Nissan working on wrong-way warning system
Earlier this week, a 21-year-old driver got on the wrong entrance ramp to the 10 freeway in Los Angeles and ended up going westbound in the eastbound lanes. Doing up to 70 mph in the fast lane, he collided head-on with a police car and he and the officer were killed instantly. Nissan and West Nippon Expressway are working on technology that, using GPS and Telematics, will work to keep such things from happening.
The R&D is for an "IT-assisted road information system." As is becoming de rigeur these days, it uses your cell phone to detect situations in which a warning might be needed before a dangerous situation. The GPS component would come into play in a wrong-ramp situation, while telematics could be used to warn drivers of long downhill stretches. The efforts join Nissan's bumblebee-and-crash-avoidance research aimed at halving incidents in Nissan vehicles. Hit the jump for the press release.
PRESS RELEASE
January 26, 2009
West NEXCO and Nissan Begin Joint Research on IT-Assisted Road Information System
- Research Alliance to Build a System for Accident Prevention and Road Information -
West Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd. (West NEXCO) and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced a cooperative effort to research systems to help prevent accidents and furnish road information to drivers. West NEXCO, which operates expressways in western Japan, and Nissan will enhance and complement existing information systems using information technology (IT) to provide road and traffic condition information to help improve safety and driving comfort on expressways.
The joint project will take advantage of the widespread use and multi-functionality of today's cellular phones. The system will use the Global Positioning System (GPS) and a detailed map database to warn drivers about a number of potentially dangerous situations and conditions - including driving the wrong way on expressway ramps, which frequently causes serious accidents. Responding to frequent occurrences of wrong-way driving with the increase in senior citizen drivers, West NEXCO set up a project team in May 2008 to address this issue as it considered the possibility of joint research with automakers and others using information technology.
The IT-assisted road information system will also employ telematics to help warn drivers about unintended speed changes on ramps and long downhill stretches to help prevent accidents and congestion. Nissan and West NEXCO will also undertake research to assist drivers with probe data on traffic jams, part of West NEXCO's goal of working to help establish total road safety and comfort.
For its part, Nissan has been working extensively with its Intelligent Transportation Systems to halve the number of fatal and injury accidents involving Nissan cars between 1995 and 2015. Through its SKY project it is developing a vehicle communication system linked with traffic infrastructure to help reduce accidents at intersections. Nissan has been conducting large-scale testing of an information system that furnishes drivers with information on pedestrians using communications between vehicles and GPS cell phones held by pedestrians. It has also established a service that warns drivers of icy conditions ahead.
An outline of the joint research project follows:
Joint R&D Using GPS
A new computer application and detailed map data in the car navigation system will be combined with GPS data to help give the driver audio and visual warnings when the car is going the wrong way on a ramp near a service area or interchange.
Joint R&D Using Telematics
Text warnings will appear on the car's navigation display: "Beware of speeding" on long downhill stretches where accidents are common, and "Beware of slowing" near ramps prone to congestion.
Driver Assistance Using Probe Data
Probe data from road-control centers will be better utilized to provide value-added information to vehicles on expressways.
Press Demonstration on Wrong-Way Driving Detection Using GPS and Car Navigation System
The team will conduct experiments to test detection and reporting of wrong-way driving by reprogramming the existing Nissan navigation system and simulating driving the wrong way on a rest-area exit ramp. The experiment will also be open to the press, along with a driving demonstration. The details will be informed later.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dude 10:06AM (1/30/2009)
Wrong-Way warning system? I thought that was what the giant sign that says "WRONG WAY" was for.
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Zillon 10:09AM (1/30/2009)
Obviously we need more chlorine in the gene pool.
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nighttime__ 11:17AM (1/30/2009)
there are too many oxygen thieves. seriously.
Jake B 2:04PM (1/30/2009)
Agreed! Maybe the computer should navigate the vehicle in front of a train and park it there.
ken_aisin 10:17AM (1/30/2009)
I thought I've already had this feature on my GPS. I mean, the GPS in my car automatically tells me to make a u-turn whenever I'm going:
a) westbound in the eastbound lanes,
b) eastbound in the westbound lanes,
c) northbound in the southbound lanes, and
d) southbound in the northbound lanes.
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A.R. 11:33AM (1/30/2009)
I wish my GPS did that. Last year in Las Vegas it told me to make a wrong-way turn onto a one-way street. I almost did it too before I noticed the small, outta-the-way sign. I think the people that saw me correct myself at 2 in the morning probably thought I was drunk.
DKB_SATX 12:18PM (1/30/2009)
Have you tested this feature of your GPS in all 4 scenarios you mentioned? If so, have you considered AA or a visit to the optometrist?
lern2read fgt 10:17AM (1/30/2009)
And the Darwin Award goes to...
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Sofa King Fast! 11:12AM (1/30/2009)
Seriously, if you find yourself going the wrong way on the highway often enough that you need a machine to correct the situation I think you have bigger issues.
Toy Yoda 10:18AM (1/30/2009)
I wonder what people will do when the alarm goes off and they are driving down the right way. I've only seen cars driving down the wrong way perhaps 5 times in my life. It doesn't happen often. I bet computers giving a false warning will happen alot more, and that would be annoying, not to mention really scary.
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Alex 10:19AM (1/30/2009)
Given how innacurate my car's GPS is, i could see this warning going off when i am in the left lane of the proper side of the road.
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Derek 10:19AM (1/30/2009)
If the giant "Do Not Enter" and "Wrong Way" signs weren't enough, what about the miles and miles of highway that would have been passing him by ON HIS LEFT?
There is no cure for stupidity.
That said, RIP to them both. No mistake like that should cost two lives. Especially not the officers.
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Richard 10:25AM (1/30/2009)
I imagine that a "Wrong-Way" prevention system would cure more ills.
You know, something that simply vaporized the car and its occupants if it drove more than - say - a quarter-mile the wrong way down an interstate or a half-mile the wrong way down a secondary road would certainly cure a lot of society's ills.
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Biomech 10:33AM (1/30/2009)
That's something Clarkson would say haha.
Richard 10:41AM (1/30/2009)
Perhaps I've been watching too much top gear!
Mino 10:49AM (1/30/2009)
haha awesome suggestion! yea going through top gear withdrawals atm maybe I'll fire up some old episodes
Richard 11:24AM (1/30/2009)
Perhaps I should have auditioned for the American cast of TG. ;-}
James 12:34PM (1/30/2009)
Perhaps.
Mike Serebrennikov 10:25AM (1/30/2009)
Seeing cars coming at you not enough? Then this won't help either.
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gearhead18 2:50AM (1/31/2009)
"Hey Rick all I see are headlights"
"That's strange, aren't there supposed to be tailights?"
"I know"
"Weird"
"Maybe we're in the wrong lane"
"If only somebody invented a machine that would tell us if we are"
"Yeah"
Thanks Nissan for fixing these oh-so-likely situations!