DOI

10.5703/1288284317102

Abstract

Back-of-queue crashes are one of the main sources for fatal accidents on U.S. highways. A variety of factors including low visibility, slippery road surface, and driver distraction/drowsiness during highway cruising, all contribute to this type of fatal crashes. Thus, it is very important to improve the driver’s situational awareness before they approach traffic queues on highways.

In this project, we develop a prototype in-vehicle back-of-queue alerting system that is based on the probe vehicle data from INDOT. Speed changes among different road segments are used to identify slow traffic queues, which are compared with vehicle locations and moving directions to detect potential back-of-queue crashes. This prototype system is designed to issue alerting messages to drivers approaching the highway traffic queues via an Android-based smartphone app and an Android Auto device. The performance of this system has been evaluated using the driving simulator and a limited number of on-road test runs. The results showed the effectiveness and benefits of this prototype system.

Report Number

FHWA/IN/JTRP-2019/24

Keywords

back-of-queue crashes, smartphone app, Android Auto, driving simulator study

SPR Number

4306

Performing Organization

Joint Transportation Research Program

Publisher Place

West Lafayette, IN

Date of this Version

2019

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