EMSEE

To create an application that achieves safety on the road for first responders and bystanders through the use of location in GPS navigation and volume control. This app would signal smart phone devices in surrounding cars to limit distractions by objectively decreasing their vehicle audio so the public is alert of the first responders driving to their destination. There is a short amount of time to process where the emergency vehicle is once you see lights or hear sirens. However, if one or both of these senses are impaired by distractions of the bystander, this could result in danger of others, confusion, or even delayed time for the person in need of assistance. This is an opportunity for the community to be of service to people in need by being perceptive of their surroundings on the road. We all want to be of service to first responders, as if they were on their way to help you

ASSESSING FREEWAY CRASH RISK USING CROWDSOURCED WAZE INCIDENT ALERTS

Traffic data obtained through crowdsourcing are becoming more accessible to traffic agencies due to advancements in smartphone technology. Traffic managers aim to use this data to complement their conventional sources of data and provide additional context in their analysis. In this study, Waze incident alerts are integrated with GPS-Probe speed data and Kentucky State Police (KSP) crashes to assess their impact on traffic flow and safety on freeways in Kentucky. The analysis showed that the presence of a vehicle on the shoulder is associated with about 36.7% of freeway crashes in Kentucky. The presence of a vehicle on the shoulder coupled with congestion were 11.7% of the crashes. As such, the correlation between vehicle on shoulder, congestion and crashes was significant. Albeit present within the vicinity of 7.4% of crashes, the presence of a vehicle in the travel lane did not show as having a significant correlation with crashes. Linking Waze crash alerts with crashes and assessing their spatiotemporal patterns, it is found that Waze crashes are spatially accurate and hence could be used as an alternate source for identifying crashes, sometimes earlier, in Kentucky and hence cutting down incident response and clearance times. The data used in this study and the analytical methods employed offer much needed insight into the potential of crowdsourced traffic incident data for traffic monitoring to ensure safety

Towards Improving User Interaction with Navigation Apps: an Information Quality Perspective

Traffic congestion is a major problem for large cities, and with the ubiquitous use of smartphones with GPS capabilities, drivers have increasingly come to rely on navigation applications for avoiding traffic congestion and routing to unfamiliar destinations.  However, in certain situations the suggested route may not be what the user expects and could result in perceived delays over known routes, increased stress and frustration for the driver, or even back tracking.  This has created a situation where drivers perceive that the information provided by navigation applications are not completely reliable and do not follow the suggested routes, thereby reducing the overall effectiveness of congestion avoidance. Additionally, drivers also make additional interaction with the navigation applications to verify the believability of the suggestions routes, creating more distraction and reducing on-road safety.  As such, this preliminary work assesses mobility information quality provided by leading navigation applications (Google Maps and Waze) against four dimensions of the PSP/IQ information quality framework to identify areas for improving information quality in three common driving scenarios.  The results indicate that both apps have similar levels of completeness, concise representation, and consistent representation.  And while the relevancy of the information quality is also similar in both apps, Waze’s representation of the some information elements allowed for quicker comparison and decision making. The findings from this work can be used to enhance user interaction and information presentation in navigation applications in order to improve user perceptions of information quality.Keywords: smart mobility information, mobility information quality, congestion avoidanc

Conceptual Model for an Intelligent Persuasive Driver Assistant

Traffic congestion is a serious issue for large cities.  This is especially critical for cities that has insufficient mass transit system like Bangkok.  Although transportation infrastructure projects and rail mass transit lines are being implemented, these efforts require major financial investment and take a long time to complete.  This work proposes to help reduce traffic problems through influencing a change in driver behavior.  In this initial stage, a model for an intelligent persuasive driver assistant is conceptualized as a voice-interactive smart assistant on a smartphone.  The system uses information about the driver, his physical state, vehicle performance information, and geolocation information to form persuasive strategies to influence driver behavior and to adapt user interfaces and interactions to reduce driver distraction.  Integrating these components together is expected to provide improved assistance in driving tasks and affect driving behavior changes. Keywords: intelligent driver assistant, navigation, smart assistant, persuasive technolog

Vehicle on Shoulder and Crash — Correlation or Causation?

This study sought to evaluate the relationships between vehicles on shoulder, congestion, and crashes. Three pertinent datasets on interstates were obtained and then integrated using a spatiotemporal approach. The analysis showed that about 36% of the crashes had vehicle on shoulder present in their vicinity, defined as 0.25 miles upstream and downstream of a crash site and 30 minutes before crash occurrence. The percentage increased considerably as spatial/temporal window expanded. In addition, congestion was found to be associated with about 25% of the crashes. The presence of both vehicle on shoulder and congestion was found for 11.7% of the crashes, signifying a high correlation between them and crashes. Based on crash narrative review, 1.8% of all crashes directly involved vehicles on shoulder and 23% of the carshes cited congestion as a contributor. However, there’s little indication in the crash narratives on how vehicles on shoulder contributed to crashes, beyond their direct involvement, or how they contributed to congestion which may led to crashes. Only 6 out of the 512 crashes flagged for review through the keyword search process specified a vehicle on shoulder as a contributor to congestion and subsequent crashes. While a small fraction of crashes were attributed to vehicles on shoulder, these crashes tended to be more severe than average interstate crashes

Analysis On Distraction While Driving- A Case Study On Staffs And Students Of Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia

The road traffic accidents and injuries were increased by each year. Mostly the accidents that occurred will involving the distracted drivers while driving. Distraction while driving is any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. These types of distractions including texting, using a smartphone, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, using a navigation system, adjusting radio, CD player, or MP3 player. Until now, there is no in depth study that focusing on the distraction while driving in Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the drivers’ perception toward distraction while driving by using questionnaire survey based on Susceptibility to Driver Distraction Questionnaire (SDDQ), to analyze the driving distraction based on the secondary task given in the experimental survey and to determine the relationship between socio-demographic factors with drivers’ distraction based on SDDQ and experimental tasks. The results from this study showed that the most drivers have involved in driving distraction influenced by perceived social norms toward voluntary distraction. Radio-operating and phone texting were identified as the most distraction tasks among the respondents involved in this study. It is based on the total eye glance of the respondent from their focus in this tasks. Furthermore, phone texting also be ranked as the most distracting tasks by 19 respondents out of 21 number of respondents. The relationship between socio-demographic with drivers’ distraction based on SDDQ and experimental tasks show that age and gender as the influenced parameter that correlated with all the question in SDDQ and experimental tasks

The Alestle - Vol. 65 No. 29 - 04/11/2013

Vol. 65 No. 2

Playful mapping in the digital age:The Playful Mapping Collective

From Mah-Jong, to the introduction of Prussian war-games, through to the emergence of location-based play: maps and play share a long and diverse history. This monograph shows how mapping and playing unfold in the digital age, when the relations between these apparently separate tropes are increasingly woven together. Fluid networks of interaction have encouraged a proliferation of hybrid forms of mapping and playing and a rich plethora of contemporary case-studies, ranging from fieldwork, golf, activism and automotive navigation, to pervasive and desktop-based games evidences this trend. Examining these cases shows how mapping and playing can form productive synergies, but also encourages new ways of being, knowing and shaping our everyday lives. The chapters in this book explore how play can be more than just an object or practice, and instead focus on its potential as a method for understanding maps and spatiality. They show how playing and mapping can be liberating, dangerous, subversive and performative