SAE Update - November 2022 - 6

TECH FOCUS:
SmArT CiTiES
Smart Cities: The Gateway
to Pedestrian Safety
I tried to get up, but could not
because my right foot was a
dangling weight and I had a
dislocated and broken ankle. If
not for the help of strangers
rushing to me - stopping
oncoming traffic and calling an
ambulance - I might not have
been here today. I was lucky, the
doctors said, other than having a
surgery due to injuries I sustained
and learning how to walk again
after using crutches for 3 months.
I was fine, at least I was alive.
It is easy to understand why
improving pedestrian safety is
very personal and important to
me, as I am one of many people,
pedestrians, who were able to
survive being hit by a vehicle.
However, some were not as
lucky. Some did not survive; they
were not able to live to tell the
tale. We, as engineers and
researchers can use technology
and innovation to improve the
safety of pedestrians and
vulnerable roadway users and
decrease fatalities. And smart
cities can be the key to do so.
Smart cities, where sensors
and infrastructure are utilized as
part of an Internet of Things
(IoT) in collecting and sharing
data, can be the gateway to
improving pedestrian and
6
November 2022
This image drawn from an SAE technical paper co-written by the author of
this article depicts the geometrical configuration and variables for the base
scenario as part of an effort to make collision prediction calculations.
vulnerable road user safety. Within the automotive
industry, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-toinfrastructure
(V2I) based algorithms have been
studied, and the advantages of adding connectivity to
vehicles have been demonstrated. Dedicated Short
Range Communication (DSRC) and 4G LTE have been
utilized in V2I and V2V algorithms to improve fuel
economy, ride comfort, and trip time. They have been
shown to provide other benefits, too.
Taking the potential of algorithms with V2I and V2V
communication for large-scale deployment as
inspiration, new research shows that smart-phone-based
communication technologies can also be used to expand
interconnectivity in smart cities to aid in improving
pedestrian safety. Pedestrians share the roadways with
vehicles by keeping to sidewalks and obeying traffic
lights around intersections. However, sidewalks are not
always available for pedestrians. Other vulnerable road
users, such as bicyclists, have to share the roadways with
vehicles that are often faster than themselves. When it
comes to safety, pedestrians and bicyclists often depend
UPDATE
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SAE Update - November 2022

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