VTTI’s Center for Sustainable Mobility (CSM) is saving lives by: a) developing microscopic crash prediction models for the safety assessment of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) applications; b) integrating these safety models with microscopic traffic simulation software; c) designing traffic signal yellow times to reduce vehicle crashes at signalized intersections; d) assessing the safety impacts of access management strategies and designing guidelines for access spacings in the vicinity of highway ramps; e) detecting driver distraction using on-board vehicle data to reduce vehicle crashes; f) assessing the safety impacts of adaptive cruise control (ACC) and forward collision warning (FCW) systems; g) assessing the safety impacts of electronic stability program (ESP) systems on trucks; and h) developing safe and ecological optimal vehicle control systems. According to center director Hesham Rakha, CSM can develop crash prediction models to quantify the network-wide safety impacts of such systems.
Rakha believes that future research will focus on travelers, and their potential to impact transportation. Using smartphones, people can assist in collecting data that can be a factor in saving lives.
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