Vehicle-to-Pedestrian Communication for Vulnerable Road Users: Survey, Design Considerations, and Challenges

In the last few years, increasing attention has been provided to research Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) communication systems. These V2P systems serve different purposes (safety or convenience) and cater to different Vulnerable Road User (VRU) groups. Also, these V2P systems employ different communication technologies, and use different mechanisms to interact with the users. An effective V2P system also needs to consider varying characteristics of different VRUs. These various elements may be considered as design parameters of the V2P system. In this paper, we discuss such elements and propose a design framework for the V2P system based on them. We also provide an extensive survey of existing V2P efforts for safety and convenience applications and their design considerations. We perform a case study that compares the different approaches of V2P safety system for different VRU groups under different pre-crash scenarios. Finally, we discuss a few technological challenges in integration of VRUs into V2X systems.

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Integrating Communication with Conspicuity to Enhance Vulnerable Road User Safety: ArroWhere Case Study

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11102761 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 2761

Author(s):

Takuro Shoji ◽

Gordon Lovegrove

Keyword(s):

Traffic Control ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Road User ◽

Communication Aids ◽

Safety Measures ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users ◽

Control Devices

This paper presents findings from a research study into the role that communication plays in the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs), including a literature review, a hypothesis, and a case study testing our hypothesis. Many governments and road authorities lack capital or have not made it a priority to implement full VRU safety measures, with many gaps in VRU infrastructure and networks. These gaps leave VRUs to take safety into their own hands, including use of conspicuity aids such as high-visibility wear, helmets, bells, and lights with differing levels of effectiveness. The knowledge gap regarding the conventional wisdom, “be safe, be seen,” is the absence of communication and comprehension between road users (VRUs and vehicles). We hypothesize that communication aids are equally, if not more important than visibility aids for VRU safety. A case study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of several Hi-Viz safety vest designs including online surveys and separate in-field experiments using Instrumented Probe Bicycles. The results suggest that Hi-Viz safety vests using arrow designs (ArroWhere’s proprietary products and designs) similar to those found in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) can increase VRU safety until road authorities can fully fund and complete proper and sustainable VRU networks.

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Autonomous Vehicles and Vulnerable Road-Users—Important Considerations and Requirements Based on Crash Data from Two Countries

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs11070101 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 101

Author(s):

Andrew Paul Morris ◽

Narelle Haworth ◽

Ashleigh Filtness ◽

Daryl-Palma Asongu Nguatem ◽

Laurie Brown ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Red Light ◽

Road User ◽

Red Light Running ◽

Crash Data ◽

Passenger Vehicles ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users ◽

Road Intersections

(1) Background: Passenger vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) functionalities are becoming more prevalent within vehicle fleets. However, the full effects of offering such systems, which may allow for drivers to become less than 100% engaged with the task of driving, may have detrimental impacts on other road-users, particularly vulnerable road-users, for a variety of reasons. (2) Crash data were analysed in two countries (Great Britain and Australia) to examine some challenging traffic scenarios that are prevalent in both countries and represent scenarios in which future connected and autonomous vehicles may be challenged in terms of safe manoeuvring. (3) Road intersections are currently very common locations for vulnerable road-user accidents; traffic flows and road-user behaviours at intersections can be unpredictable, with many vehicles behaving inconsistently (e.g., red-light running and failure to stop or give way), and many vulnerable road-users taking unforeseen risks. (4) Conclusions: The challenges of unpredictable vulnerable road-user behaviour at intersections (including road-users violating traffic or safe-crossing signals, or taking other risks) combined with the lack of knowledge of CAV responses to intersection rules, could be problematic. This could be further compounded by changes to nonverbal communication that currently exist between road-users, which could become more challenging once CAVs become more widespread.

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Method to Assess and Enhance Vulnerable Road User Safety during Impact Loading

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app9051000 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 1000 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Mariusz Ptak

Keyword(s):

Traffic Safety ◽

Head Injuries ◽

Road User ◽

Road Accidents ◽

Safety Requirements ◽

Interesting Insight ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

History Of ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

Every year approximately 1.35 million people die as a consequence of road accidents. Almost 50% of road fatalities are vulnerable road users (VRUs). This research reviews the history of traffic safety for VRUs, presents an interesting insight into the statistics and evaluates the current legislation in Europe for pedestrians, cyclists, children on bicycle-mounted seats and motorcyclists in terms of impact situations and applied criteria. This enabled the author to have a better perspective on how the VRUs’ safety is currently verified. Furthermore, the VRU safety requirements are contrasted with the author’s research, which is mainly focused on VRU’s head biomechanics and kinematics. Finally, a new coherent method is presented, which encompasses the sub-groups of VRUs and proposes some improvements to both the regulations as well as technical countermeasures to mitigate the injuries during an impact. This study highlights the importance of numerical methods, which can serve as a powerful tool to study VRUs’ head injuries and kinematics.

