FORBES MIDDLE EAST: RTA WANTS TO USE DATA TO MAKE YOUR RIDE SAFER

RTA Wants To Use Data To Make Your Ride Safer

RTA’s Dubai Taxi Corporation plans to install telematics devices in 113 limousines to evaluate driver safety.

It awarded the project to global telematics provider FMS Tech and its Dubai-based partner Technologica yesterday, whose devices collect data from over 100 parameters including speed, how fast the driver brakes and the vehicle’s location.

The data is then sent to RTA and analyzed to monitor drivers and their vehicles—the devices also show the engine’s performance and vehicle maintenance. Fleet managers check the information and send it back to the drivers so they can improve their driving.

Besides road safety, RTA plans to use the data to track driver routes and decrease the amount of time cars spend idling to cut costs.

RTA opened a service center to install telematics devices in trucks last April—in February alone, 300 trucks started using the devices. A press release from Dubai Media Office noted that telematics devices in heavy trucks will be optional up until August this year.

Telematics has gained popularity in the U.K. and U.S., with insurance companies betting on the technology to change the way they price their services; unsafe drivers would have high premiums.

Speaking in a video interview, co-founder of online financial comparison site Compareit4me Jon Richards noted that he sees telematics as the future of car insurance in Dubai.

“My drive to work is four minutes,” Richards says. “I don’t drive on Sheikh Zayed Road to get to work, yet I would pay the same price as a carbon copy of me who drives up and down to Abu Dhabi every day. We know the likelihood of a crash has to increase.”