Mensor : utilisation of the human sensor through inter-vehicle communication

The modern society's increasing mobility is placing a growing demand on traffic safety. An important way to meet this demand will be offered by on-board driver assistance systems. Introducing inter-vehicle communication allows these systems to use traffic data collected by other vehicles. This opens up the possibility to implement co-operative driving behaviour thereby improving the overall traffic safety. This idea is formalised in an advanced driver assistance concept called Mensor. In this concept the actions of multiple drivers are measured and combined into a 'safety state' indicating the level of traffic safety'. The safety state message is sent to other vehicles and communicated to their drivers allowing them to take preventive actions. Initial experiments with a small scale demonstrator consisting of three passenger cars show considerable prospects to improve traffic safety.