Rural Mayday Systems

Abstract

Rural mayday systems have the potential of reducing the time between the occurrence of accidents and the notification of emergency medical services, called the accident notification time. Reductions in this time, in turn, may affect the numbers of fatalities. A statistical analysis is conducted to determine the quantitative relationship between fatalities and the accident notification tune. Using this relationship, the impact of rural mayday systems on fatalities is estimated. The economic benefits of fatality reduction are also derived.

Introduction

The National Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program Plan [l] identifies rural mayday systems as a component of the Emergency Management user service bundle. Mayday systems address the concern for highway safety by facilitating requests for emergency services in the event of vehicle breakdowns or accidents. One aim of mayday systems is to improve the timely delivery of emergency medical services (EMS) by reducing the response time for rural vehicular accidents. As a result, mayday systems arc expected to have a positive impact on reducing accident fatalities.