What Does the Future Hold?
While state DOTs work to improve the infrastructure that exists today, the future will bring tremendous innovation in the areas of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) that will change the way we drive.
AASHTO, U.S. DOT, and the automobile industry have been working cooperatively to advance promising technologies in both the public and private sectors to help prevent crashes as well as to mitigate the consequences of crashes that do occur. In addition, cooperative efforts between automobile manufacturers and the public operational agencies are seeking ways to prevent intersection collisions and warn drivers of potentially hazardous conditions.
Efforts in the automobile industry are bringing 360-degree awareness to motor vehicles. This awareness will deliver information to the driver regarding vehicles in blind spot locations for lane changing. Vehicles approaching intersections will be made aware of vehicles approaching from other directions and estimates of vehicles’ trajectories will be made available as warnings when appropriate.
Nissan's "Safety Shield" Concept applies a zone-of-safety approach for driver protection. Source: Nissan.
Nissan has laid out a zone-of-safety approach called the “Safety Shield,” which seeks to maintain safe driving, return vehicles to safe driving when necessary, and reduce injuries in crashes. Other manufacturers are following similar practices. Some of the technologies being made available in each of these areas include the following:
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Maintain safe driving through such technologies as lane-departure warnings, blind spot warnings, and adaptive cruise control. Providing information on road conditions ahead such as icy roads will also contribute to safer driving.
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Return vehicle to safe driving through lane-departure warnings and electronic vehicle stability control.
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Reduce injuries in crashes through seat belt tightening and automatic braking, as well as post-crash automated collision notification to emergency responders.
At the 2005 ITS World Congress in San Francisco, General Motors and BMW demonstrated vehicle-to-vehicle communications for both warnings and automated braking. BMW demonstrated a vehicle-to-vehicle warning of a slippery road ahead, allowing the following vehicle to prepare for these conditions. General Motors demonstrated vehicle-to-vehicle communications regarding the position of other vehicles in the driver’s blind spot for lane-changing alerts, as well as automated braking when a vehicle approached another in a collision trajectory. These applications have been enhanced and refined over the past three years and will be demonstrated at the 2008 ITS World Congress in New York.
Driver using vehicle stability control over icy roadway and
broadcasting message to nearby vehicles demonstrates the
safety potential of ITS applications. Source: BMW.
Lane-departure warning system showing camera tracking lane markings is an ITS safety application. Source: Nissan.
BMW is also actively developing safety applications, including night vision, to enhance driver awareness of pedestrians and animals on the road that are outside the range of normal vision.
Cooperative efforts between the U.S. DOT, the automobile manufacturers, and the state transportation agencies include exploring a group of safety applications that prepare to reduce or even eliminate crashes. These applications include the following:
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Traffic Signal Violation Warning: This application calls for VII-equipped traffic signals to broadcast their phase status (i.e., red, yellow, or green) to all VII-equipped vehicles approaching the intersection. Processors within the vehicle can use the signal information, combined with the vehicle speed and location, and the location and speed of nearby vehicles, to warn the driver of a potentially dangerous situation.
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Stop Sign Violation Warning: In this application, a high-speed roadside communication device broadcasts the precise location of stop signs to surrounding vehicles. Like the traffic signal violation warning application, processors on the vehicle can use this information, combined with the vehicle speed and location, to warn the driver of a potential stop sign violation.
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Driver Assistance at Intersections: The VII system has the potential to assist drivers with dangerous maneuvers at intersections, such as making turns onto a busy roadway. The system can help drivers find an adequate “gap” between vehicles traveling on the crossing facility to make a turn or cross the roadway. This type of assistance is particularly beneficial at high-speed rural intersections without signals, and for drivers making left turns at signals without a protected left-turn phase.
"Night Visions" dashboard feature illuminates potential hazards. Source: BMW.
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Curve Speed Warning: This application would broadcast precise roadway geometry and road condition information to vehicles approaching a curve. The vehicle could then use this information, combined with an awareness of its own speed and location, to warn the driver if he or she is approaching the curve too fast.
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Electronic Brake Warning: This application calls for VII-equipped vehicles to immediately broadcast a “hard braking” message whenever the vehicle’s deceleration rate exceeds a pre-set limit. Other vehicles in the vicinity receive this anonymous message and, if appropriate, warn the driver that a vehicle ahead is stopped or is decelerating quickly. This application will help prevent vehicle pile-ups that sometimes occur when a vehicle in fast-moving traffic suddenly makes a panic stop.
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In-Vehicle Signage: This application is focused on broadcasting various warnings and signing information to motorists at appropriate times and locations. A VII-equipped vehicle can use this information, combined with an awareness of its own location, speed and heading, to display messages to the driver. Examples of in-vehicle signage include: work zone warnings, speed limit warnings, vehicle size or weight warnings, one-way street or “no entrance” warnings, and numerous other infrastructure signage.
In both California and Michigan, ITS Test Beds are testing the operation of intersection collision avoidance technologies in cooperation with the automobile industry and the U.S. DOT.
In California, this Test Bed demonstrates In-Vehicle Signal Information.
Source: CalTrans and the PATH Program at the University of California
at Berkeley.
Proof of Concept Test Bed in Michigan.
Source: Michigan DOT.
Continuing the cooperative investments by the U.S. DOT and the independent investments by the automobile manufacturers will produce a far safer road environment in the future. The Volpe Institute estimates that over $40 billion in net benefits from intersection collision and curve speed warnings applications could be realized over a forty-year time period. AASHTO’s continued partnership in these efforts with the automobile industry and U.S. DOT will help to ensure that these promises become reality.
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication can improve intersection safety, in-vehicle signaling, and electronic payments. Source: BMW.
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