Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Lytx: We Can Predict Driver Collisions Before They Happen

What happens when you put a camera and other sensors on a vehicle to help improve driver safety? Apparently, it makes it possible to predict with some accuracy the probability that a driver will wind up in a collision--well before it happens. San Diego-based Lytx, which develops driver monitoring systems used by business fleets, says its system has a 70 percent success rate in accurately identifying probability a driver will wind up in a collision before it actually occurs. Lytx--better known under its former name, DriveCam--supplies its systems to help companies track driver behavior and improve their fleet saftey. The company says it is using statistics, modeling, machine learning and data mining to ferret out those drivers. Lytx said it companies can use those predictions to change driver behavior and prevent crashes; it's unclear, however, if the company's data might also result in companies showing potentially crash-prone drivers out the door.