In an Australian first, VicRoads will trial technology that perceives and monitors connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) at a crash hotspot intersection, to improve Victorian road safety.
This research is funded by a grant from the $9 million Towards Zero Connected and Automated Vehicle Trial Grants Program, supporting research and development of innovative technology which will help to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on Victorian roads.
The $2 million grant has been awarded to Omni-Aware, a consortium of specialist transport companies, to fit one intersection with automated vehicle perception technology.
Cameras and light detection and ranging sensors (LIDARs) will be installed to detect all movements through the intersection, including vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.
The Omni-Aware system will build a complete picture of the intersection and provide insight into all crashes and near misses.
Black box functionality will improve safety and prevent future crashes by allowing VicRoads to closely analyse data collected, the factors that contributed to accidents and seeing how these incidents could be prevented in the future.
All data collected will also have the potential to be used in real-time, linking with connected and automated vehicles to monitor when conflicts are likely, for example, when vehicles are too close and there is a risk of a crash.
This project will assess the extent to which deploying AV technology on roads will allow more road users to benefit from the technology sooner.
Preliminary trials of the technology will take place in controlled conditions from early 2019 before it is rolled out for an extended trial in 2020.
The Government continues to invest in the $1.4 billion Towards Zero Action Plan which aims to reduce lives lost on our roads to less than 200 by 2020 and reduce serious injuries by 15 per cent.
The Towards Zero Action Plan is delivered by VicRoads and funded by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).
