Among the 4,000 or so people who initially downloaded the “Seattle’s Safest Driver” app, speeding decreased 10 percent and phone distraction decreased 15 percent, according to SDOT.

Hard braking and acceleration is also down more than a quarter among the 1,000 users who are most active on the app, a sign that the feedback the app gives on driving style is affecting behavior pretty substantially.

The app is basically a game where people compete to drive more safely than anyone else. And, yes, you get credit for biking and taking the bus, too (the safest way to drive is to not drive at all).

Using technology in your phone, the app senses when you’re driving and measures location and acceleration data to generate some basic feedback on how you’re doing. After a driving trip is over, users can check in to see how they did (looking at your phone while driving will also lose you points, which is one of my favorite features). The winners will get prizes when the competition ends January 14.

An app isn’t going to fix all the dangers of car culture. Even in Seattle, the U.S. city that has seen some of the biggest increases in street safety in the past decade, serious injuries from traffic collisions increased in 2016. Only bold changes to the design of our streets and a major shift to more walking, biking and transit will get us to Vision Zero.

But at least a couple thousand people are getting some feedback on their driving habits and are making adjustments. It’s also great to see a public street safety education effort that targets driving behavior, the primary cause of most traffic deaths and injuries. So often, agencies focus on the behavior and fashion choices of the victims of traffic violence (I’m looking at you, King County Metro) rather than on the behavior and habits of people driving.  (more…)