Due to many challenging issues in vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs), such as high mobility and network instability, this has led to insecurity and vulnerability to attacks. Due to dynamic network topology changes and frequent network re-configuration, security is a major target in VANET research domains. VANETs have gained significant attention in the current wireless network scenario, due to their exclusive characteristics which are different from other wireless networks such as rapid link failure and high vehicle mobility. In this are, the authors present a Secured and Safety Protocol for VANET (STVAN), as an intelligent Ad-Hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV)-based routing mechanism that prevents the Denial of Service attack (DoS) and improves the quality of service for secured communications in a VANET. In order to build a STVAN, the authors have considered a smart traffic environment in a smart city and introduced the concept of load balancing over VANET vehicles in a best effort manner. Simulation results reveal that the proposed STVAN accomplishes enhanced performance when compared with other similar protocols in terms of reduced delay, better packet delivery ratio, reasonable energy efficiency, increased network throughput and decreased data drop compared to other similar approach.