RAC Telematics offers crash detection accuracy of more than 90%, tests show

Independent tests have shown RAC Telematics offers a crash detection accuracy of 92%, compared to the industry average of less than 70% for on-road systems.

Tests on the system were carried out by TRL, the UK's transport research laboratory, at the end of 2014, and accuracy levels were achieved following more than 60 controlled tests including collisions and other kinds of impact such as hitting a kerb.

RAC Telematics said this capability in crash detection will benefit multiple market sectors as collisions at less than 10mph result in more than double the number of disputed accident claims than at higher speeds.

Insurance providers will have first notification of loss with detail about crash severity and vehicle location. Lease companies will have greater insight into vehicle condition and be able to better service customers for repair.

Nick Walker, managing director of RAC Telematics, said: “The results from TRL provide unrivalled independent verification of the crash detection accuracy of the RAC Telematics system, which is hugely beneficial to our customers looking for a product they can trust to report events with the highest accuracy.

“By monitoring both acceleration and vibration signatures at the point of an incident, RAC Telematics is able to identify whether a crash has, or hasn’t, taken place with a 92% certainty.

“Crucially, our technology will identify a low speed incident where crashes are often missed or disputed. It will also separate out events known as 'false positives' such as speed bumps and kerb impact giving significantly more intelligence than traditional methods.”

Iwan Parry, programme development director at TRL, said: “This test programme was developed specifically to evaluate the robustness of the RAC Telematics solution in the detection of collision and non-collision events. 

“The test programme provided a thorough assessment of the technology, testing system response to both travel over severe road features (potholes, speed humps, etc.) and vehicle impacts over a range of speeds, impact orientations and vehicle types.

“We are delighted that through this testing TRL has been able to demonstrate the performance of the RAC Telematics product in an independent trial that allows the RAC to confidently evidence system performance.”