Connected Vehicle Infrastructure University Transportation Center
The movement of vehicles (e.g., traffic, dump trucks, and powered mobile construction equipment) around a work zone poses a significant safety risk to nearby workers-on-foot (WOFs). Each year more than 20,000 injuries and more than 100 fatalities occur at road construction zones. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of these incidents involved a worker being struck by a vehicle.1 This project will use the expertise of the research team in the fields of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and pervasive computing to develop an innovative “intelligent” awareness system. The system will comprise dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) technology mounted on vehicles and worn by WOFs. Since WOFs are required to wear Class 2 or 3 apparel (e.g., reflective vests) while working in right-of-ways on federal-aid highways, 2 the DSRC technology will be embedded within these garments and present on roadway workers during dangerous situations. The objectives of this study are twofold. The first is to develop and test an “intelligent” system of awareness device, InZoneAlert, to be deployed on both vehicles and WOFs. The system will alert WOFs and vehicle operators of impending struck-by incidents. This system will alert workers only in the case of accidental close interactions and will not provide false alarms for intentional close interactions between traffic and the equipped worker. The alert system should provide warnings in sufficient time to allow the accident to be avoided and should require minimal, cost-effective redesign of both vehicles and workers’ clothing. The second objective is to evaluate the functional effectiveness of the developed InZoneAlert system under operational conditions. This evaluation will occur on the Connected Vehicle/Infrastructure University Transportation Center (CVI-UTC) test bed at the Virginia Smart Road in Blacksburg, VA. This project will provide a solid research-to-practice (R2P) approach to mitigating work zone struck-by incidents via the development of a novel countermeasure specific to the problem and verification of its effectiveness under realistic operational conditions.
Donoughe, Kelly, Alden, Andy, Mayer, Brian (2016). Evaluating Driver Responses to In-vehicle “School Bus Stopped Ahead” Messages and Equivalent Roadside Signing. Proceedings of the Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting. Report 16-4062.
Kristen Hines, Wallace Lages, Namitha Somasundaram, Thomas Martin (2015, September). Protecting workers with smart e-vest. Poster presented at UbiComp 2015, Osaka, Japan.
Forsyth, J., Martin, T., Bowman, D. “Feasibility of GPS-based Warning System for Roadside Workers”, International Conference on Connected Vehicles and Expo, November 3-7, 2014, Vienna, Austria (Paper #1570017287; Accepted for publication).
Start date: 2012/9/1
End date: 2013/8/30
Status: Active
Contract/Grant Number: 0031370150000
Secondary Number: 54-6001805
Total Dollars: $150,000
Source Organization: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
Date Added: 08/20/2012
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
USA
Harwood, Leslie
Phone: 540-231-9530
Email: lharwood@vtti.vt.edu
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
3500 Transportation Research Plaza
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
USA
Martin, Tom
Pedestrians and Bicyclists
Construction
Data and Information Technology
Safety and Human Factors
Security and Emergencies
RiP URL
Project Poster
TriD Format