Roadway Safety Tools for Local Agencies (2003)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

57 APPENDIX E Crash Analysis Software PC-Crash from MacInnis Engineering Associates (www.maceng.com) PC-Crash is a Windows collision and trajectory simulation tool that enables the accurate analysis of a wide variety of motor vehicle collisions and other incidents. Results are presented true-to-scale and in the form of clear reports, tables, diagrams, and 3-D animations. From the website you can download the software, order it, and view demos of 3-D simulations created with the program. A product tour is also available. The site offers access to a crash database as well. Price: $1,995.00 for the 2-D version of the software $4,895.00 for the 3-D version PC-Rect from MacInnis Engineering Associates (www.maceng.com) PC-Rect is a 2-D photogrammetry program for rectification of photographs. It converts oblique scene photographs pixel-by- pixel into scaled plan views. From the plan view, users can then measure in-plane distances and angles of accident scene evidence. This program can be ordered from the MacInnis website. Price: $995.00 CARE (Critical Analysis Reporting Environment) from the University of Alabama (http://care.cs.ua.edu/) CARE is a sophisticated analytical tool that has been specifically developed for accident countermeasure problem identifica- tion and evaluation. This software is free and available to download from the CARE site. The site allows you to view data submitted by the state of Alabama using the CARE software. Price: Free to download from the CARE site. Highway Safety Analysis Software V. 2.2 (www.x32group.com/HSA_Soft.html) HSA Software is a computer program for conducting traffic accident investigations on major highways and local roads. The program organizes crash data by categories, types, and locations to reveal existing accident patterns and develop road safety improvements. There is a free demo available on the website, as well as more information regarding the software’s capabilities. Sample diagrams from the program may also be viewed. Price: $500 per one single user license and $250 for each additional license. Multiuser licenses are also available (contact the site for details). A 50% discount is offered for government agencies, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

58 M-SMAC from McHenry Software (http://www.mchenrysoftware.com/msmac.htm) SMAC is a time-domain mathematical model in which the vehicles are represented by differential equations derived from Newtonian mechanics combined with empirical relationships for some components (e.g., crush properties and tires) that are solved for successive time increments by digital integration. The website offers more information on the capabilities of the program as well as demos of crashes reconstructed with their software. Price: $1,650 for a 1-year license HVE (Human Vehicle Environment) from Engineering Dynamics Corporation (http://www.edccorp.com/products.html) Engineering Dynamics Corporation (EDC) offers a variety of software applications for virtual testing. HVE (Human Vehicle Environment) is a software package that is available in 2-D and 3-D versions. EDC also offers a number of physics programs that are compatible with HVE to do tests such as commercial vehicle simulations, passenger vehicle simulations, and human impact simulator. The site also offers demos of simulations created with their software. Price: No price is available for any of EDC’s software from its website. The website does give contact numbers where pricing is available. V-TRAX from Rec-Tec (http://www.rec-tec.com/default.htm#REC-TEC) V-TRAX allows for the introduction of individual distances, perception–reaction times, angles, lateral acceleration factors, and other information to generate a scale animation of the incident. The program allows tracking for four objects drawn to scale to show the time and space relationship between the vehicles. Acceleration/deceleration, approach angles, and distance can all be modified and observed within the program. Rec-Tec also offers a variety of other software packages that are similar to V-TRAX. More information about these packages and V-TRAX is available on the website, as well as the numbers of people to contact with questions. Price: Prices for Rec-Tec software and software packages are available from the website. A single license for Rec-Tec costs $750. WinSMAC from ARSoftware (http://www.arsoftware.com/arsw/prod.htm) WinSMAC is a prediction–simulation program that is based on the original SMAC. It completes the reconstruction process. WinSMAC allows the user to test assumptions and validate solutions obtained by traditional reconstruction techniques. ARSoftware also offers a variety of programs to complement WinSMAC as well. These programs may be viewed at the website, as well as sample reports for the WinSMAC program. Price: $769.00

59 AIMS from JMW Engineering (http://www.jmwengineering.com) Accident Information Management System (AIMS) is the first GIS accident software with 3-D mapping. With this software, you can manage millions of accident records with the AIMS database system for data management. Accidents can be dis- played on a map in 3 dimensions with the software’s GIS system for mapping. You can retrieve data by clicking areas on the map or by querying and sorting. With the AIMS software you can also analyze intersection and nonintersection accidents; customize accident reports and summaries by adding texts, symbols, lines, and curves; display results in bar, pie, area, or line graphs; and export data/results to other software. Price: For 1 to 4 users, $3,280 (up to 50,000 records); $4,280 (up to 2 million records); $2,000 for each additional user. Intersection Magic from Pd’ Programming Inc. (http://www.pdprog.com/im/index.cfm) Intersection Magic is an MS Windows-based PC application for crash records analysis. It generates automated collision dia- grams, pin maps of high accident locations, high accident location lists, frequency reports, presentation graphics (e.g., crashes by time of day or month of year) and much more. Intersection Magic has been used by jurisdictions across the country to reduce their accident counts, accident severity, and exposure to lawsuits. Intersection Magic’s support for node-based systems, milepost systems, intersections, and corridors makes it the only software package designed with the needs of state DOTs, counties, and local agencies in mind. Intersection Magic provides analysis at the macro or micro level. It provides access to data from individual crashes all the way to jurisdiction-wide pin maps. Intersection Magic is a tool for transportation planners, traffic engineers, and others involved in crash records analysis and safety planning. Price: Depends on the size of the city, with quotes available for county or state DOTs as well as statewide licenses. For details visit http://www.pdprog.com/im/sales/pricing.cfm. Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) by FHWA (http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/ihsdm/ihsdm.htm) IHSDM is a road safety evaluation software package that marshals available knowledge about safety into a more useful form for highway planners and designers. The FHWA has been developing IHSDM with initial focus on two-lane rural highways. The 2003 release of IHSDM for two- lane rural highways is now available for testing and evaluation purposes. IHSDM consists of several modules: crash prediction, design consistency, driver/vehicle, intersection review, policy review, and traffic analysis modules are all part of the software package. For more information on these individual modules, go to the website listed above. Price: IHSDM is free to download from their website at: http://216.161.62.248/ihsdm_public/index.html.