TECH FOCUS: SmArT CiTiES SMART CITIES: THE GATEWAY TO PEDESTRIAN SAFETY Smart cities might be the key in improving pedestrian and vulnerable road user safety through vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication. UPDATE Years ago on a hot August day, I was a teenager trying to cross the road to catch the bus to take me down to city center. I was at the pedestrian crossing zone, had checked my left, right, then left again before stepping foot on the road, and I had just passed the 1st lane on a road with 2-lane traffic each way. Then, it happened. I was on the ground, disoriented, wondering why I was lying on the road. November 2022 5