Vehicle-to-vehicle communication to avoid head-on collisions on highways using visible light communication under foggy conditions

Abstract Adverse weather conditions, especially fog, significantly impair the performance of traditional radio frequency (RF)-based vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems, leading to increased risks of head-on collisions on highways. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents a novel V2V communication approach based on Visible Light Communication (VLC) for effective collision avoidance under foggy conditions. By utilizing vehicle headlights as VLC transmitters and rear-facing photodetectors as receivers, the system ensures line-of-sight communication with minimal interference and high accuracy. The proposed system enables real-time data exchange, including vehicle speed and heading, and uses this information to calculate relative distance and Time-to-Collision (TTC). A warning mechanism is triggered if TTC falls below a safety threshold, allowing drivers or autonomous systems to take corrective actions. Simulation results demonstrate that as visibility improves to 50 m, the uncoded system sustains reliable communication up to 42.00 m, giving a TTC of 1.08 s. The LDPC-coded system extends this range to 51.03 m, increasing the TTC to 1.31 s. The VLC-based V2V communication offers improved reliability and responsiveness in low-visibility scenarios, making it a viable alternative to RF-based methods for highway safety applications.