An innovative trial has now been completed to improve safety at dangerous intersections, where almost one in four fatal crashes occur.
Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Ben Carroll said the state government had installed advanced light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors at a busy intersection in Yarraville for six months to detect the movement of road users including pedestrians, cyclists, cars and trucks to identify potential hazards.
“We all have a role to play to keep all Victorians safe on the road – and for Government, we’ll continue to trial the latest technology to drive down road trauma and save lives,” the Minister said.
“Road Safety Victoria will now take this data away – and continue to work with local communities to keep traffic moving safely through intersections as Victorians get to where they need to go.”
The $2 million trial found new technology can accurately and reliably detect potential hazards within 0.2 seconds and has the potential to provide real-time warnings to alert road users of hazards. The trial also investigated ways for intersection infrastructure to communicate hazard warnings to connected vehicles using roadside Co-operative Intelligent Transport System equipment.
It is the first extended trial using LiDAR technology to collect road data in Australia. The latest data shows 23% of deaths and 34% of serious injuries occur at intersections and the results of this trial will allow Road Safety Victoria to closely analyse the highly detailed information to help improve safety at intersections throughout Melbourne’s suburbs.
The trial brought government and industry together to improve road safety and was delivered by Omni-Aware, a consortium of specialist technology companies including Intelligent Transport Services, Transoptim Consulting and IBIS Computers.
