Automaker General Motors and technology firm INRIX recently joined forces to develop a cloud-based analytics application called “Safety View” that provides transportation officials with critical insights using crash, vehicle, vulnerable road user or VRU information plus data from the U.S. Census to help prioritize and measure the effectiveness of roadway safety projects and their impact on communities.
[Above photo via PxHere]
“General Motors has outlined a vision for a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion, and each day we take a critical step forward in turning that vision into reality,” said Alan Wexler, GM’s senior VP for strategy and innovation, in a statement.
With nearly 15 million connected cars on U.S. and Canadian roads, he added that GM believes joining forces with INRIX to make aggregated vehicle insights available to public agencies is a major step to help increase the safety of U.S. roads.
“Our work with INRIX is the first product of the ‘GM Future Roads’ platform as we work to create digital safety solutions,” Wexler emphasized. “By offering a cutting-edge mobility analytics product, we’re helping public agencies make informed safety decisions for their communities.”
Bryan Mistele, co-founder and CEO of INRIX, pointed out that fatalities and injuries continue to rise “at an alarming rate” in the U.S. – and that means the country “must change how we approach road safety, and both design and deliver new tools to combat this increase.”
For example, according to its latest annual traffic crash data, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 38,824 people lost their lives in traffic crashes nationwide in 2020 – the highest number of traffic fatalities since 2007.
While the number of crashes and traffic injuries declined overall in 2020 compared to 2019 – by 22 percent and 17 percent, respectively – NHTSA said fatal crashes increased by 6.8 percent.
As a result, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled increased to 1.34, a 21 percent increase from 2019, even though Federal Highway Administration data indicates total vehicle miles traveled decreased by 11 percent in 2020.
To help reduce those numbers, INRIX’s Mistele pointed to key attributes of the new “Safety View” package, which include access to critical safety and demographic datasets via a single cloud-based application; the ability to identify hazardous roadway segments; and the ability to evaluate the impact of ‘Vision Zero’ action plans with access to near real-time insights.