Ingenieur Vol.70 Apr-June 2017 ingenieur Apr-June 2017-FA | Page 28

INGENIEUR Development of Road Attribute Data Logger and Inspection System for Road Safety Assessment By Alvin Poi Wai Hoong, Lawrence Cheng Kah Loon, Hoo Jean Ea, Nusayba Megat Johari, Dr Soo Yew Guan, Dr Lim Kim Chuan, Dr Siti Zaharah Ishak L osing the lives of our family members due to road accidents is an experience no one would ever want to live with, more so when we know that it could have been prevented. The aims of road risk management include protecting users from being exposed to hazards, minimizing the severity of injuries in the event of a crash, as well as safeguarding owners against legal action. Many developed countries are now championing the Safe Systems approach, a road safety concept which acknowledges that humans do make mistakes but should not deserve to die from road accidents [1]. Road Assessment Programmes (RAPs) have been in existence since the early 2000s in a few developed countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the United States where new inspection methodologies have been adopted [2]. Consequently, many low and middle income countries are now implementing RAPs where low cost countermeasure programmes are being identified and implemented. An inspection system consisting of vehicle survey and data coding software is required to collect and analyse road inventory data. The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) in collaboration with Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and Recogine 6 26 VOL 2017 VOL 70 55 APRIL-JUNE JUNE 2013 Technology Sdn Bhd has developed a road survey system called the Road Attribute Data Logger & Inspection System (RADIS). RADIS is a data collection system consisting of video recording and data processing systems which can be divided into four sub-systems as follows: 1. A video recording system consisting of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for video imaging and GPS coordinate capture, display and record. 2. A client and server based GPS coordinates streaming system. 3. A calibration system of the image for road width measurement. 4. A system to measure road geometric parameters. The first two systems are designed to capture and process high-definition images along with respective GPS data while the third and fourth systems were developed with the necessary function of viewing and measuring road attributes. Besides incorporating on-screen measuring capability, the system is also designed to collect and process road gradient and radius of curvature data to aid in assessment activity. With these, the element of subjectivity in assessment is eliminated, thus maintaining consistent assessment results from different people.