Potential Reduction of Fatal Crashes in South Carolina due to Connected and Automated Vehicles

Description: Traffic fatalities consistently rank South Carolina among the highest rates for fatalities per vehicle miles of travel (VMT) and fatalities per 100,000 population in the United States. Furthermore, South Carolina incurs over 4.5 billion dollars in economic loss annually due to roadway traffic crashes (SCDPS, 2018). In 2018, there were 158,777 reported motor vehicle crashes in South Carolina resulting in 1,034 fatalities and 58,044 injuries. Smart driving technologies have the potential to change the safety paradigm with regard to traffic fatalities. In this research, the investigators propose to study the potential safety impacts of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on fatal crash occurrence in South Carolina. The research team proposes to study how different levels of autonomy and different levels of market penetration of CAVs can reduce certain types of fatal crashes. Intellectual Merit: There has been a tremendous amount of safety research that has been done over the years. While research on safety continues to be at the forefront of transportation research dollars, fatal crash frequency and fatal crash rates are on an upward trend. A new paradigm is needed to really impact safety and make a vision of 0 roadway fatalities a reality. The greatest contributor to fatal crashes (and all crashes for that matter) is by far the driver. Over 90% of crashes and of fatal crashes can be attributed in whole or in part to the driver. Taking the driver out of the equation is the only way to really eliminate or at least dramatically reduce fatal crash incidence in South Carolina (and the US). Definitive research to quantify the reduction in fatal crashes can help to proliferate CAV technologies in the future. Broader Impacts: The overall research goal is to help state departments of transportation (DOTs) dramatically reduce the number and rate of fatal crashes. This will in-turn improve overall safety of the nation’s roads. Other objectives of the proposed research include: (1) identifying how safety-related driving parameters for CAVs differ across varying levels of autonomy; (2) examining how these parameters lead to different crash outcomes (e.g., no crash, non-fatal crash) compared to known fatal crashes from the last three years in SC; (3) identifying CAV capabilities most effective in reducing fatal crashes; (4) identifying future research initiatives related to this initial research work; (5) helping DOTs to establish priorities for infrastructure investments and policies for implementation of CAV capabilities; and (6) influencing automakers to incorporate those CAV capabilities in automobiles that would have the greatest impact on fatal crash rates.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $158163
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747117

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility

  Clemson University
  Clemson, SC  United States  29634

  Clemson University

  110 Lowry Hall
  Box 340911
  Clemson, SC  United States  29634-0911

  The Citadel

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  171 Moultrie Street
  Charleston, SC  United States  29409
• Managing Organizations:

  Clemson University

  110 Lowry Hall
  Box 340911
  Clemson, SC  United States  29634-0911
• Project Managers:

  Sarasua, Wayne

• Performing Organizations:

  Clemson University

  110 Lowry Hall
  Box 340911
  Clemson, SC  United States  29634-0911

  The Citadel

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  171 Moultrie Street
  Charleston, SC  United States  29409
• Principal Investigators:

  Sarasua, Wayne

  Michalaka, Dimitra

  Murray-Tuite, Pamela

  Brown, Kweku

  Ogle, Jennifer

  Davis, William

• Start Date: 20200915
• Expected Completion Date: 20220531
• Actual Completion Date: 20231110
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicles; Connected vehicles; Crash rates; Fatalities; Forecasting; Market penetration
• Geographic Terms: South Carolina
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01838153
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747117
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Mar 6 2022 1:45PM