Revv partners with Mobileye

NEW DELHI: Self-drive car sharing startup Revv has partnered with Mobileye, an Intel Company, to install advanced driver assistance systems in their cars with the aim of red­ucing accidents and casualties on India’s roads.

India has one of the highest incidences of road fatalities in the world, with 1.5 lakh deaths from over 4 lakh road accidents every year.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways estimates that 84% of these are the driver’s fault, where drivers lose attention of the road in the critical 2 or 3 seconds prior to an accident, which could be while using mobile phones, driving while fatigued, unintentional lane changes etc. Hence alerting the driver and bringing his or her attention to the road in the crucial seconds before an accident could conceivably prevent over 3 lakh accidents annually and possibly save more than 1 lakh lives.

In the past, Revv has already taken measures such as implementing speed warnings and driver behaviour monitoring systems to act as safety nets for its customers. Now, with Mobileye's Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), Revv's drivers will be even safer behind the wheel. Mobileye's ADAS technology alerts the driver prior to a potential accident, allowing them to react accordingly and mitigate or completely avoid the accident.

Revv piloted Mobileye's ADAS over a 3-month period, with 30 vehicles and over 4,00,000 kms driven; Over this 3-month period Revv witnessed a 74% or four-fold decrease in accident rates (from an accident every 22,000kms to every 84,000kms). As such, Revv is now rolling out the system across its entire fleet of 800 vehicles.

“We pride ourselves in always putting the customer first, including taking corporate social responsibility seriously. India has only 1% of the world’s vehicles, but accounts for 10% of the world’s road fatalities. Given this, we felt that any step to increase the safety of our customers is a step worth taking”, Revv co-founders were quoted as saying.

Revv's ideology is in line with the vision of Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari. Mr. Gadkari has already taken initiatives aimed at reducing the number of deaths due to road accidents by half, explicitly stating this target in a press conference last year.

Michael Hirsh, Mobileye's Director for India said “Revv is leading the way with this worthy initiative for the sake of customers, road users and India’s road safety mission in general. This is the essence of corporate responsibility and a shining example to all. And we are happy to be playing an important role in realising this mission”

Mobileye is an Israeli based hi-tech company that specialises in vision based technology, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. It was recently acquired by Intel for USD 15.3 billion.