A new AI analytics tool that can help drivers avoid accident blackspots is being made available for free over the festive period to help drivers cut the risk of driving.

The tool shows drivers the riskier and safer areas on their festive routes

Developed by tech start-up Predina to build on traditional telematics systems, the AI analytics platform predicts the areas when and where road collisions are likely to happen, using a range of contextual data.

Users just need to enter their destination online and the system will generate a route that identifies safer sections, areas to be cautious, and the riskiest hotspots. It will offer alternative routes but highlight if they represent a higher risk.

Predina is offering its safety planning tool to road users over Christmas to help with the annual festive getaway, which this year is predicted to peak on Friday 20 December, with millions of long journeys to join family and friends for Christmas taking place in short daylight hours – and often in some of the year’s worst weather conditions.

“The system is ultimately designed to be used by telematics providers and vehicle manufacturers, but we thought it right to give access to everyone over the Christmas period,” explained Bola Adegbulu, a Nigerian-born aeronautics engineer and co-founder of the business. “From around the end of next week, there will be more than two million students making an unfamiliar journey home – or whose driving skills have perhaps become rusty, returning to use the family car – plus older motorists eager to visit grandchildren but reluctant to drive strange routes in the dark. This is in addition to all the millions heading out of town for the Christmas break.

“We’d like to know they will be extra-vigilant coming into riskier hotspots and that everyone arrives safely.”

To access the tool, click here.