Development and Testing of Road Signs Alert System Using a Smart Mobile Phone

Abstract

Road traffic accident is a major problem worldwide resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Advanced driver assistance systems are one of the salient features of intelligent systems in transportation. They improve vehicle safety by providing real-time traffic information to the driver. Road signs play an important role in road safety. To be effective, road signs must be visible at a distance that enables drivers to take the necessary actions. However, static road signs are often seen too late for a driver to respond accordingly. In this study, a system for alerting drivers about road signs has been developed and tested using a smart mobile phone. The study was carried out in Tanzania along an 80 km highway stretch from Arusha to Moshi town. The Haversine formula was used to measure and estimate the distance between two pairs of coordinates using the smartphone-based navigation application, Google Map. The application provides a voice alert to a needed action that enhances driver’s attention. We propose an alternative method that identifies and modifies a specific class of energy inefficiencies. According to the experimental results, the proposed methodology has the benefits of high accuracy within a user radius of 10 meters, minimum bandwidth, and low-cost application. Furthermore, the system application was secured by limiting access to the application program interface key to avoid unauthorized access to sensitive information.