The potential for automatic crash notification systems to reduce road fatalities

This predictive study investigated the effectiveness of Automatic Crash Notification (ACN) systems in reducing road fatalities, due to enabling faster emergency medical services (EMS) notification times, and therefore, the earlier provision of treatment. The cost-effectiveness associated with fleet installation of ACN systems in Australia was also evaluated. A range of data sources were used to identify the range of road fatalities that ACN systems could potentially mitigate, with urban and rural crashes analyzed separately, due to the average EMS notification time being slower for rural areas. It was established that ACN would provide an average crash-to-EMS notification time of one minute, which represented a three minute reduction in the total crash-to-hospital time for urban areas, with the corresponding reduction for rural areas being six minutes. Calculations revealed that these reductions would save an estimated 104 fatalities on Australian roads per annum (41 urban and 63 rural), assuming all vehicles were fitted with ACN. This corresponds to almost 11% of all passenger vehicle occupant fatalities. Despite the potential for ACN to significantly influence the Australian road toll, the benefit-cost-ratio analysis indicated that without government support, the systems are unlikely to be a cost-effective option for mandatory installation in all registered passenger vehicles. It was also recommended, however, that the benefits of ACN systems should be further investigated, in order to better establish their potential to increase road safety.