AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS RELATED TO RAILROAD GRADE CROSSINGS -- A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF TOPOGRAPHY AND A COMPUTER -- GRAPHICS DISPLAY OF TRAFFIC FLOW

AN EXISTING COMPUTER SIMULATON OF VEHICLE DYNAMICS IN SINGLE VEHICLE ACCIDENTS (REFERENCE 1) HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO BE MORE SUITABLE FOR APPLICATION TO A STUDY OF THE DYNAMICS OF AUTOMOBILES TRAVERSING REPRESENTATIVE RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING TOPOGRAPHIES. DETAILED PROFILES OF ACTUAL GRADE CROSSINGS, AS MEASURED WITHIN THE RESEARCH PROGRAM, ARE USED AS INPUTS TO THE MODIFIED COMPUTER PROGRAM. SEVERAL VEHICLE SPEEDS ARE SIMULATED ON EACH CROSSING TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF TRAVELING SPEEDS ON VEHICLE RESPONSES. TOPOGRAPHIC DATA FOR REPRESENTATIVE RAILROAD GRADE CROSSINGS ARE PRESENTED IN DETAIL. THE DATA WERE COLLECTED FOR TWO PURPOSES, WHICH ARE REFLECTED IN THE EXTENT OF INCLUDED DETAIL: (1) TO MAKE AN INVENTORY OF THE GROSS TOPOGRAPHY OF APPROXIMATELY 100 RURAL RAILROAD GRADE CROSSINGS IN WESTERN NEW YORK, AND (2) TO PROVIDE DETAILED TOPOGRAPHICAL DATA ON SEVERAL RAILROAD CROSSINGS SELECTED FOR COMPUTER SIMULATION STUDIES. A COMPUTER-GRAPHICS DISPLAY PROGRAM, DEVELOPED FOR APPLICATION TO A BPR ANALYTICAL SIMULATION OF TRAFFIC FLOW, IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. THE DISPLAY INCLUDES A NUMBER OF HIGHWAY VEHICLES AND A RAILROAD TRAIN IN THE VICINITY OF A RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING. SAMPLE OUTPUTS OF THE DISPLAY PROGRAM ARE PRESENTED. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 229 Pp, 20 TAB, 22 FIG, 5 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory

  Transportation Research Department
  Buffalo, NY  United States 
• Publication Date: 1969-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Graphics; Information display systems; Information processing; Inventory; Railroad grade crossings; Rural areas; Simulation; Speed; Topography; Traffic crashes; Vehicle dynamics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Graphical analysis; Motor vehicle accidents
• Old TRIS Terms: Displays
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225607
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Report/Paper Numbers: No. CAL-VJ-2251-V4
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 4 1970 12:00AM