A VANET-based emergency vehicle warning system

Abstract

One often cited use case for vehicular networks are applications that relate to emergency vehicles. In addition to the traditional siren, they could use radio communication to warn other vehicles or to preempt traffic lights. Such an application can reduce accident risks during emergency response trips and also help save valuable time. We outline a comprehensive design of such an emergency vehicle warning system that makes full use of inter-vehicle communication, but also encompasses roadside infrastructure like traffic lights. In our system, other vehicles are not simply warned of an approaching emergency vehicle; they also receive detailed route information. Based on this information, timely and appropriate reaction of other drivers is possible. A prototype of our system has been tested in a traffic environment including emergency vehicles and traffic lights. To identify requirements and evaluate our system, we also conducted a detailed analysis of videos from emergency response trips and an expert survey among members of a local emergency response organization.