The Safe Driver

What connected cars will mean for road safety

As written for The safe Driver by Rosie Allabarton.

When thinking about what kind of car we are going to drive, for many of us irrespective of the paintwork, brand or even cost, safety is perhaps our greatest concern.

If it’s not then it should be. With more than 1.25 million deaths around the world caused by traffic accidents every single year, road accidents are an all too real part of life. We’ve all experienced those heart-in-throat moments behind the wheel or in the passenger seat where our proximity to another vehicle or pedestrian was a little too close for comfort. Chances are you’ve been in some kind of traffic accident yourself at some point.

With more than half of road-related deaths affecting “vulnerable road users” like pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists even those who choose to stay off the road are affected in a very real way by the driving choices and errors of others. Unless something significant changes soon, and permanently, road traffic crashes are predicted to become the world’s seventh leading cause of death by 2030.

One of the changes we can expect to see more of over the coming five to ten years that will seriously contribute to overall road safety is the emergence of more connected vehicles on our roads.

Sensors and “talking” vehicles

There are numerous ways in which connected vehicles can improve the safety of drivers, passengers and vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.

One of the key changes we can expect is the installation of sensory equipment in connected cars as a means of accident prevention. Although this is not commonplace yet, the implementation of this technology is not as far off as we might think. In the US alone, it is likely to soon become compulsory for all new vehicles to have sensory equipment built-in as a matter of course.

Sensory equipment such as radar and lidar sensors combined with connected technology will be a key measure in the reduction of collisions on our roads. Despite being often associated with self-driving cars, when sensors are installed into smart vehicles which are not self-driving they work as an aid or assistant to the driver, correcting human errors as we drive.

What kind of technology can we expect?

Looking to the immediate future it’s likely we will see radar sensors installed into vehicles to enable the car to register the position of other vehicles nearby. Similarly, lidar sensors will be able to detect the edges of roads, where the pavement begins and ends and identify lane markings like yellow lines. In the wheels ultrasonic sensors will aid the driver when parking as these will detect the position of curbs and other parked vehicles during what can sometimes be a tricky maneuver. Video cameras to detect traffic lights, read road signs and support the tracking of other vehicles will be even more prevalent. Finally we can expect a centralized computer analysis of all the data coming in via these sophisticated sensors to inform the vehicle of adjustments needed in steering, acceleration and braking.

The key thing to note here is not just the existence of sensors and surveillance equipment built into the vehicles, it’s the vehicles’ use of this information to prevent accidents. A radar which can detect an oncoming obstacle that has not been seen by the driver is of no use if the car cannot then use that information to either prevent a collision or alert the driver. That’s where the ‘smart’ part comes in.

If a situation were to arise whereby two cars are headed for a collision because one or both drivers is not paying adequate attention, the cars themselves could identify the proximity and speed of the other vehicle via the numerous sensors and avoid that accident by applying the brakes, slowing down, or taking a different route. The cars would be communicating with each other on their movements and speeds, and would therefore be aware well before the drivers that an accident is imminent and therefore be able to avoid it.

It was recently reported that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has put forward a proposal to make it a legal requirement for cars to be able to “talk” to each other. Assuming the law gets approved in 2019 as planned, carmakers will be required to begin building vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology into their cars in 2021, which would see all new cars equipped with the technology by 2023. Regulations such as these have the potential to make our roads considerably safer places to be for both car drivers and pedestrians.

V2I technology and road safety

Vehicle-to-infrastructure communication (also known as V2I or v2i) is the technology that enables information sharing between elements of a road or city infrastructure and the vehicles within that vicinity. Elements of a city or country’s infrastructure which could potentially be connected to vehicles include overhead RFID readers and cameras, traffic lights, lane markers, streetlights, signage and parking meters. The communication technology used for V2I is wireless and in essence very similar to vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication due to the use of short range communication frequencies to transfer data over an ad hoc network. It works the same way when transferring data from the vehicle to the infrastructure.

With connected technology in cars soon to become the norm for new car models and V2I technology being built into the foundations of our towns and cities how will V2I increase road safety?

 With V2I sensors, data about the infrastructure can be provided to passengers and drivers in real time, whether that is displayed on the dashboard or appears as a warning in the rearview mirror. The sort of changes we can expect from this new technology could be warnings about traffic congestion, road conditions, accidents, building works and hazards. More mundane but useful pieces of information like the weather and parking availability in your area could also be easily sent to your car.

With changes about our surrounding infrastructure and environment brought straight to our dashboards, the experience of drivers, passengers, vulnerable road users and pedestrians is likely to become a much safer one. Drivers will be aware of excessive or unusual traffic patterns and can therefore avoid them.

Similarly with dramatic or unpredictable weather or road conditions, busy spots or unusual events the driver is fully informed and therefore better positioned to respond.

If a driver is driving close to a primary school when children are being picked up, he or she will be made aware of the potential risks of children in the road, or lots of cars parked in a small area and know to be extra vigilant or to avoid the area. Similarly, rather than a road accident causing tailbacks and traffic jams drivers in the area will receive updates on the situation in real time and be able to find other routes without potentially making the situation worse.

As we have seen from the examples in this article, the future of driving is looking to be a much safer place thanks to connected vehicles both in and of themselves and in combination with the city and town infrastructure that supports them. If, as promised, governments commit to enforcing connected technology in vehicles then we can all look forward to smoother, more efficient journeys which are ultimately safer for drivers, passengers and vulnerable road users alike.

Rosie Allabarton is a writer and editor for HIGH MOBILITY, a unique platform where developers can build, test and publish their connected car apps using a standardised connected car API.