Michelin Driving Data to Intelligence (DDi) has announced its latest service, Wrong Way, which is directed at making roads and travel even safer for drivers.
This latest service – part of the “Safer Roads” suite of services – is designed to help identify the locations where wrong-way driving is happening, said Michelin. Typically, the company says these events often lead to crashes that are head-on collisions and frequently involve several vehicles, resulting in multiple fatalities and severe injuries.
“Research has found that there are several factors which can be associated with wrong-way driving,” said Erik Dietz, chief operating officer for Michelin DDi. “Road design is not the only root cause increasing the risk of wrong-way driving events but it can be a key contributing factor. With this new service, we want to help road managers by arming them with life-saving data and insights on wrong-way driving hotspots, empowering them to prevent further incidents in their network.”
Based on data collected from more than 40 million connected drivers in North America, Michelin DDi says it provides actionable insights which focus strictly on wrong-way driving. This service not only detects and locates wrong-way driving events, but it also provides unique and precise information on the point of entry, the distance and duration of the incident, the company says. Michelin said Wrong Way enables road managers to identify and assess wrong-way driving issues in their network and empowers them to adopt a preventative approach by taking appropriate measures and allocating their resources to help eliminate potential issues.
“The wrong-way driving event identification can be paired with our current data-collection efforts from other driving events we capture, such as harsh braking and phone handling while driving, to better assess the context of these occurrences,” said Dietz. “This is a great opportunity for municipalities and governments to identify wrong-way hotspots, which can help them act before crashes occur by implementing changes when road design or signage is involved in the identified areas. It is a step further towards Vision Zero by helping to reduce crashes as a result of wrong-way driving events and save more lives.”
