West Nippon Expressway and Nissan Motor have begun joint research on information technology (IT) assisted road information system to prevent accidents and furnish road information to drivers.
West Nippon Expressway (West NEXCO), which operates expressways in western Japan, and Nissan will enhance and complement existing information systems using information technology to provide road and traffic condition information to help improve safety and driving comfort on expressways.
The joint project will take advantage of the widespread use and multi-functionality of cellular phones. The system will use the global positioning system (GPS) and a detailed map database to warn drivers about a number of potentially dangerous situations and conditions, including driving the wrong way on expressway ramps which frequently causes serious accidents.
The IT-assisted road information system will also employ telematics to help warn drivers about unintended speed changes on ramps and long downhill stretches to help prevent accidents and congestion. Nissan and West NEXCO will also undertake research to assist drivers with probe data on traffic jams.
For its part, Nissan has been working extensively with its Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to halve the number of fatal and injury accidents involving Nissan cars between 1995 and 2015.
