Review of Research on Road Traffic Operation Risk Prevention and Control

Road traffic safety can be ensured by preventing and controlling the potential risks in road traffic operations. The relevant literature was systematically reviewed to identify the research context and status quo in the road traffic operation risk prevention and control field and identify the key study contents needing further research. As research material, the related English and Chinese literature published between 1996 and 2021 (as of 31st December 2021) was obtained through the Web of Science Core Collection and Chinese Science Citation Database. These research materials include 22,403 English and 7876 Chinese papers. Based on the bibliometrics, this study used CiteSpace software to conduct keyword co-occurrence analysis in the field. The results show that the relevant research topics mainly covered the risks of drivers, vehicles, roads, and the traffic environment. In the aspect of driver risks, the studies focused on driving behavior characteristics. In terms of vehicle risks, the related studies were mainly about the vehicle control system, driving assistance system, hazardous material transportation, automated driving technology, safe driving speed, and vehicle collision prediction. For the road risks, the safe driving guarantee of high-risk road sections, driving risks at intersections, and safe road alignment design were the three study hotspots. In terms of traffic environment risks, identifying traffic risk locations and driving safety guarantees under adverse weather conditions were the two main research highlights. Moreover, mathematical modeling was the main method for studying road traffic operation risk. Furthermore, the impact of environmental factors on drivers, the emergency rescue system for road traffic accidents, the connection between automated driving technology and safe driving theory, and the man–machine hybrid traffic flow characteristics are the subjects needing further research.