Google Maps Competitor Creates System to Prevent Fatal Crashes

In addition to providing users with route guidance to reach a specific address, these products also sport a plethora of other features, including for improved traffic safety.

Waze, for example, uses its crowdsourcing engine to warn motorists about the presence of accidents, vehicles stopped on the road, or potholes. As such, the application makes the journey more predictable, giving drivers extra time to slow down and react accordingly.

HERE, the company that’s often considered a top Google Maps competitor, wants to overhaul the safety capabilities of its navigation software.

The company patented new technology that would allow for the detection of wrong-way drivers and then issue warnings for the other vehicles on the road.

Wrong-way driving and its horrible effects

Florida Department of Transportation statistics paint a frightening picture. Between 2009 and 2013, traffic authorities reported a total of 6,300 crashes caused by wrong-way drivers on highways alone. Fifty-one percent of them resulted in injury, while 18 percent were fatal.

Most accidents took place on weekends or during early morning hours. In 45 percent of the cases, alcohol was in some way involved.

The number one cause of wrong-way crashes was reduced visibility. Seventy-one percent of the crashes occurred in dark conditions.

And the figures become even more terrifying when looking at collision type data. Thirty-nine percent of the impacts were head-on crashes, as wrong-way drivers were directly hit by other incoming cars.

The study revealed that most drivers who ended up on the wrong side of the road were aged 20-24.

Existing wrong-way driving countermeasures

Authorities around the world have been trying to address this issue in various ways. The most common is the typical warning sign that faces the vehicle going in the wrong direction. If you see a “wrong way” sign on the side of the road, you must stop the vehicle immediately on the emergency lane.

Traffic authorities use electronic message boards to warn other motorists about wrong-way drivers. When such a warning is displayed, you must use extreme caution, reduce the speed, pull over, and call 911 to report the vehicle if you see it.

Navigation solutions have also tried to tackle this issue. Sygic, a leading navigation software development company, created a crowdsourcing engine that allows motorists to report wrong-way drivers. When drivers send this report, all nearby drivers running Sygic’s software get an emergency notification on the screen.

HERE’s new-generation solution

HERE proposes an automated approach. In a patent called “method, apparatus, and computer program product for identifying wrong-way driven vehicles,” HERE explains that autonomous vehicles can use existing hardware to detect wrong-way drivers.

The sensors and cameras installed on a self-driving vehicle can capture images from the road ahead. Using special software, the ECU can then process the images to determine if a vehicle is heading in the wrong direction.

The system can look for certain triggers, such as headlights, to improve scanning accuracy. When a wrong-way vehicle is detected, HERE’s technology can generate warnings both for the driver of the car and the other motorists on the road. The feature can enable safety systems, including collision avoidance technology, if self-driving capabilities are active.

By letting the other cars on the road know about the detected wrong-way driver, HERE’s concept produces an automated system without human input. As such, the warnings are sent instantly, reducing the reaction time of the other vehicles.

Furthermore, the system can also reach out to law enforcement. Using a connected platform, traffic authorities can automatically deploy extra safety measures, including special traffic signals, gates, or any other available resources. Emergency services can also dispatch an ambulance should a collision be estimated as very likely. Traffic officers can also pursue the wrong-way driven vehicle based on location data included in the notification.

HERE explains that warnings can include a detailed description of the detected vehicle, including the travel speed, its coordinates where it was detected, make, model, and license plate number. Once flagged by the system, the car going in the wrong way could be tracked on the map by other autonomous vehicles on the road. As a result, police would obtain real-time location information.

HERE's system was designed with autonomous vehicles in mind but adapting it to all models shouldn’t be too difficult. Given that the adoption of sensors and cameras is gaining traction, new-generation vehicles could run similar software without requiring self-driving capabilities. Collision avoidance systems already include cameras capable of scanning the road ahead, and as such, they could process images that would eventually help detect wrong-way drivers.

For the time being, however, HERE’s idea is still in the patent stage, so you’d better not hold your breath to see the technology generating mass adoption on production models. HERE’s software, however, powers millions of cars on the road, so it could become a pre-loaded feature in the coming years.