Situation awareness within the context of connected cars: A comprehensive review and recent trends

•We have conducted a literature survey on situation awareness in connected cars.•Situation awareness process is categorized into four main groups.•Various taxonomies are proposed for different situation awareness technical tools.•The capabilities of different situation awareness tools are compared.•Major situation awareness frameworks in connected cars are introduced.

Driving safety is among the most important factors in the design of next generation vehicles as an integral component of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Crash avoidance and reduction of potential subsequent fatalities require timely delivery of sensitive and pertinent safety information for the drivers. Hence, the driver can become aware of the current driving situation, and can consequently, take appropriate decisions to avoid potentially imminent hazards. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive survey on situation awareness within the context of connected vehicles and Internet of Cars (also called here as connected cars). We provide context for the Internet of Cars and highlight its major features. Furthermore, situation awareness in the Internet of Cars is explored through presenting an in-depth discussion on its different components. Various aspects of high and low level information fusions are described within this context. Besides, major methods/models in situation awareness are linked to the main aspects of each component, and an overall comparison between them is reported. Moreover, on-the-road safety frameworks incorporating situation awareness are highlighted. Finally, the challenging issues and the emerging trends that shall be faced by the research community are addressed.