Sheffield-based telematics company The Floow aims to reduce death toll on roads

A YORKSHIRE-based telematics company aims to reduce the death toll on Britain's roads by rewarding safe drivers.
Dr. Sam Chapman, The Floow's chief innovation officer and co-founder Picture: Marie CaleyDr. Sam Chapman, The Floow's chief innovation officer and co-founder Picture: Marie Caley
Dr. Sam Chapman, The Floow's chief innovation officer and co-founder Picture: Marie Caley

The Floow has created an app which gives drivers a score for each of their journeys, based on a number of criteria, such as speed, fatigue, and smooth driving. By improving their scores, the app’s users can become safer drivers and also reduce their insurance premiums.

A spokesman for the Floow, which is based in Sheffield, added: “The data scientists at The Floow are experts at understanding driver behaviour on given roads. This knowledge helps understand driver behaviour patterns on key roads and danger areas.”

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The Floow also runs a coaching service for higher risk drivers.

“By helping them understand their driver scores and how to improve them, this course reduces 16 accidents in every 100 cases,’’ the spokesman said.

Some 1,792 deaths were recorded in road traffic accidents in 2016, which is an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year and the highest figure since 2011, according to data from the Department for Transport.

The spokesman said: “At a time when the number of people killed on Britain’s roads has reached a five-year high, The Floow, has launched a production-ready telematics platform that opens up the market to all insurance organisations that support safer driving on the roads. The launch of FloowDrive allows all insurance companies, fleet operators and auto manufacturers that support responsible driving to adopt the technology, giving them a platform to launch into the telematics market in a matter of days, rather than it taking several months.”

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“While the current telematics market has grown by 26 per cent in the last year to 17.4m policies worldwide, the technology that pushes safe driving and lowers insurance premiums has to date been limited to a handful of major insurers.

“The scale of financial and time investment and technological complexity required has been a barrier preventing more organisations from entering the telematics market. This changes with the arrival of FloowDrive.”

Aldo Monteforte, the chief executive of The Floow said: “As a fast growing company - and a global leader in shaping the telematics industry - we have the scale and experience to be able to offer a proven, production-ready solution to companies that want to adopt telematics to improve safe driving and better manage insurance risk.

“The combination of our access to big data combined with world-class data scientists has helped us model personal scores for all drivers.

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“Giving people access to these scores, as well as advice, incentives and coaching to improve them, reduces accidents, prevents driver distraction and makes drivers more self-aware when they are behind the wheel. The launch of FloowDrive today sees the telematics market opened up to all companies that want to support safe driving. The days of investing many months to develop a credible telematics offer are now over.”

The Floow was founded in 2012 by Mr Monteforte, chief innovation officer Dr Sam Chapman and chief technology officer Paul Ridgway.

The company has around 110 staff and offices in Sheffield and Detroit.

The Floow has crafted a new positive role for the smartphone in the context of driving, the company said.

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Turned on, but not being handled by a driver, during a journey, the smartphone acts as the sensor to monitor driver behaviour, enabling the Floow to determine a safety score for each driver based on: smooth driving, distraction, speed, fatigue and time of day.

The spokesman said: “By monitoring their scores and in-app advice, drivers can identify how to become safer drivers and, as they improve their scores, they can secure lower car insurance premiums, together with the potential to qualify for other rewards.”