Startup Idea: Software for Analysis of Vehicle's Auto-Metric Data

Startup idea to develop a software that collects and interprets vehicle auto-metric data including speed, acceleration, degrees of swerving, braking rate and more. This can support law enforcement and prosecution in building a valid case against suspected intoxicated or reckless drivers. The software would generate comprehensive reports that could be used by officials and insurance companies.

I work in the field of criminal justice. I conduct considerable research on addiction and mental health issues among intoxicated drivers.

A major problem we face in the field of criminal justice system currently is that when drivers are pulled over by law enforcement officers for being suspected of intoxicated or reckless driving there is very little auto-metric data or evidence available to officers conducting a field investigation and interrogation of suspected intoxicated drivers. Officers usually have dash camera or body camera footage available to them when pursuing and investigating a suspect for supporting their case against a driver being charged with intoxicated driving; however, that data provides a limited timeline of information. Officers often rely exclusively on the blood alcohol level or results of a field sobriety test. However, blood alcohol levels can rapidly deteriorate over time and drivers have been known to pass field sobriety test after extensive practice while being intoxicated (review state-dependent learning). Also, if the driver is intoxicated on narcotics, it may be difficult to detect intoxication without a blood or urine toxicology test. Therefore, in order for a more reliable case to be presented by the prosecution to juries against suspects, they should present all available auto-metric data from the vehicle driven by the suspect.

To improve officer and the prosecution's case against intoxicated or mentally ill drivers, driver's auto-metric data should be subpoenaed or a warrant should be issued to collect auto-metric data/evidence that can help the prosecution's case for charging intoxicated drivers. One way to collect this auto-metric data may be to require all cellular phones GPS systems to actively collect and record the driver's vehicle speed, acceleration, degrees of swerving across time and space, braking rate, proximity of physical contact with other cars, and other motion related data. Or the data could be collected using the cars onboard sensors. I believe that the more data available to officers can help build a reliable and valid case against habitual intoxicated or mentally ill drivers who are unsafe for the road for suspending their license.

The statistical auto-metric data should be easily available and printed out using a report generating software that reports all sorts of data regarding the suspected driver's car activity across time and space. The reports could also be valuable for helping insurance companies determine the cost of insurance policies and the actuarial risk of insuring drivers.

If I was a state Department of Motor Vehicles agency, I would be willing to pay millions of dollars for software that easily interprets the auto-metric data of all cars. Requiring all car to be implemented with data collection instruments or sensors that produce organized and interpretable statistical data and results would allow our society to create safer road and driving conditions. Although, there are surveillance and privacy concerns, we must recognize that this type of software would in the long run save lots of lives by alerting law enforcement to statistically significantly unsafe drivers on the road, possibly in real-time. Data should be transmitted to a central server for flagging statistically unsafe drivers who may require further investigation.