ORU And Duke University Team Up On Study To Reduce Car Accidents

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OKLAHOMA -- Oral Roberts University has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to carry out collaborative research with Duke University to improve vehicle safety.

The $194,146 grant, according to a news release from ORU, will further the research of Dr. Xiaomin Ma, ORU Associate Professor of Engineering.

Transportation systems are designed to help get people from one destination to the next as safely and efficiently as possible.

The basic idea of the project is to build sensors to be aware of surrounding cars or road conditions, and to measure the distance between your car and another car, and the relative speed.

In an emergency situation, your car sends a signal through wireless communication to warn the other driver of danger or an adverse driving situation.

Statistics show that many auto accidents are caused by a one-second reaction delay. With this early warning signal, a driver can brake or steer away when he or she is a mere second away from the danger of a collision.

The news release goes on to say the results of this project will contribute to paving the way for practical vehicular wireless ad hoc networks to be deployed on the road which will greatly improve road safety and urban traffic efficiency.