Most people use Google Street View to find their way. Dr. Quynh Nguyen, an epidemiologist and statistician at the University of Maryland, uses it to find places where our travels could come to an abrupt (and disastrous) end. This researcher thus used AI to identify environmental elements having an impact on collisions involving cars, but also cyclists, and even incidents affecting pedestrians.
The results of this work are published in the British Medical Journal of Injury Prevention.
“Car accidents are now the leading cause of death among young people aged 5 to 29. It is therefore crucial to understand how the physical environment can increase or decrease the number of fatal collisions, and which communities are most affected by this,” said Dr. Nguyen.
Along with colleagues, this researcher used Google Street View to determine the relationship between car crashes and the built environment where crashes occur. Using virtual mapping, the team of scientists looked at specific road structures, such as streetlights or plants, across the United States.
“Since we were able to integrate such a large amount of data from Google Street View covering the United States, we obtained precise results about the built elements that have an impact on car accidents. It was clear that places with more greenery, street lights, single-lane roads and sidewalks were linked to fewer fatal collisions,” Dr. Nguyen said.
Thus, it is sidewalks that have the greatest impact on reducing the number of accidents. When roads were bordered by these concrete strips, there were 70% fewer collisions. As for single-lane roads, generally in rural areas, the drop in the number of accidents reached 50%.
For pedestrians and cyclists, streetlights and stop signs provided added safety. In contrast, sites with road construction sites led to an increase in the number of car accidents.
“Many of the public health problems communities face are solvable,” says Xiaohe Yue, data analyst and co-author of the study.
“Emerging technologies and access to large data sources have helped find solutions to some of the public health issues affecting populations. »
The researchers say they hope that their findings will help improve public policies on transportation and infrastructure, by offering proven options so that decision-makers improve road safety for drivers, but also for pedestrians and the cyclists.
“We hope that our work will lead urban planners and entrepreneurs to more closely consider the built environment, and therefore design safer streets and communities,” said Heran Mane, co-author of the study.
