The use of GPS in road safety is essential in the
case where the accurate position of an accident is
needed in the road network [36]. This for example
may be the case where the design and implementation
of safety measures is needed in the interurban
road network. Nowadays, the only available information
concerning the position of a road accident,
according to the police records, is the
kilometer ( some hundred meters) to which the
specific accident is referred to (e.g., 65 km +500 m).
The use of GPS/GIS technology also offers the
ability to produce accurate thematic maps with
‘‘black spots’’ (spots where a statistically significant
number of road accidents take place in a certain
time period).
GPS technology can also be implemented to
vehicle navigation systems. It must be mentioned
at this point that, expensive cars are now equipped
with such navigation systems, where a screen is
available together with telephone communication
system. Fig. 3 shows the major elements of a
typical vehicular navigation system. Although
electronic signpost or proximity beacons served to
update vehicle location in some early developmental
systems, most state-of-the-art systems, include
a GPS receiver for this purpose [37].
The availability of navigational information
may help to reduce travel stress, particularly for the
unfamiliar driver. The TravTek test consisted of an
in-vehicle navigation and dynamic route guidance
system with real time traffic information [15,38]
conducted in Orlando, Florida in 1993, in which
several rental car users were equipped with the
system. It was found that 38% of rental users think
of the device as helpful in finding specific destinations
in unfamiliar territory as did 63% of local
drivers.