Vehicle and traffic safety research stands to reap valuable data from driving applications some drivers agree to use for insurance purposes.

The telematics data can fill gaps that older safety research leaves behind, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which has relied on the longtime methods to arrive at its conclusions.

Data is collected either through the driver’s cellphone or a tag connected to the vehicle. IIHS said the data its researchers use is aggregated for driver privacy.

The so-called safe-driving apps, which collect data on every drive from door to door, reveal details such as driver fatigue and distraction that other methods can’t, said Eric Teoh, the nonprofit group’s statistical services director.

Added to police reports, insurance claims information and other techniques, such as roadside observing, naturalistic studies and driver surveys, the app data can provide a much fuller picture of driving conditions and patterns, Teoh said.

Their major limitations for now are their relative newness and use by only some drivers who agree to the information gathering to lower insurance premiums.

“That means telematics can’t tell us much about longer-term trends yet, and the data probably include a greater percentage of careful drivers than the population as a whole,” Teoh said.

The new store of information can allow researchers to focus their attention on fine details, including particular stretches of roadway or even single intersections to test effectiveness of new traffic-safety features.

One of several new IIHS studies will use data from the telematics apps to determine the effect of a 2019 Arizona ban on drivers physically using a mobile device behind the wheel.

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