ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 More than 40,000 people are killed on U.S. roads each year, and in many cases, help does not come right away.<\/p>\n
A group of students at the University of Central Florida College of Engineering is working on new technology that could change that.<\/p>\n
The project focuses on a critical gap in roadway safety. While crashes happen every day, roads themselves do not respond when something goes wrong. That delay can be the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Mingst, a senior at UCF, said the idea came from his own close calls in-line skating on Central Florida roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis really just built a frustration in me when I realized that nothing was being done reactively by our infrastructure,\u201d Mingst said.<\/p>\n
Mingst and a team of fellow seniors created a system to respond in real time.<\/p>\n
When a crash happens, multiple sensors using radar, lidar, and thermal sensors feed data into an artificial intelligence system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIdeally, these would be up everywhere, and any time an accident happens, it goes straight off to emergency responders,\u201d said fellow student Caleb Rosenfeld.<\/p>\n
The speed of that response could be especially important in hit-and-run cases, where victims may not be able to call for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a hit and run happens, 911 might not be called immediately,\u201d Mingst said. \u201dIt might be minutes or hours and that\u2019s where a system like this would really benefit the victim.\u201d<\/p>\n
The system is still in the prototype stage, but fellow team member Andres Aguilar said it is already achieving 97% accuracy in detecting crashes.<\/p>\n
Unlike some existing traffic systems, the students said their design is meant to work even in difficult conditions when traditional cameras may struggle, such as during heavy storms.<\/p>\n
Next, the team hopes to pilot the technology with cities, installing the system at intersections.<\/p>\n
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