“SOON EVERY NEW VEHICLE WILL BE A CONNECTED VEHICLE”: Ford trials tech that connects to road sensors

A consortium led by Ford is developing an new 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. The UK Department for Transport puts the annual economic cost of road incidents at more than £35billion.

However, according to one source self-driving cars cause more accidents (9.1 accidents per million miles driven) than vehicles involving a human driver (4.1 accidents per million miles driven).

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.

Jon Scott, project lead at City Insights Ford Mobility, said: “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.

“By collaborating with leading innovators, experts and academics – and with the backing of Innovate UK– 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 Labs, 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.

Ford has conducted extensive research into the opportunity for connected vehicles and predictive analytics to help improve road safety, Now, up to 700 passenger and commercial vehicles will be voluntarily connected across Oxfordshire and London as part of the 18-month project starting this summer.

Detailed telematics data from the fleet of vehicles – such as brake or accelerator pedal usage and steering wheel angle – will be analysed alongside information from up to 25 additional smart sensors to be provided in Oxfordshire by Vivacity Labs a specialist in traffic capture and classification, bringing the total number in use up to 100.

Experts from the Transport Safety Research Centre at Loughborough University, led by Ruth Welsh, senior lecturer, Traffic Safety and Ford’s Global Data Insight and Analytics team will analyse driver and vehicle data, while Oxfordshire County Council will focus on how local authority-provided data sources combined with the predictive tool can improve road safety for all users.

Llewelyn Morgan, Head of Innovation at Oxfordshire County Council, said: “Oxfordshire County Council is committed to enabling innovative applications for connected vehicle technology that will benefit our communities.

“By connecting vehicle data with smart infrastructure, we hope this project will help improve safety for all road users.”

The insights and analysis will be used to further prove and develop the digital road safety algorithm and tool into a scalable, commercial product to benefit cities and citizens around the world. The consortium will also seek to uncover further real-world applications for predictive road safety-related insights.

Prof Steve Rothberg, pro vice-chancellor for research at Loughborough University, said: “Loughborough has a unique capability in Transport Safety research, built up over almost 40 years, and we are proud to be part of a transformational project to position the UK as a global leader in connected vehicle safety.”