StreetVision tool pinpoints likely crash sites using mobile phone data

A new tool from Cambridge Mobile Telematics combines cell phone data with crash data to identify likely hot spots for crashes based on phone use and the likelihood of driver distraction. 

As Kea Wilson explains in Streetsblog USA, "In the last six months, departments of transportation in New Mexico, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, and others have begun relying on StreetVision to help decide where they should install things like roundabouts and speed cameras, confirm whether those strategies work, and build the case for more of them."

StreetVision uses anonymized cell phone data volunteered by roughly 55 million U.S. drivers to identify trends like distraction, hard-braking, and speeding. "Actuaries say all those behaviors are highly predictive of future collisions, particularly when they happen again and again at the same sites." Now, StreetVision lets cities understand these hot spots practically in real time and make interventions before more crashes happen. The tool lets governments analyze data within weeks, without waiting for expensive, formal traffic studies — letting them make their case and take action on safety improvements faster.