Virtual Barriers for Mitigating and Preventing Run-off-Road Crashes - Year 3

Approximately 1/3 of more than 30,000 annual traffic fatalities are attributable to vehicle run-off-road (ROR) crashes, and hundreds of thousands of non-fatal ROR crashes occur each year, costing billions of dollars to society in terms of injury (treatment and hospitalization), lost productive work hours, increased traffic congestion, emergency response, reporting, and repairs to infrastructure due to impacts. Roadside safety engineers utilize physical barriers to contain, redirect, or capture errant vehicles to prevent severe interactions with roadside hazards. Some ROR crashes could be prevented with advanced forms of driver-assist technologies. A Virtual Barrier system is proposed, which wirelessly communicates the road geometry and optimal travel path to vehicles. The Virtual Barrier system would consist of a network of sensors and radios which interact with vehicle radios, broadcasting road coordinates, which can minimize the fixed roadside infrastructure which is required. The vehicle guidance systems can then determine if current travel conditions (direction and velocity) are conducive for safely navigating the vehicle in the future, and if not, warn the driver to take action. Once implemented, the Virtual Barrier system should result in ROR crash reduction of approximately 50%, which could save approximately 5,000 lives per year.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $341338
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747107

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

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

  Mid-America Transportation Center

  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2200 Vine Street, PO Box 830851
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0851
• Managing Organizations:

  Mid-America Transportation Center

  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2200 Vine Street, PO Box 830851
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0851
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Nebraska, Lincoln

  Midwest Roadside Safety Facility
  2200 Vine Street, Whittier Building
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0853
• Principal Investigators:

  Stolle, Cody

• Start Date: 20191213
• Expected Completion Date: 20201231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
• Source Data: RiP Project 91994-60

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash avoidance systems; Driver support systems; Ran off road crashes; Sensors; Wireless communication systems
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01739017
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Mid-America Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747107
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: May 12 2020 11:56AM