Ford trialling tech to foresee accidents, connect cars and improve road safety

A consortium led by Ford is developing an innovative predictive road safety tool which, using data from connected vehicles and intelligent roadside sensors, could help to make travel in towns and cities safer and easier.

Each year more than 1.3 million people are killed on roads around the world – around 3,700 every day – with road injuries the eighth leading cause of death globally . On top of the human impact, accidents also have significant financial consequences. The U.K. Department for Transport puts the annual economic cost of road incidents at more than £35 billion.

The Data-Driven Road Safety Tool will analyse information from connected vehicles, smart roadside sensors and local-authority data to predict the likely locations and possible root causes of potential road safety hotspots. The insights will enable cities to take pre-emptive action to address roads and junctions that pose the highest risks to road users.

“Soon every new vehicle will be a connected vehicle, and we see this as an opportunity to reduce road traffic incidents and save lives in a significant way,” said Jon Scott, project lead, City Insights, Ford Mobility, Europe. “By collaborating with leading innovators, experts and academics – and with the backing of Innovate U.K.– we truly believe we can help improve mobility for millions around the world.”

Ford Mobility is working alongside partners including Oxfordshire County Council, AI sensor specialists VivaCity, and leading academics from Loughborough University’s Transport Safety Research Centre, with support from Transport for London. The aim is to develop the tool into a solution that could benefit cities and road users around the world. The initiative has now received financial backing from the Innovate UK, the government-backed innovation fund.

Read the full press release in The Telegraph.