We recently attended DIA Amsterdam, a conference highlighting  the latest insurance insights and pioneers. While there, our Director of Corporate & Strategic Development Mohsin Rashid presented about artificial intelligence and its impact on safety and distracted driving.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making a positive impact on the world.

At CMT, we use AI to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. Our DriveWell platform takes driving data and makes sense of it to give drivers useful feedback and insights. When combined with incentives rooted in behavioral science, risk behaviors that lead to crashes are reduced.

However, world-class measurement and driver engagement are just the start. With further advancements in technology, AI has unlocked new solutions that go far beyond the telematics motor insurance has previously known.

Distracted driving is a top road safety issue. It kills thousands of people a year. Not only does it affect drivers and passengers, but pedestrians and cyclists as well. Despite laws and public awareness, people are still engaging in distracted driving.

How do we solve this problem?

The first step is world class measurement. However, it is difficult to detect distracted driving and therefore, difficult to prevent. Mobile telematics has solved this issue. CMT’s technology gathers phone sensor data and uses AI algorithms to determine if the driver is using the phone.

The next step is understanding the risk. Through collection of billions of miles of driving data and the ability to detect crashes, CMT sees that distraction is the single largest variable leading to crashes on the roads today.

With the ability to measure driving data and understand risk, the following step is to change behavior. We believe phone distraction is a learned behavior. With the right feedback, engagement, and incentives, that behavior can be changed. CMT partners with insurers and municipalities to deploy our technology to thousands of drivers through Safest Driver contests. For example, among the top 25% of drivers:

• • Boston’s Safest Driver saw a 47% reduction in distraction
  • Seattle’s Safest Driver saw a 35% reduction in distraction
  • San Antonio’s Safest Driver saw a 29% reduction in distraction

Beyond changing distracted driving behavior, AI-powered technology detects crashes in real time. When a crash is detected, an alert is sent to the insurer with the time and precise location of the crash. Then, emergency services are automatically deployed – even when the driver is incapacitated.

But do European consumers want these services? According to recent surveys commissioned by CMT in the U.K., Italy, and France, the answer is yes. Right after rewards for safe driving, drivers want emergency roadside assistance and family safety monitoring features:

• • U.K. – 48% want emergency roadside assistance and 21% want family safety monitoring features
  • Italy – 43% want emergency roadside assistance and 24% want family safety monitoring features
  • France – 42% want emergency roadside assistance and 19% want family safety monitoring features

The bottom line: Advancements in AI and telematics allow motor insurers to offer safety as a service and personalized feedback to their drivers. This means, with the right technology and business model, lower crash rates and expenses.