Lytx – provider of video telematics solutions for commercial, public sector and field service fleets – has unveiled technology designed to address distracted driving using machine vision (MV) and artificial intelligence (AI).

A third of all fatal accidents are caused by distracted driving

To help combat a third of all fatal accidents that are caused by distracted driving and alleviate other high-risk behaviours for its clients, Lytx has enhanced its machine vision and artificial intelligence-powered technology to provide near real-time insight into risky behaviours like using a handheld device while driving.

While traditional software focuses on identifying G-force triggers while an incident is happening, Lytx’s new technology acts like a driver’s sixth sense to constantly monitor the road and the driver, detecting risky driving and triggering short video clips to provide insight into what’s really going on inside the vehicle.

Lytx’s risk detection technology will be included as part of its Driver Safety Suite and will initially include four MV+AI triggers: handheld device, no seatbelt, food or drink, and driver smoking. Fleet managers can couple this with Lytx’s Fleet Tracking Service to provide a complete and integrated solution for fleets looking to optimise their vehicle technology with a single vendor.

Lytx says the technology is an important step in realising the industry move towards Direct Vision Standard (DVS) compliance.

Damian Penney, vice president and general manager for Lytx Europe, said: “Our next-generation technology equips fleet managers with the tools to proactively tackle some of the toughest problems facing their fleets and drivers, such as distracted driving. These new set of triggers will help managers identify even more behaviour that could lead to potentially dangerous situations.

“Our customers are looking to MV+AI technology to help them prevent high risk behaviours from becoming road incidents, the implications of which are huge from both a personal safety and a financial perspective.

“The volume and quality of our data means our MV+AI solution is unrivalled in its accuracy, with our enhanced Driver Safety Suite able to deliver absolute peace of mind.”

Lytx claims greater than 95% accuracy across more than 60 risky driving behaviours. In 2019, Lytx labelled over 1.75 million minutes of video with mobile phone use, driver unbelted, smoking and food/drink behaviours.

New triggers provide superior view of risky driving behaviours

Lytx’s AI algorithms ‘learn’ from the company’s data set of more than 120 billion miles of driving data and 100,000 risky driving events captured daily.

These triggers monitor for driving behaviour patterns and select short video highlights to be analysed and screened by Lytx’s artificial intelligence for accuracy. The validated video clips are then automatically sent via a 4G LTE cellular connection from the vehicle to the cloud, where they may be viewed by a client via their Lytx account from any internet-connected computer, smartphone or tablet.

Fleet managers and drivers then have the opportunity to view these video clips using Lytx’s proprietary coaching workflow. This program has been proven to help change driving behaviour and is associated with up to 50% reduction in collisions and 80% reduction in associated claims costs.