AI pilot programme cuts Las Vegas crashes by 17%

A crash prevention pilot programme along a key corridor of Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada, has resulted in a 17 per cent reduction in the number of primary crashes.

The pilot was led by Waycare, an AI-driven mobility solutions provider, in partnership with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC), Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) and the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT).

Harnessing in-vehicle and city data

Waycare’s solution harnesses in-vehicle and city data, combined with predictive analytics, to provide traffic management and safety agencies with the ability to “dynamically identify” areas of roads at high risk for an incident, and to allocate preventative measures to those areas accordingly.

During the programme, 91 per cent of drivers travelling above 65mph, reduced their speed to below 65mph in the area where preventative measures were deployed, the company reports.

“Ground-breaking partnerships like this enable Southern Nevada to continue to lead the way in leveraging advanced technologies to dramatically improve traffic safety and efficiency,” said Tina Quigley, general manager, RTC.

“These latest statistics , coupled with the fact that we are identifying accidents up to 12 minutes faster with the Waycare platform, helps translate what public and private partnerships can do and that AI is working to modernise and create a better transportation system for all.”

How Waycare’s cloud-based platform works:

1. It uses in-vehicle information and municipal traffic data to understand road conditions in real-time;
2. When it identifies an area at high-risk for an incident, Waycare alerts traffic agencies when and where preventative action is required;
3. The RTC uses dynamic message boards to deliver a preliminary warning, alerting drivers to reduce speed and drive cautiously;
4. The NHP proactively positions its vehicles in high-visibility mode along the freeway in conjunction with NDOT which assures safety barriers are in place for the police officers on freeways.

“Traditionally, law enforcement has relied on anecdotal evidence to determine where to deploy resources to respond to traffic related issues,” continued lieutenant colonel Daniel Solow of the Nevada Highway Patrol.

“These latest statistics coupled with the fact that we are identifying accidents up to 12 minutes faster with the Waycare platform helps translate what public and private partnerships can do"

“Now, with the technology that Waycare has brought to Southern Nevada, the highway patrol can proactively deploy units into an area when the system identifies a high likelihood of something happening and prevent crashes before they even happen. This translates into significantly faster treatment for those injured in crashes, quicker clearance and restoration of normal traffic flow, and untold millions of dollars in commerce related delays that are prevented.”

“The results of this pilot programme are a clear signal that AI and deep learning, when deployed in collaboration with traffic management and enforcement agencies, can have a dramatic impact on improving the safety of even our busiest and most at-risk freeways,” added Noam Maital, co-founder and CEO of Waycare.

Waycare said it works with municipalities across the US and has partnered with Waze to share real-time traffic data and build a more complete picture of a city’s road conditions.

The company has offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Silicon Valley, and is backed by leading venture capital funds in the US, Europe, and Israel.

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