Sara Assicurazioni hopes the new technology will reduce the incidence of motorcycle collisions in Italy, and in doing so cut its claims costs
Sara Assicurazioni will address the safety gap between riders and car drivers with new technology (Credit: Flikr/Epsilon68)
Italian motor insurance company Sara Assicurazioni has formed a new technology partnership to bring AI-driven safety alerts to motorcycle insurance policyholders.
The tie-up with Israeli start-up Ride Vision will mean customers have the choice to fit its Advance Rider Assistance System to their bikes that will alert them to the threat of a collision and help them to take evasive action.
Sara Assicurazioni said its intention is to reduce the incidence of motorcycle collisions on the road — with riders 28 times more likely to die in an accident than a car occupant — but also acknowledged the opportunity to reduce its own claims costs.
General manager Alberto Tostiof added: “Road safety has always been our main focus, and we’re now glad to start addressing the area of motorbikes where chances for an accident are higher.
“This is why we’re developing a promotional offer for Ride Vision retrofitted bikes.”
The insurer cited a survey by the Automobile Club D’Italia to show the need for risk management.
It revealed that 41,414 motorcycle accidents took place in Italy in 2018, resulting in 755 fatalities.
Sara Assicurazioni formed the partnership with Ride Vision after seeing motorcycle riders as an underserved market for risk-management technology, with the attention of insurers and technologists mostly focussed on cars.
Ride Vision CEO and co-founder Uri Lavi said: “Our collaboration addresses an untreated segment of two-wheeler commuters and fleet operators to promote road safety.
“We’re confident that Ride Vision and Sara’s agreement will bring innovation to an often overlooked community and is a crucial step forward to reduce accidents.”
Customers of Sara Assicurazioni will have the option to fit Ride Vision’s device at the start of 2020.
How will Ride Vision’s tech make motorcycle’s safer for Sara Assicurazioni customers
Ride Vision’s device includes multiple cameras linked to computer vision and neural network technology — two segments of AI that allow it to process imagery and highlight risks.
This was achieved by training a machine learning model on thousands of images and videos, showing the software what does and does not constitute a risk — data the system now uses as a reference point to identify collision danger in real-time.
The software, which is patented by the start-up, is called Collision Aversion Technology (CAT).
Ride Vision claimed CAT recognises and analyses relevant threats without disturbing the rider’s critical focus, with the device also operating as a dash cam to allow riders to record an accident in case they need to make a claim.
Both Sara Assicurazioni and Ride Vision believe the arrival of the technology is timely given that increasing congestion on Italian roads — driven largely by tourism — is driving nationals to opt for motorcycles over cars.
Italy has 6,500,000 motorcycle riders, the most in Europe, followed Germany with a distant 3,800,000.