Speed-by-Street™ Database
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Coverage
Reliability
Reported Success
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Speed-by-Street™ FAQ's
The Speed-by-Street™ (SbS) Database Service is a data product that contains road speed limits in North America in reference to a GIS database. The GIS data is a spatial database that contains a representation of real world streets including their geometric shape and non-spatial data (posted speed limit).
Speed-by-Street™ data may be used to analyze vehicle-tracking data and to provide violation descriptions in instances where a vehicle is speeding.
The Speed-by-Street™ database contains posted speed limits on known road segments. The database does not cover dynamic speed limits such as speed limit changes depending on traffic flow, or time dependent speed limits such as school zones.
What causes drivers to reject mentoring efforts?
Monitoring drivers in general is a difficult task. Many drivers at least have mixed feelings about the thought of being tracked and their behavior being reported. Incorrect statements – such as falsely reported speed infractions - will quickly lead to drivers completely rejecting the monitoring and mentoring systems. Only accurately reported events will lead to system acceptance and generating positive results in driver and fleet performance. Incomplete and/or incorrect databases cannot support this requirement.
How accurate are speed limit information in standard base maps?
Speed limits provided within the standard base maps mostly cover the main roads – limited access roads and primary highways. More often than not speed limit information for secondary roads and smaller roads are incorrectly, not fully or not at all covered in the available base maps – leaving a huge gap in the monitoring system on just those roads that are most critical.
A recent test for a customer – based on a random vehicle track snapshot that contained 16 geo-locations on limit access roads, major highways, secondary and smaller roads – clearly confirmed this situation. Each location was matched with the speed-limit information of 3 of the main base map providers and compared to the DriveAware™ posted speed limit database. Accuracies of only 44% and 50% are much less than required for correct monitoring of drivers and speed infractions:
The Speed-by-Street™ (SbS) Database Service is a data product that contains road speed limits in North America in reference to a GIS database. The GIS data is a spatial database that contains a representation of real world streets including their geometric shape and non-spatial data (posted speed limit).
Speed-by-Street™ data may be used to analyze vehicle-tracking data and to provide violation descriptions in instances where a vehicle is speeding.
The Speed-by-Street™ database contains posted speed limits on known road segments. The database does not cover dynamic speed limits such as speed limit changes depending on traffic flow, or time dependent speed limits such as school zones.
What causes drivers to reject mentoring efforts?
Monitoring drivers in general is a difficult task. Many drivers at least have mixed feelings about the thought of being tracked and their behavior being reported. Incorrect statements – such as falsely reported speed infractions - will quickly lead to drivers completely rejecting the monitoring and mentoring systems. Only accurately reported events will lead to system acceptance and generating positive results in driver and fleet performance. Incomplete and/or incorrect databases cannot support this requirement.
How accurate are speed limit information in standard base maps?
Speed limits provided within the standard base maps mostly cover the main roads – limited access roads and primary highways. More often than not speed limit information for secondary roads and smaller roads are incorrectly, not fully or not at all covered in the available base maps – leaving a huge gap in the monitoring system on just those roads that are most critical.
A recent test for a customer – based on a random vehicle track snapshot that contained 16 geo-locations on limit access roads, major highways, secondary and smaller roads – clearly confirmed this situation. Each location was matched with the speed-limit information of 3 of the main base map providers and compared to the DriveAware™ posted speed limit database. Accuracies of only 44% and 50% are much less than required for correct monitoring of drivers and speed infractions:
Why is the DriveAware™ database so much more accurate?
DriveAware™'s database is compiled with a dedicated team of editors that is constantly verifying, correcting and expanding the available data – day by day. Verification with state and municipal authorities, virtual driving and customer feedback are the cornerstones for reaching maximum accuracy in our database. Validation of a street segment requires visual confirmation of the posted speed limit.
For roads traveled by current DriveAware™ customers speed infractions identified based on the DriveAware™ database are reported with 99% accuracy - and should a vehicle hit a road segment for which the speed limits are not yet verified it will be done immediately and the database will be updated.
Why are speed limits assigned to only major roadways not sufficient?
Most speed related accidents happen on smaller roads and not on the interstates and main highways. Various studies even suggest that accidents on interstates and freeways are more often related to vehicles that are driving significantly slower than the legal speed limits allow for and that mild speeding on these road types is not a significant cause for accidents. On secondary roads however the complete opposite is the case. On these roads speeding is one of the leading causes for accidents.
Speed limits on secondary roads are defined to address local situations such as limited sight distances, hidden intersections and driveways, sharp turns, steep grades, etc. These speed limits do vary much more than the mostly constant speed limits on limited access roads and major highways. Assigning generic speed limits to defined zones or certain road types does not provide the accuracy needed to avoid false statements while monitoring drivers. Maximum accuracy can only be achieved by true verification and editing of the posted speed limits - road segment for road segment.
DriveAware™'s database is compiled with a dedicated team of editors that is constantly verifying, correcting and expanding the available data – day by day. Verification with state and municipal authorities, virtual driving and customer feedback are the cornerstones for reaching maximum accuracy in our database. Validation of a street segment requires visual confirmation of the posted speed limit.
For roads traveled by current DriveAware™ customers speed infractions identified based on the DriveAware™ database are reported with 99% accuracy - and should a vehicle hit a road segment for which the speed limits are not yet verified it will be done immediately and the database will be updated.
Why are speed limits assigned to only major roadways not sufficient?
Most speed related accidents happen on smaller roads and not on the interstates and main highways. Various studies even suggest that accidents on interstates and freeways are more often related to vehicles that are driving significantly slower than the legal speed limits allow for and that mild speeding on these road types is not a significant cause for accidents. On secondary roads however the complete opposite is the case. On these roads speeding is one of the leading causes for accidents.
Speed limits on secondary roads are defined to address local situations such as limited sight distances, hidden intersections and driveways, sharp turns, steep grades, etc. These speed limits do vary much more than the mostly constant speed limits on limited access roads and major highways. Assigning generic speed limits to defined zones or certain road types does not provide the accuracy needed to avoid false statements while monitoring drivers. Maximum accuracy can only be achieved by true verification and editing of the posted speed limits - road segment for road segment.