eCall++: An enhanced emergency call system for improved road safety

Abstract

This paper presents an enhanced emergency Call (eCall) system that combines the native eCall services with the benefits provided by vehicular communications networks. The proposed solution, named eCall++, consists of a mobile application that automatically detects an accident and disseminates the alert notification, both via eCall and vehicular communications standards (IEEE WAVE / ETSI ITS-G5). In this work, two additional services are introduced: a passenger detection algorithm that informs the emergency services about the number of people inside the car during the crash; and a video streaming mechanism that enables vehicles in the vicinity of the accident to send a live record of the accident scene. These features are developed and implemented on an Android device connected to a custom vehicular communications system (the IT2S platform). The experimentally obtained results validate the proposed system and provide viable evidence to add additional features to the conventional eCall architecture.