PhD in How to Make Interaction between Cyclists and Other Road Users SAFER

Information about the research/the project/the division
The scientists in the group Accident Prevention in the Vehicle Safety division (Department of Applied Mechanics) conduct world-leading research on topics ranging from normal driving to the antecedents of vehicle crashes and incidents, to the safety impact of in-vehicle active safety systems. Much of our research involves the design, collection, and analysis of data collected naturalistically, that is, data collected in vehicles that are driven by people in their daily lives. The data range from videos of the driver and her surroundings to GPS and in-vehicle time-history records of steering angles, brake pedal positions, accelerations etc. 

We have strong ties to the Swedish automotive industry and are participating in national and international projects (EU, US and Japan). A recent research focus has been the development of methods for collecting, storing and accessing the naturalistic data, in addition to more basic analysis methodological issues for this type of data. This effort has generated terabytes of data ready for unique in-depth analyses.

The research and position
In the last decades the majority of bicycle-safety research has been focused on accidents between bicycles and motor-vehicles, despite the fact that most of the bicycle accidents (approx. 70%) are single-bicycle accidents. Single-bicycle accidents are crashes in which the cyclist does not collide with another road user. Interestingly, it is still unknown 1) the extent to which single-bicycle accidents originate from poor interaction between the cyclist and the other road users and 2) whether single-bicycle accidents are the pure consequence of a successful avoidance maneuver (e.g. a cyclist loosing balance after serving in order not to hit a car which had suddenly crossed the bicycle lane). New studies suggest that cyclists are more likely to be in danger where the interaction with other road users is more frequent and quicker. Results show that even if motorized vehicles may be perceived as the main threat, interaction with other road users (including pedestrians and other cyclists) is also very important for safety. A number of factors concur to a safe interaction among road users, including road user impairment (e.g. distraction and inattention) and infrastructures inadequacy (e.g. low visibility and poor road maintenance). 

Thus, the aim of this PhD project is to investigate the interaction between cyclists and other road users in order to determine the underlying mechanisms that make this interaction safe or unsafe from a 1) road user behavior, 2) bicycle dynamics, and 3) infrastructure perspective. This project will utilize naturalistic data (collected from bicycles and motorized vehicle) in combination with other road safety data such as accident databases and exposure data to identify risk factors and suggest evidence-based countermeasures to bicycle accidents.

Major responsibilities
- Carrying out research activities
- Collaboration with industry national and international research partners 
- Being awarded at least 67.5 education credits (typically from PhD and Master courses)
- Teaching (or equivalent) 20% 

Position summary
Host institution: Chalmers University of Technology
Postion: PhD Student.
Objectives: to determine the underlying mechanisms that make the interaction between bicyclists and other road users safe or unsafe from a 1) road user behavior, 2) bicycle dynamics, and 3) infrastructure perspective.
Tasks: Conduct theoretical and empirical research with the aim to understand bicycle safety.
Methodology: Analysis of naturalistic bicycling data, as well as planning and performing minor complementary controlled experiments.

Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications




• English language: It is a requirement that fellows will be able to express themselves in English at a high level. 

• To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a relevant field.

• You are either 1) an engineer with a clear interest in the understanding of human behavior, or 2) a behavioral scientist with formal training in the topics needed for eligibility as a PhD student at Chalmers (contact us for more information) and extensive experience in working with time-series data.

• You are skilled in the practical use of analysis tools such as Matlab, and skills including advanced statistics and/or a programming background are advantageous. 

• Preferably you have experience working in the traffic safety domain, and more specifically with time-series data related to traffic safety.  
The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Application deadline: 2014-03-12

For questions, please contact:
PhD Marco Dozza, Vehicle Safety/Accident Prevention
E-mail: marco.dozza@chalmers.se
Phone: +46-31-772 3621

Jonas Bärgman, Vehicle Safety/Accident Prevention
E-mail: jonas.bargman@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31-772 5846




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