Do you know that about 1.25 million people lose their lives as a result of road crashes annually? It is also worthy to note that between 20 to 50 million more suffer injuries with a lot resulting in lifetime disabilities. These injuries have caused considerable economic losses to individuals, families, and nations at large.

With the invention of IoT, this loss of lives and money can be reduced.

IoT is an ideal software component that connects physical and everyday devices to the internet. Devices built based on IoT are capable of communicating with each other over the internet, and they can be controlled to perform different operations.

IoT can help to ensure secure and safe transportation. This is because IoT systems are controlled by event-driven applications that take inputs either as sensed data, user input or other external triggers. These data are taken by different inbuilt sensors (a sensor is a sophisticated device that is frequently used to detect and respond to electrical and other signals).

The user data obtained is converted into physical and measurable parameters. Examples of sensors used include a smoke detector, motion sensor, contact sensor and so on. With the help of IoT, the sensors update the data at regular intervals and send them to the administrators to notify the user in case of any dangerous change.

IoT can help to reduce automatic vehicle accidents through the following ways.

1. Signaling the administrators to control the activities of the vehicle:

Physical condition and performances of drivers are analyzed and monitored in case of danger; the administrators are notified. With the help of IoT, drowsiness and tiredness of drivers are monitored. The blood content is also analyzed to detect the presence of alcohol.

Also, the distraction of drivers is monitored. This can be accomplished through the use of face monitoring camera. The camera is a prototype embedded system and sensor technology that is used to measure vital parameters during a car ride.

The camera measures factors such as head pose and blink rate. The measurements also indicate the driver’s attentiveness or excitement level. The collected information allows a conclusion to be drawn on the user’s driving behavior.

Moreso, weariness, and microsleep at the wheel are often the cause of most serious accidents. However, the signs of fatigue can be detected before a critical situation arises. Driver’s drowsiness can be detected by monitoring the steering movement. In cases where driver’s drowsiness has been detected, administrators are signaled, hence the distraction warning system is enabled.

2. Diagnosing the condition of the vehicle:

Regulatory enforcement ensures that vehicles traversing on a particular road network are safe and reliable. With the help of IoT, vehicles can undergo real-time monitoring. Several options facilitate IoT context.

The following data can be measured and recorded to know the condition of a particular vehicle:

• Exhaust gas temperature
• Ambient temperature
• Gas flow velocity
• Vehicle speed
• Vehicle tilt angle
• Engine revolution
• Electric current

When the condition of a vehicle is diagnosed and known, the vehicle will always be in good condition.

This is because of notification is gotten whenever there is any damage, hence enhancing the user to repair the vehicle quickly, thus preventing an accident.

3. Avoiding Collision:

A vehicular collision may occur between vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to human or even vehicle to structure. Through the use of Inter Vehicular communications, a vehicle can communicate with it’s surrounding.

For example, when a vehicle is moving too close to another vehicle, the user is notified of the possible collision. Through the use of IoT, a specific distance is recorded as the safe distance between the vehicle and another vehicle or the vehicle and a particular structure. Once this distance is not maintained, the driver is notified of possible danger hence calling the driver back to order and preventing accidents.

4. Monitoring the location of Vehicles:

Tracking system using IoT is a technology used to obtain the specific location of vehicles using special methods such as GPS navigation. The system is a known system of retrieving vehicles. This is beneficial in monitoring the location of a vehicle to notify the user of the possible danger that is ahead of them.

These dangers may include frozen roads, damaged roads, or a scene of pre-occurred accidents. The overseers notify users around the danger zone to warn them of the situation of the environment. This will help to prevent accidents since the drivers are aware of the condition of the area and they tend to divert.

5. Notifying the overseers whenever the system is faulty:

IoT helps to send information to the appropriate quarters. For instance, when a vehicle has been tampered with, the user isn’t always aware of this developed fault unless they are told.

The information collected by the sensors installed in the vehicle is sent over the internet through the help of IoT and hence, a registered number of the user will send a notification to be aware of the condition of the vehicle. This awareness helps to prevent accidents since the user will repair the vehicle before using.

Conclusion

Connected vehicles through the help of IoT will help to reduce accidents. Due to its highly sophisticated mode of operation, accidents can be foreseen and prevented.

A vehicle that is operating with IoT is one that can help to save lives.

In years to come, the safety of road users will be assured since accidents would be a rare occurrence. Loss of lives due to faults and ignorance will be as antique as Black and White movie in the future since self-driven vehicles will soon be introduced.

Sunday Adenekan

Digital Marketer

Professional Digital Marketer and Blogger. Contributing writer to authoritative publications online.