Prototyping an automatic notification scheme for traffic accidents in vehicular networks

The new communication technologies integrated into the automotive sector offer an opportunity for better assistance to people injured in traffic accidents, reducing the response time of emergency services, and increasing the information they have about the incident. Determining more accurately the human and material resources required for each particular accident could significantly reduce the number of victims. The proposed system requires each vehicle to be endowed with an On-Board Unit responsible for detecting and reporting accident situations to an external Control unit that estimates its severity, allocating the necessary resources for its assistance. The development of a prototype based on off-the-shelf devices shows that this system could reduce notably the time needed to deploy the emergency services after an accident takes place.