U.K. armed forces recruit backseat driver tech

The U.K.'s armed forces are to get an electronic backseat driver aimed at saving lives on the road.

The GreenRoad Technologies box will record 120 different driving maneuvers and tell military drivers where they are going wrong.

The GreenRoad Safety Center will be installed in 200 vehicles belonging to the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force across the U.K. as part of a six-month trial to improve road safety.

The in-vehicle sensor tracks and analyzes driving styles and then gives drivers feedback about their motoring and areas that need improvement. The system can even chide or reward drivers on the fly with red, yellow, and green LEDs in the vehicle.

For the first three months of the study, Safety Center will collect "blind" test information on approximately 2,000 Ministry of Defense drivers.

These figures will be used to analyze current driving behaviors and compare them across different parts of the organization.

For the final three months, GreenRoad will set up accounts for transport managers allowing them to provide regular feedback to drivers in their unit.

The technology has been shown to reduce accidents by an average of 54 percent and lowered accident costs by an average of 65 percent.

Nick Heath of Silicon.com reported from London.

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