Market Penetration of Safety-Related ITSs

Abstract

One of the most active areas of research on intelligent transport systems (ITSs) is the study of how these systems improve vehicle safety and prevent traffic accidents. Although a number of safety-related ITS technologies have been developed, two particular technologies — the Roadside Information-Based Driving Support Systems (hereafter referred as to car-to-infrastructure systems) and the Inter-Vehicle Communication Type Driving Support Systems (hereafter referred as to car-to-car systems) — have attracted much recent attention. These systems differ from the autonomous detection-type driving support systems — such as automated following-distance control systems — in that they assist drivers in negotiating situations that cannot be easily recognized or cannot be visually recognized at all. A survey of Japanese traffic accident and traffic fatality statistics¹ for fiscal year 2007 reveals that fully 86 per cent of all accidents in that year were altercations between vehicles, including rear-end collisions, right-angle collisions at intersections, and accidents occurring during left turns.² Autonomous detection-type driving support systems offer insufficient promise of preventing such accidents, and for this reason the spread of car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure system technology is eagerly anticipated as an effective mechanism for significantly reducing the frequency of traffic accidents.