How mobility data and road safety interact

Fewer accidents and injuries will lower your costs

Aggressive driving and speeding accounted for 29% of all fatal accidents in 2020 according to NHTSA, speeding alone can be both fatal for your driver’s safety and budget. In the article they mention several main factors that contribute to an overall rise in aggressive driving:

Traffic
Running late
Anonymity
Disrespect for the law.

An increase in an average speed of 1 km/h typically results in a 3% higher risk of a collision involving injury, with a 4-5% increase for collisions resulting in death.

– WHO

Analysing driving behaviour patterns to prevent accidents

Data is an underrated source to improve and ensure safety amongst your drivers. By analysing large data sets, SaaS companies like ABAX can identify patterns and trends that can help make both drivers and roads safer. Data from their driving patterns like acceleration, heavy braking, abrupt turns, and idling, are used to create a score that will be measured against your industry’s average.

The drivers will get tips on how to improve their driving in their driver APP, as well as encouraged to keep up their good behaviour. For example, if a driver is heavy on the gas they will be notified that they need to slow down to improve their driving score. Such gamification of the driving score can help improve the overall safety on roads.

Big Data can also be used to improve the accuracy of predictive models for traffic congestion and accident risk. By taking into account a wider range of data, these models can provide more accurate predictions to improve traffic flow and reduce the likelihood of accidents. With a detailed analysis of aggregated driving behaviour, it becomes possible to detect risks even before an accident occurs that could save road users’ lives.

Challenges with using big data for road safety

While big data has the potential to revolutionise road safety, there are also some challenges associated with using it.

Firstly, it can be difficult to collect reliable data as the GPS signals have to be accurate, requiring the use of high-quality hardware.

There is also a risk that data will be misinterpreted or used to make false assumptions.

Cyber-attacks pose another threat, so a professional SaaS-partner with a focus on GDPR and cyber-security to keep the driver data safe, as well as with solid Data Policy routines, is essential.

The future of big data and road safety is AI

The amount of data generated by cars on the road is increasing exponentially and AI-engines like Greater Than are a highly valued resource to improve the analyses. AI will use analyse data from other drivers across Europe to help you understand the patterns that lead to accidents.

Data-driven decision-making will take the guesswork out of your management

The true benefit of mobility data comes from making key decisions for your fleet, or for your business overall. Comparing your company data monthly or year-on-year is hugely important. Data over the long term can shed light on problems that you didn’t know you had to allow for ongoing improvements.

The best part is the short time it takes to pull an automatic report from SaaS providers such as ABAX. It almost makes the solution worth the investment all by itself. By using a data-driven methodology, the hours spent on pulling data from several sources into Excel sheet are reduced to seconds.

The fact that a particular vehicle spends more on fuel today may seem irrelevant. However, over a longer period, the data points pertaining to that vehicle may paint a picture that you weren’t expecting to see; or in many cases, wouldn’t have seen unless you were able to analyse that data over time.

Larvik Municipality in Norway was not aware that 5 vehicles within their fleet were nearly not used at all. Why was this? Employees tend to pick the vehicle parked closest to the office entrance, or the newer ones. The result is that they can sell vehicles or actually hire more home nurses within the same budget.

Big data in the insurance industry

Car insurance is one of the most important factors in determining the cost of owning and operating a vehicle, also known as TCO (total cost of ownership). In the past, insurers would base rates on a few key factors, mostly driver demographic.

However, with the use of mobility data and AI, insurers are now able to use a much wider range of data points. The data will help them calculate rates making the insurance premiums user based and proper. ABAX has entered partnerships with Tryg to help the customers add fleet and driver safety to their agenda.

Want to know how we can help your business reduce risks, costs and admin time?

Sources:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries
https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/speeding
https://www.toi.no/publikasjoner/kartlegging-av-arbeidsrelaterte-trafikkulykker-analyse-av-dodsulykker-i-norge-fra-2005-til-2010-article30963-8.html