction zone? If the speed limit is 80 km/h do the OPP only charge drivers who are travelling at 100 km/h or higher? There would appear to be some confusion surrounding this point.
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