Basic analysis of the number of self-driving cars in use and the timing of the start of evacuation assistance ― assuming the evacuation of vulnerable person evacuation action in the event of flooding

Yuta Moriwaki, Makoto Fujiu

Last modified: 2024-05-06

Abstract


In recent years, Japan has been experiencing an increase in human suffering due to the frequent occurrence of large-scale natural disasters that have never been observed before. In particular, there is a lot of damage to vulnerable person, and how to support evacuation of vulnerable person is an issue in the event of a large-scale disaster. Since vulnerable person are often physically or mentally fatigued during disasters, and the number of such people is expected to increase with the aging of the population in Japan, it is important to consider measures to support the rapid and appropriate vulnerable person. In this study, we focused on the use of self-driving cars, which can provide unattended evacuation support while acquiring disaster information, for evacuation support. The purpose of this study is to obtain knowledge on the number of vehicles used to support the evacuation of vulnerable person evacuation action by using automated vehicles in the event of river flooding, the time required for evacuation, and the timing of starting evacuation support considering the number of people affected. In this study, the National Health Insurance database was first used to identify the number of vulnerable person. Next, a simulation of evacuation support for vulnerable person evacuation action using self-driving cars was conducted, assuming that a river flood occurred in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture. Then, the number of self-driving cars used, the time required for evacuation, and the number of people affected were calculated. As a result, knowledge on the timing of starting support for evacuation of vulnerable person for evacuation action using self-driving cars was obtained during river flooding in Komatsu City.

Keywords


flood disaster; vulnerable person; self-driving cars; evacuation simulation

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