Research into collision avoidance between low-speed HGVs and cyclists
Bringing HGVs to urban areas for goods delivery provides significant benefits, but may raise concerns about the safety of vulnerable road users, especially cyclists. A large proportion of all collisions between cyclists and HGVs occur at the side of the HGV where the driver can have a large blind-spot. To make matters worse, in urban streets, HGVs often 'cut the corner', encroaching into the area where cyclists can travel.
This project is investigating systems to prevent such accidents. By employing sensors and a collision avoidance strategy, the objective is to minimize accidents between vulnerable road users and HGVs. The motions of HGV and cyclists are estimated in order to predict the likelihood of a collision between two vehicles. It is thought that many collisions of this type can be prevented by suitable intervention in the motion of the vehicle.