Mention artificial intelligence to many car fans and the response is unlikely to be wholly positive. Its role as a facilitator of autonomous technology, which takes away control of the car from the driver, is proving a hard sell to both petrolheads and regular motorists.
That scepticism was very much reinforced in a recent YouGov survey, which found that 69 per cent of drivers (from a sample of 1947 people) would not be comfortable with the prospect of self-driving cars being permitted on British motorways next year. However, AI remains a key tool as the industry plans for the future, and an announcement by Ford this week showed one example of how it is being employed in efforts to deliver safer roads.
The company confirmed it is leading a consortium – backed by government agency Innovate UK – which is developing a new digital road safety tool that uses AI and connected cars to predict potential accident hotspots. The Data-Driven Road Safety tool will analyse information from connected vehicles, intelligent road sensors and local authority data to advise on the most probable locations for road safety incidents and their possible causes. This will allow local authorities to identify roads and junctions that pose a high risk to road users, and take pre-emptive action in an attempt to reduce the danger.
An extensive trial period featuring 700 Ford passenger cars and commercial vehicles that are voluntarily connected is being planned over the next 18 months across roads in Oxfordshire and London. Participants for the trial are being actively sought, so if you’re a Ford owner who lives in the area and fancies making a contribution to delivering safer roads in the future, now is your opportunity to do so.
The trial will work as follows: telematics data from this fleet of 700 vehicles – for example brake or accelerator usage, and steering wheel angle – will be analysed alongside information from 100 AI road sensors provided by another of the consortium members, London company Vivacity Labs.
The sensors employ machine learning algorithms to detect near-miss accidents, and are also able to track the movements of cyclists, pedestrians and non-connected vehicles. The vehicle data will then be analysed by experts from Ford and a third consortium member, Loughborough University, while Oxfordshire County Council will focus on how its data sources can work in tandem with the predictive tool to improve safety by, for example, reconsidering road layouts or furniture.
The sort of safety improvements that might be feasible were highlighted by a pair of trials previously carried out by Ford in London which analysed one million miles of driving by connected vehicles. These resulted in recommendations that included the introduction of red-light cameras to deter signal jumping, reducing vegetation to make signage more visible, signage and signals being made double height and the resurfacing of highways.
If the trial is successful, it’s hoped the tool can be developed into a scalable, commercial product used to improve safety across the world. Jon Scott, project lead, City Insights, Ford Mobility, Europe, summed up his company’s ambition when he 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.”
While there will always be an element of ‘Big Brother’ about AI and machine learning that unnerves some, and causes a level of distrust that the YouGov survey reported on, what’s clear is that it can make a major contribution to improving our experience on the roads in future. Hopefully this Ford-backed venture can change a few minds as well as delivering on its goal of enhanced safety for all.
Keyword: How Ford is using AI and connected cars to improve safety