|
--Advanced road traffic system aimed at reducing accidents, easing congestion--
TOKYO (Sept. 15, 2006)--Nissan Motors Co., Ltd., announced today it would
begin testing a newly developed intelligent transportation system which allows
vehicle-to-infrastructure communication to help reduce traffic accidents and
ease congestion.
The test, which is being conducted to evaluate the receptivity of drivers to
such a system, will run from Oct. 1, 2006 until the end of March 2009 in
Kanagawa Prefecture, about 25 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. About 10,000
drivers, who must be subscribers to Nissan’s CARWINGS navigation service, are
expected to participate in the test. Applications for the test will be accepted
starting in late September.
The advanced road traffic system uses information obtained from nearby
vehicles and roadside optical beacons to alert drivers to potential danger from
approaching vehicles. The information is received by an onboard antenna on the
vehicle.
In addition, the system uses the information to warn drivers when they are
speeding in school zones. It also provides drivers with fastest-route
information using probe data – information on the position and speed of vehicles
obtained by wireless communications technology.
The trial run will test the following components of the system:
Vehicle alert
This system alerts drivers to the presence of
vehicles moving too fast at blind intersections. For example, if the system
determines that a car is approaching a driver too fast from the left, a buzzer
will sound and a voice recording will call out: “Car approaching from left.” At
the same time, an image of an approaching vehicle will appear on the driver’s
CARWINGS navigation screen.
The system will also alert a driver when is detects that he or she
approaching a stop sign or red traffic light too fast.
Speed alert
This system warns drivers when they are speeding in a
school zone. As soon as a driver passes the speed limit in the area, a buzzer
will sound and a voice recording will warn: “School ahead. Watch your speed.” An
image of a school zone sign will also appear on the driver’s navigation screen.
Dynamic route finder:
This system informs drivers of the quickest
route to their destination using probe data collected from mobile phones of
CARWINGS subscribers, including taxi owners, as well as vehicle data collected
by mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, Inc. All of the data is sent to Nissan’s
probe server where it is collectively processed into traffic information. The
data is then sent to the driver’s navigation screen where it is displayed in the
form of real-time maps showing the traffic flow of a greater coverage of roads
compared to VICS (Vehicle Information and Communications System), a public
service providing similar information via FM multiplex broadcasting, as well as
radio wave and infrared beacons.
Both the vehicle alert and the speed alert systems will be tested until the
end of fiscal year 2007. The dynamic route finder system will be tested until
the end of fiscal 2008.
Nissan’s intelligent transportation system test is being implemented in
cooperation with NTT DoCoMo, consumer electronics maker Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co., Ltd., and Xanavi Informatics Corp., a maker of vehicle
navigation systems and software.
Matsushita Electric has developed the roadside optical beacons for the test
in conjunction with Japan’s National Police Agency, the Kanagawa Prefectural
Police Headquarters and the Universal Traffic Management Society of Japan
(UTMS).
Based on the results of the test, Nissan is planning to implement its
intelligent transportation system in Japan and then globally in the future as
part of its efforts to help reduce traffic accidents and congestion. In Japan,
Nissan has set a target of halving the number of traffic fatalities or serious
injuries involving Nissan vehicles by 2015 compared with the level in 1995.
|
