Ford uses big data and connected-car technology to reduce accident black spots

The widespread use of the internet can play a role in improving road safety, and Ford is already working with data analysis to reduce the risk of accidents

The introduction of 5G connectivity seems to be the key to boosting networked services and real-time interaction between vehicles. Indeed, car manufacturers are working hand in hand with telecommunications companies to equip the cars of tomorrow with this technology.

But, leaving the future aside, the monitoring of human activity, both online and offline, appears to be recorded, one way or another, and it is in that digitised repository of information known as “big data” that Ford Mobility has found its object of study.

From its mobility specialisation department, Ford has carried out a study to locate the points where road accidents in the city of London concentrate the greatest number of crashes.

Ford calls this type of work preventive road safety.

Preventive road safety could reduce the accident rate

After analysing the big data related to accidents, together with the study of the data obtained and extracted from a group of vehicles already connected, new locations not previously identified as black spots could be pinpointed.

Now, with the information gathered, the reasons why driving through these places means a higher probability of being involved in a traffic accident will be studied.

Likewise, thanks to monitoring the activity of drivers of connected vehicles, it will be possible to identify behaviours and driving conditions that may contribute to an increase in accidents at these high-risk points.

On the ground, the mobility and road safety specialists at Ford have verified, in situ, that at these locations one can observe marks left by sudden braking, vegetation that obstructs the view of signs, and also that prohibited manoeuvres are carried out or traffic signs are ignored.

The information gathered may suggest changes at the problematic locations, whether deterrent or corrective measures, such as surveillance and control cameras at traffic lights that report and penalise offenders with fines, or corrective measures such as pruning vegetation or replacing or modifying existing signs, without forgetting the design of these places themselves, for example converting junctions into roundabouts.

Ford also studies road accidents in Spain

Once the London test model has been validated, expansion to other countries and cities is the next step.

Thus, in addition to studying accidents in cities key to Ford, such as Cologne, in Spain, in collaboration with City Insights, work is already under way with the city of Valencia.