Black box study will detect crash risks
The ground-breaking study, the first of its kind in Ireland, is being undertaken at Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with leading accident management company CRASH Services.
It will involve more than 50 young and inexperienced drivers — the majority of whom are from Border counties — having a ‘black box’ telematics device fitted to their cars.
The device, from Ingenium Dynamics, will send information including location, speed and acceleration and deceleration levels, back to a central computer.
It will then score driving performance based on the frequency and severity of any incidents caused by risky driving behaviour. TCD’s School of Engineering and its Centre for Bioengineering are both collaborating on the project.
TCD’s assistant professor in mechanical and manufacturing engineering, Dr Ciaran Simms, said: “It is essential that road safety interventions are based on evidence-based practice, so I am excited that this study will generate data to help us evaluate the effectiveness of these kinds of telematics devices which have significant potential to improve driver behaviour.”
Meanwhile, Martin McRandal of CRASH Services said the company believed the deployment of quality telematics solutions “can help to make Ireland’s roads safer”.
He said the results of the study would be published later this summer.
“We have already been working with the academic team for the past 12 months and it is great to get the study underway,” he said.
“This is the first academic study of its type to be conducted in Ireland. Currently there is no tangible evidence to prove or disprove the effectiveness of this technology in reducing road risk. “The results, when they are published in August, will be of benefit to everyone with an interest in road safety, including Government and Government agencies, fleet operators and insurance providers.”