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Cooperative Multi-Sensor Tracking of Vulnerable Road Users in the Presence of Missing Detections

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20174817 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (17) ◽

pp. 4817

Author(s):

Martin Dimitrievski ◽

David Van Hamme ◽

Peter Veelaert ◽

Wilfried Philips

Keyword(s):

Temporal Integration ◽

Tracking Performance ◽

Road User ◽

Fusion Algorithm ◽

Multiple Control ◽

Sensor Model ◽

Road Users ◽

Noise Characteristics ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

This paper presents a vulnerable road user (VRU) tracking algorithm capable of handling noisy and missing detections from heterogeneous sensors. We propose a cooperative fusion algorithm for matching and reinforcing of radar and camera detections using their proximity and positional uncertainty. The belief in the existence and position of objects is then maximized by temporal integration of fused detections by a multi-object tracker. By switching between observation models, the tracker adapts to the detection noise characteristics making it robust to individual sensor failures. The main novelty of this paper is an improved imputation sampling function for updating the state when detections are missing. The proposed function uses a likelihood without association that is conditioned on the sensor information instead of the sensor model. The benefits of the proposed solution are two-fold: firstly, particle updates become computationally tractable and secondly, the problem of imputing samples from a state which is predicted without an associated detection is bypassed. Experimental evaluation shows a significant improvement in both detection and tracking performance over multiple control algorithms. In low light situations, the cooperative fusion outperforms intermediate fusion by as much as 30%, while increases in tracking performance are most significant in complex traffic scenes.

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Applying the Twilight Envelope to the Forensic Analysis of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Conspicuity in the Dark

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931213601603 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 479-483

Author(s):

Stephanie A. Whetsel Borzendowski ◽

Alan O. Campbell

Keyword(s):

Forensic Analysis ◽

Road User ◽

Future Research ◽

Traffic Crashes ◽

Traffic Crash ◽

Selective Degradation ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Artificial Illumination ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

The large majority of traffic crashes involving vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists occur when ambient illumination levels are reduced. The difficulty drivers face in recognizing the presence of these road users in the darkness can be attributed to the selective degradation of foveal visual functions, which support a driver’s ability to detect and identify the presence of potential hazards and other objects in the environment. Clothing worn by pedestrians and bicyclists can contribute to their conspicuity to oncoming drivers; extensive research has demonstrated that dark-clothing-clad pedestrians are often recognized at dangerously short distances. Vehicle headlamps serve to illuminate the path ahead for drivers, particularly in the absence of artificial illumination along the roadway, in order to improve driver visibility in the dark. The twilight envelope is a means of determining the visibility distance afforded by headlamps. This approach to describing illumination was applied to the analysis of a traffic crash involving a vulnerable road user, providing insight into the driver’s visibility. Future research should address the relationship between the twilight envelope of vehicle headlamps and the distance at which drivers are able to recognize potential hazards such as pedestrians and bicyclists using those headlamps.

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An Analysis of Vulnerable Road Users Overtaking Maneuver along the Urban Road

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11146361 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (14) ◽

pp. 6361

Author(s):

Manh Dung Vu ◽

Hirofumi Aoki ◽

Tatsuya Suzuki ◽

Sueharu Nagiri ◽

Quy Hung Nguyen Van ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Driving Simulator ◽

Road User ◽

Initial Speed ◽

Automotive Safety ◽

The Road ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Lane Width ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

This paper discusses driving styles while overtaking a vulnerable road user who moves along the shoulder in urban roads. Based on the data obtained from an experiment in pre-defined conditions (combinations of four main effects: vehicle’s initial speed, lane width of the road, vulnerable road users’ type, and location in the shoulder) with an immersive driving simulator, we analyzed four different driving styles of drivers while approaching and passing the objects. It is shown that drivers took avoidance maneuvers even if there was no clear risk of collision to vulnerable road users. The results showed that the drivers tended to have a unique perception about the lateral passing gap and overtaking strategy with two worth notice groups: overcaution drivers and reckless drivers. The road characteristic has a statistically significant effect for all types of drivers. Moreover, the effect of the vehicle’s initial speed on overtaking strategy and the effect of vulnerable road user location on minimum lateral passing gap are statistically significant. The findings provide some implications for the development of automotive safety systems that can reduce the risk of overtaking maneuvers in urban areas.

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Road Safety Analysis of Urban Roads: Case Study of an Italian Municipality

Safety ◽

10.3390/safety4040058 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 58 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Francesca Demasi ◽

Giuseppe Loprencipe ◽

Laura Moretti

Keyword(s):

Road Safety ◽

Hazard Index ◽

Traffic Volume ◽

Analytical Methodology ◽

The Road ◽

Risk Of Death ◽

Road Users ◽

Homogeneous Section ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

Attention to the most vulnerable road users has grown rapidly over recent decades. The experience gained reveals an important number of fatalities due to accidents in urban branch roads. In this study, an analytical methodology for the calculation of urban branch road safety is proposed. The proposal relies on data collected during road safety inspections; therefore, it can be implemented even when historical data about traffic volume or accidents are not available. It permits us to identify geometric, physical, functional, and transport-related defects, and elements which are causal factors of road accidents, in order to assess the risk of death or serious injuries for users. Traffic volume, average speed, and expected consequences on vulnerable road users in case of an accident allow us to calculate both the level of danger of each homogeneous section which composes the road, and the hazard index of the overall branch. A case study is presented to implement the proposed methodology. The strategy proposed by the authors could have a significant impact on the risk management of urban roads, and could be used in decision-making processes to design safer roads and improve the safety of existing roads.

