SC State awarded $1.98M to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes using virtual reality
The 2024 High Priority-Commercial Motor Vehicle grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) funds the project titled “A SMART Virtual Reality Awareness Program to Reduce Commercial Motor Vehicles Crashes.”
The grant will be used to develop and implement an innovative Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) program using virtual reality to educate, raise awareness and reinforce the need for safety in operating commercial motor vehicles in South Carolina.
The project will be implemented through SC State’s Institute of Business, Environment, Communications and Transportation (BECT) and the James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center. Dr. Barbara Adams, BECT executive director, is the principal investigator, while Dr. Judith Mwakalonge, professor of transportation, and Dr. Stanley Ihekweazu, dean of the SC State College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation (STEM-T) are co-principal investigators.
“Commercial truck accidents are common in South Carolina, and the primary contributing factors are driver-related behavior related to speeding, driver fatigue and distracted driving,” Adams said. “Virtual reality is an innovative technology that is revolutionizing training across many sectors. Using it in transportation training will enable South Carolina drivers to experience realistic situations and refine their responses and actions without the risk of harm to others.”
The project has identified six tasks through which the outcomes will be achieved:
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- Synthesize the causes and related costs for CMV crashes.
- Rank causes in order of severity.
- Synthesize state-of-the-art and effective solutions.
- Develop virtual reality scenarios for various incidents.
- Develop a solution map linking causes to solutions.
- Develop and implement a virtual reality lab for the SMART virtual reality awareness and training program.
In addition to providing continuous training to reduce the number of CMV crashes, the grant will facilitate research on CMV crashes and develop other solutions. This aligns with the Clyburn Transportation Center’s mission and the BECT Institute’s transportation component.
“The U.S. Department of Transportation is an essential partner for SC State as we grow the James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center and its research mission,” SC State President Alexander Conyers said. “We know the importance of using the newest and best technology in our research endeavors, and virtual reality is the perfect example of how to elevate our processes.
“I applaud Drs. Adams, Mwakalonge and Ihekweazu for developing such an innovative concept that should have a significant impact on safety on our highways,” Conyers said.
The virtual reality project is the latest in a series of USDOT-funded initiatives in transportation at SC State:
- As announced in 2023, SC State is part of a nine-member national University Transportation Center studying the vulnerabilities of cybersecurity associated with transportation systems. Led by Clemson University, the National Center for Transportation Cybersecurity and Resiliency is funded by a five-year USDOT grant at $4 million per year. The center continuously monitors and addresses the vulnerabilities of cybersecurity associated with transportation cyber-physical-social systems.
- In 2022, Mwakalonge and Dr. Saidi Siuhi were among a team of researchers awarded a $1.3 million federal grant to study CMV crashes. Funded by FMCSA, the project aims to use artificial intelligence to reduce CMV crashes in highway work zones via alerts through wireless technology.