Drones for Road Accident Management: A Systematic Review

The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the academic literature regarding applications of drones in road accident management. It is an attempt to address key research questions regarding its status, applications, solutions, challenges, and opportunities. It is the first scholarly study specifically devoted to this topic that we are aware of. A systematic search of the Web of Science and Scopus databases yielded 26 relevant articles out of 147 initially identified records. The findings indicate that the emphasis in earlier studies has predominantly been on accident investigation and analysis, with a specific focus on 3D accident scene reconstruction. This review also shows a growing trend towards adopting emerging technologies like drones and integrating them with Industry 4.0 technologies for efficient road accident management. The advantages of drones for each component of road accident management were explored, and their primary challenges were identified, which are linked to flight (permission or operation) and data (collection or processing). Despite the existence of different solution methodologies and frameworks, there remains a dearth of studies examining their suitability for complex accident cases, real-life scenarios, and large-scale accidents.