.svg){kind=logo}
.svg){kind=icon}
In 2023, Maryland ranked second in the nation in fatal urban car crashes. In 2024, they had 165 pedestrian deaths and over 3,000 pedestrian injuries – 30% of which involved children under the age of 15. At Obvio, we believe the right kind of responsibly and responsively built technology can enable unprecedented ways of solving this problem.
Over the past few months, in partnership with Prince George’s County, MD, we enabled incredible behavior change - using our AI powered cameras, Prince George’s County reduced stop sign violations by over 70% in just 4 months. Let us tell you how we worked together to effectuate these incredible results.
1. Partnering with key community leaders to pass laws and galvanize the community
In Prince George’s County, we were grateful to be able to partner hand in hand with an established coalition of visionary leaders across police departments, state, and local legislators who were eager to find a solution to traffic safety issues in their towns. The main issue preventing the adoption of automated enforcement solutions was a lack of data. As that roadblock became clear through our engagements with the Police Chief, we deployed pilot cameras to collect the hard proof legislators needed to pass the requisite laws that would pave the way for automated traffic enforcement. The next step was to develop a roadmap to educate the community on the benefits of such enforcement. The Maryland coalition led the development of the LetsDriveSafer campaign, using lawn signs and a public dashboard powered by Obvio to share stats and examples of violations on their streets. This led to greater awareness and a sense of community accountability. Without the tireless work and thoughtfulness of these key stakeholders, Obvio wouldn’t have been able to deliver these monumental results.
Fun fact: we wrap our camera poles with custom artwork made my local designers, turning them into snazzy neighborhood safety beacons.
2. Building responsible and reliable products to enable enforcement agencies to act
We drive behavior change by coupling top of market technology with excellent customer partnership and operational expertise. Our solar powered poles take only a few hours to install as we don’t need a power hookup, and to protect the privacy of citizens, we only capture the essential elements of a violation to enable police departments to review the video and issue tickets. Think of us as an extra pair of hands for police departments who can’t be everywhere all at once. Pair this with a dedicated ops team handling installs and support and you have the recipe for success.
3. Transparency in measuring the impact of behavior change
When towns launched the LetsDriveSafer campaign, Obvio provided real data that helped drive home the message that making streets safer was a community responsibility. Now that the program is up and running, we are eager to share the impact as well.
Our deployment in Prince George’s County shows just how effective our technology can be at driving the behavior change we all want, but the key unlock is strong coalitions and community engagement. Working together, this solution is fast, effective, and for the record, it’s popular. A back-to-school survey in Colmar Manor showed 96% of residents feel safer and 91% want the program expanded.
With these encouraging early results, we want to bring this playbook to other towns in Maryland and throughout the country. If you’re a policymaker, city councilor, or just a concerned citizen looking to bring this technology to an intersection near you, reach out, we’d love to work with you!
Links / Sources
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/maryland-ranks-second-in-fatal-urban-car-crashes-study-finds
https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics/detail/yearly-snapshot
Even though U.S. vehicle miles of travel fell 11 percent from 2019 to 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. traffic fatalities increased by 7% percent from 2019 to 2020. This coincided with exploding cell phone usage.
Fatalities due to distracted driving is estimated to be in excess of 10,000 per year, accounting for ~29% of all fatalities. Phone use while driving – particularly calling and texting – is one of the most common distractions. When a person reads a text while driving, his or her eyes are off the road for an average of five seconds. At 55 miles per hour, that is like driving the length of an entire football field while blindfolded.
Sources:
Obvio was born out of recognition that we need something new for our roadways. Nearly 40,000 Americans die in traffic accidents every year. At Obvio, we believe that these deaths are preventable. We’re the company to do that with a unique approach bridging community-focused engagement with tech-first principles.
We’re excited you’re here and we’re eager to share our thoughts, theories of change, and behind the scenes moments with you. Stay tuned for regular updates on our progress as we aim to make our roadways safer.
.avif)
.svg){kind=logo}