Ford Reveals Driver Behavior Project in London
Fitness trackers are all the rage these days, and people seem to get a kick from seeing how many steps they’ve taken, how many calories they’ve burned, and what their heart rate is. Naturally, it didn’t take long for a similar principle to be applied to driving a vehicle, and it is not terribly surprising to learn that Ford is at the head of trying to perfect it.
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Ford announced its Driver Behavior Project last month, a four-month endeavor that saw volunteers drive a fleet of 40 Ford Fiestas around London to track their driving habits. Data collected by a device plugged into each vehicle monitored tendencies over the more than 4,000 hours and 160,000 kilometers driven, including everything from acceleration and braking to road and weather conditions.
The data was then used to give drivers a score, which would be used as a tool to inspire better driving habits.
“Like an activity-tracking app that shows the distance we cover and calories we burn, a personal driver score encourages people to drive smarter,” said Jonathan Scott, project lead, Ford Smart Mobility. “We wanted to better understand how people use our products so we could help them to improve that behavior—and a score, combined with guidance, makes it easier to improve.”
“From the vehicle data and research gathered, we were able to test an internally developed, highly advanced driving score algorithm. The score could be used to develop a mobility profile, enabling drivers to save money on services tailored to their needs,” Scott added.
Ford demonstrated its Driver Behavior Project last month at London Technology Week. There, Ford also discussed various other aspects of its Smart Mobility program and its expansion into mobility in general.
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