TRL, a UK-based centre for innovation in global transport and mobility, has launched its new advanced vehicle technology route risk tool at this year’s Highways UK event.
The tool, which is aimed at local authorities, national road authorities, fleet managers, insurance companies and automotive manufacturers, allows collision risk to be calculated route-by-route and adapt depending on different in-car technologies.
It also enables organisations to map routes across the UK and see the collision risk specific to that particular route.
Users can see collision risks per vehicle kilometre for each technology measure in operation; observe changes in risk following the enablement of each vehicle technology to analyse which measures have the most and least effect; and compare multiple routes based on the risk assessment.
The tool is driven by TRL’s research and accident reconstructions using information from the Road Accident In-Depth Study (RAIDs) collision investigation database, which TRL manages for the Department for Transport.
Users can also choose from and assess the impact of a variety of vehicle technologies and safety measures, so that the impacts of the adoption of different technologies can be seen for the specific routes or areas of interest.
The tool was developed as part of the Driven automated vehicle project – a £13.6m initiative with matched funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Ciaran Ellis, senior data scientist for TRL, said: “This new advanced vehicle technology route risk tool has been developed to help the wider automotive community understand and assess the possibility of future collision risks.
“With an ability to assess the impact of a wide array of in-vehicle technologies, this new tool can provide organisations with the data to map out the safest routes, and to identify the vehicle technologies that enable the safest journeys.”
