Instant GPS based motor vehicle accident detection and reporting solution

Abstract

Motor vehicle accidents are frequent incidents with disastrous results. The methods used to detect and report the accidents are slow and cumbersome, leading to avoidable losses and casualties. Accurate, reliable and electronically accessible motor vehicle accident data is unavailable in many developing countries. Instant GPS based motor vehicle accident detection and reporting solution has been developed using existing technologies to overcome these deficiencies. The system consists of accident detection, vehicle tracking and accident surveillance modules. The accident detection module has impact sensors, signal conditioning electronics and accident detection logic unit. Active GPS device with three important capabilities including a GPS signal interface, digital input interface and a wireless interface with transmitting capabilities make up the vehicle tracking module. The surveillance module has a computer with an input interface for a wireless GSM enabled mobile phone. The computer hosts a database for recording accident incidents, accessible through a website. The recorded accident data is displayed at the client workstation against a GIS digital map backdrop, using customized software to authorized users of the system via the website and the internet technology. New accident incident will sound an alarm at the client side to alert the user. This enables authorized users, for example the police and ambulance paramedics to learn about an accident occurrence, allowing them to track and move to the accident site for evacuations. Fifty impacts were generated in experiments using the prototype developed in this project. It was found that 98 percent of the impacts were recorded on the database as accidents, within an impressive average time of fifteen seconds and authorized web clients could access it immediately. Email alert messages were send to pre-configured contacts immediately on updating the accident occurrence. Instant GPS based motor vehicle accident detection and reporting solution offers a feasible and in many ways ideal technique of detecting and reporting accidents. In addition, accident database allows for data mining analysis, with findings which can be employed to significantly reduce vehicle accidents. Future studies could be conducted to come up with a teclmique on how mobile telephone technology can be employed to update new accident incidents into the accident database, especially for motor vehicles not fitted with the automatic detecting and reporting devices. Perhaps surveillance and notifications of accidents could be extended to mobile phone alerts via SMS