A novel context-aware system to improve driver’s field of view in urban traffic networks

Principal objectives of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are to improve traffic safety, facilitate informed traffic decision making, and enhance quality of life and services in a smart traffic environment. Vehicle crashes at urban traffic intersections are among the rudimentary sources of injuries and fatalities in the cities. According to the report of the World Health Organization (WHO), in every 25 seconds, one vulnerable road-user is being killed by a vehicle crash. Therefore, it is necessary to take a novel and smart approach for improving the safety and reducing vehicle crashes. This leads to a contextual perception and spatial awareness of driver to increase security and safety for the driver, vehicle, and road users. Autonomous vehicles collects the information from the environment through equipped sensors on the vehicle such as camera, laser, radar, and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The main challenge arises when the person or objects are located beyond the driver’s Field of View (FOV) and cannot be detected by embedded sensors on the vehicles. This paper proposes an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) to increase the safety on road intersections by taking advantage of existing infrastructures (e.g road camera) being used for traffic control. The aim of this research is improving the driver’s FOV using a computer vision approach (e.g background subtraction algorithm) and Location Based Service (LBS). The case study results at Tehran metropolitan demonstrate the reduction in traffic collision risk and improvement of pedestrian safety using the proposed system.