Collision avoidance at intersections using vehicle detectors and smartphones

Abstract

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 29 and the eighth leading cause of death globally. Accidents at intersections are common, since vehicles approaching the intersection are not always visible to one another. Conventional methods, such as the use of traffic lights, and newer solutions that make use of GPS and VANET are not particularly effective in India for reasons of adaptability, accuracy, cost and availability. Our solution promises to be both inexpensive and effective in India. We propose to install a few inexpensive vehicle detectors (VDs) near intersections. When a vehicle approaches the intersection, it will pass the VDs sequentially which will then transmit their unique IDs to a smartphone in the vehicle. The smartphone will transmit the VDs' IDs and relevant kinematic data to a base station at the intersection. Thus, the base station can accurately compute the times when vehicles are expected at the intersection. In the event of a potential collision, the base station will transmit a warning to the smartphones of the concerned drivers.