Simulation study on improving traffic safety and traffic flow in the vicinity of a motorway accident through vehicle-to-vehicle communication

Vehicle breakdowns and crashes on motorways can create a sudden drop in traffic speed and make driving conditions dangerous through the requirement of many merging manoeuvres within a confined region. Ideal response strategies are not possible throughout all of the motorway network (lane closure and speed reduction by overhead signs), and temporary instructional equipment takes time to arrive. Modern vehicle communications technologies will soon allow drivers to be alerted much sooner to an accident, and voluntarily take action to ensure smoother and safer traffic flow. Here, we test a driver advice system for unexpected lane closure, using a radio communication simulator built into a microscopic traffic simulation package. It is shown that even a small number of equipped and cooperative drivers could help prevent dangerous oscillations of traffic flow around the merge point and increase the level of safety while the obstruction is cleared. The system has been developed within the EU project SOCIONICAL, where simulations are developed to examine socio-technical systems that may aid people during situations of emergency.