Hawaii Gave Away 1,000 Free Dashcams To Drivers, Now DOT Has 'Eyes On The Road'

• Cars

A new program by the Hawaii Department of Transportation uses 1,000 dashcams to monitor the state's roads. Hawaii DOT, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii and in partnership with Blyncsy, a technology supplier that uses crowd-sourced dashcam images and AI to manage roadways by creating a digital twin of the state's highway network. 

According to Hawaii's Eyes on the Road website, the program, "Will collect anonymized dash camera footage to provide clients such as HiDOT with data and insights to help them maintain a safe road network. From potholes to guardrail damage, vegetation encroachment and paint line visibility, platform automatically analyzes dash camera imagery and identifies areas of concern." This lets the state act much more quickly on maintenance issues, but as we know, AI can get things wrong, so a little bit of oversight is necessary.

Of the 1,000 dashcams distributed throughout Hawaii, in itself one of the worst states to drive in, 390 will be used on the big island, 245 will be used on Maui and surrounding islands, 250 will be used on Oahu, where a message was sent to speeders, and 115 will serve on Kauai. Each is encoded for a specific island and will not work on any other, and the dashcam must be plugged into the vehicle's OBD port. The NextBase app must also be downloaded to each selected resident's smartphone and connected to the dashcam via Bluetooth. 

Blyncsy gets video from the dashcams as still images, which are processed using AI plus machine learning algorithms. After processing, the state's DOT receives details on highway locations that need work. 

More details on the Eyes on The Road program

In addition to monitoring the condition of the roads all over the Hawaiian islands, the dashcams, a must-have upgrade for your car, can also be used to report unsafe driving behavior by others, which can include road rage, reckless driving, and other offenses. Drivers using the dashcams to report such offenses can access the relevant videoclips in the NextBase app. Once it is identified, the videoclip can then simply be sent to the appropriate law enforcement agency for follow up.

The state has set a schedule for how often its various highway maintenance issues will be addressed. Guardrail damage inspection is the top priority and will be done every 12 hours. Next comes the encroachment of vegetation on guardrails and road signage, which will take place on a weekly basis. 

Also set for weekly checks are the detection of large amounts of debris on the roads and highways. Lower down on the priority list are the MUCTD — Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices — sign inventory and the FHWA — Federal Highway Administration — striping visibility assessment, both of which are slated to be done on an annual basis.

The Eyes on the Road dashcam project is just one of the projects currently taking place under the auspices of Blyncsy. It also has active projects with the Alabama Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the City of Plano, Texas.