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Investigation of Safety-in-Numbers for Pedestrians and Bicyclists at a Macroscopic Level with Various Exposure Variables

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198120953795 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2674 (12) ◽

pp. 568-580

Author(s):

Jaeyoung Lee ◽

Mohamed Abdel-Aty ◽

Qing Cai

Keyword(s):

Travel Behavior ◽

Large Scale ◽

Road User ◽

Metropolitan Statistical Area ◽

Macroscopic Level ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road User ◽

Safety In Numbers ◽

Household Travel ◽

National Household Travel Survey

Safety-in-numbers is a phenomenon whereby the crash risks of road users decrease when their numbers increase. Although several previous studies have confirmed safety-in-numbers at a microscopic level (e.g., intersection), few studies have investigated safety-in-numbers at a macroscopic level (or zonal level). In this study, safety-in-numbers is investigated at a larger scale unit, the metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which is usually composed of multiple counties in the U.S.A. Various pedestrian and bicyclist exposure data were obtained from the U.S. National Household Travel Survey (i.e., trips, miles, and hours). A series of Bayesian Poisson lognormal models confirm safety-in-numbers with the different exposure variables at a large-scale geographic level (i.e., MSA). The findings imply that regional travel behavior and cultures of respect for vulnerable road users play a key role in determining the level of pedestrian and bicyclist safety. In addition, the results reveal other factors important to vulnerable road user involved crashes, including but not limited to the climate, demographic, socioeconomic, and travel characteristics of the study regions.

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1 Road User Vulnerability in Traffic Accidents, Featuring Full Day Data Collection – Comprehensive MACRO Analysis Study for the City of Karachi, Pakistan

Sir Syed Research Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.33317/ssurj.v1i1.45 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 5

Author(s):

Syed Faraz Jafri ◽

Khawaja Sheeraz ◽

Kamran Khan ◽

Zubair Iqbal Rao ◽

Asif Abbasi

Keyword(s):

Traffic Accidents ◽

Research Study ◽

Road User ◽

Analysis Study ◽

Design Considerations ◽

Road Users ◽

Tools And Techniques ◽

The Relationship ◽

The City ◽

Full Day

It is an undoubted truth that the system oftransportation planning is associated with the key parameters oftraffic safety. This focuses the implementation of designedpolicies and standards. The relationship between road trafficaccidents and applied infrastructure facilities is proportional.This imparts the available geometric design considerations,pavement structure, environmental, human and vehiclecontributory factors. Traffic accidents are also affected onvarious 24hrs timings of the day and classified as dawn, daylight,dusk and dark in different research studies. Each time of the dayhas its own characteristics featuring with the driverperformance, site detection, visual acquaintance and informationprovided for decision sight distance.Accidents occurring in various timings with respect to differenttypes of road users are presented in this research. Possible rootcauses with significant recommended measures are the extensivedimensions of this research study. On the whole, three years datarecord is utilized in the analytical part as well. For the sake ofreason, macro analysis tools and techniques are used in order tojustify the results. The results are also formulated highlightingresponsible factors and liaison with the accidents carried out inmorning and dark.

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SAFETY AND SECURITY STUDIES OF RAILWAY LINES WITH PUBLIC ROADS (CASE STUDY OF RAILROAD CROSSING IN THE KENJERAN ROAD OF SURABAYA CITY)

IJEEIT : International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology ◽

10.29138/ijeeit.v2i2.1154 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 19-25

Author(s):

Irwan Mahmudi ◽

Sri Wiwoho Mudjanarko

Keyword(s):

Security Studies ◽

Road User ◽

The Public ◽

Toll Road ◽

Conflict Area ◽

Road Users ◽

Public Road ◽

Mode Of Transportation ◽

National Road

Railways are a mode of transportation that is being liked by the public because of its efficiency. The train has its own road in the form of rails, it doesn’t mean the train doesn’t intersect other transportation. The train crossing is a conflict area for public road users with train. This includes train crossing at Kenjeran street. The kenjeran street itself is a national road that is quite strategic because it is one of the accesses to the Surabaya-Madura toll road. The research this time aims to find out the security aspects that must be improved at the train crossing kenjeran street. Including rider behaviour at the time of the train crossing. The method used for this research is direct observation of the field and also shares questionnaires to find out if a public road user understands regulations while on a train crossing. The research results of many signs or road markers are incomplete so that many road users do not know that in front of the train crossing. Other public road user behaviour is also a lot of offense.

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