Vehicular Communication Systems - Motivation

Motivation

The main motivation for vehicular communication systems is safety and eliminating the excessive cost of traffic collisions. According to World Health Organizations (WHO), road accidents annually cause approximately 1.2 million deaths worldwide; one fourth of all deaths caused by injury. Also about 50 million persons are injured in traffic accidents. If preventive measures are not taken road death is likely to become the third-leading cause of death in 2020 from ninth place in 1990. A study from the American Automobile Association (AAA) concluded that car crashes cost the United States $300 billion per year.

However the deaths caused by car crashes are in principle avoidable. US Department of Transport states that 21,000 of the annual 43,000 road accident deaths in the US are caused by roadway departures and intersection-related incidents. This number can be significantly lowered by deploying local warning systems through vehicular communications. Departing vehicles can inform other vehicles that they intend to depart the highway and arriving cars at intersections can send warning messages to other cars traversing that intersection. Studies show that in Western Europe a mere 5 km/h decrease in average vehicle speeds could result in 25% decrease in deaths. Policing speed limits will be notably easier and more efficient using communication technologies.

Although the main advantage of vehicular networks is safety improvements, there are several other benefits. Vehicular networks can help in avoiding congestion and finding better routes by processing real time data. This in return saves both time and fuel and has significant economic advantages.