Testing Connected Vehicle-Based Accident Mitigation for Red-Light Violation Using Simulation Strategies

Simulation is often suggested as a way to analyze the safety improvements of geometric changes and operational strategies. But the results from simulations are mixed. This paper presents new ideas about how to do such assessments, especially in the context of testing the value of vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle to pedestrian (V2P) communications in preventing crashes because of red-light violation at signalized intersections. Algorithms are created that watch for impending collisions through sensing and then issue speed and trajectory changes to avoid accidents. Red-light violation is a primary focus because it increases the likelihood that collisions will occur. VISSIM is used to test these ideas, including new communication and control algorithms that link to vehicles, pedestrians, and signal controllers through the communication interface. The algorithms predict unsafe conditions, determine an appropriate crash remedial decision, and communicate those controls with the appropriate vehicles and pedestrians. The impacts of these algorithms are explored under various demand patterns, connected vehicle market penetration rates, and red-light violation rates in a hypothetical simulated environment. The simulation analysis suggests that the number of near-crash events can be reduced significantly if V2V and V2P communications are implemented. Moreover, adding V2I communication on top of these may further reduce the number of near-crash events. These results suggest that not only could such control strategies have significant impacts, but also those impacts can be assessed through simulation.