Traffic algorithms to analyze drivers’ behavior on roads and monitor accident hotspots

The report on the safety and smooth flow of traffic, prepared by the Federal National Council’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs, Appeals and Complaints Committee, showed that the UAE ranks fifth in the world in road quality, but it still faces a challenge represented by human losses resulting from traffic accidents, the most prominent causes of which are human behaviour, which reflects the importance of traffic education through the educational and social process, especially in the stages of childhood and adolescence, and cooperation and coordination with relevant institutions, the media, social media platforms and the local community as a whole, to consolidate a system An integrated behavioral approach based on education, smart deterrence, motivation and continuous follow-up to achieve safety for all.

Member of the Federal National Council, Moza Mohammed Al Shehhi, stressed during the discussion of the report in the Federal National Council last Wednesday that achieving the national strategic goals for quality of life requires completing them with a perspective that focuses on directing human behavior on these roads to ensure safety and smoothness, which highlights the importance of enriching existing efforts with the concepts of traffic psychology, which studies the psychological and behavioral factors of drivers. She wondered if the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure had tools or plans to develop traffic behavior engineering and spread traffic culture and awareness in coordination and cooperation between it and the relevant authorities.

For his part, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, confirmed that the design of roads in the Emirates is carried out in accordance with international specifications and the best standards, which always include behavior patterns of various drivers, whether vehicles, trucks, or bicycles, and various types and sizes of cars, and the standards take into account different behavior patterns and cultures, and security and safety procedures.

He said: “With regard to the use of artificial intelligence, the UAE is one of the first and most countries in the world to adopt artificial intelligence systems and has developed legislation for self-driving vehicles. We have an operations room for real-time monitoring of federal roads covered with modern cameras. We also have communication and coordination through the Ministry of Interior, the Traffic Council, and localities regarding data and updating it.”

While the Director General of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, Brigadier General Dr. Rashid Sultan Al Khader, revealed the existence of monitoring systems in the police agencies in the country that use artificial intelligence to analyze the behavior of drivers, in addition to the presence of a platform to monitor hot spots for accidents. Drivers are also followed up in serious or minor accidents, and subjected to systematic courses according to the behavioral state of each driver. He said: “The Ministry of Interior is also keen to analyze the risk to drivers using artificial intelligence tools available in this field, and we are working to develop special initiatives and standards to control any reckless behavior that may occur from drivers.”