What are the sources of accident data?

REST APIs
#1

Hello,

I’m running the Incident details endpoint of the Traffic API to get real-time incidents. I am specifically analysing accidents happening in Greater London (United Kingdom) and Cape Town (South Africa).

How does TomTom collect this data? Does it vary from country to country? Is there any page with this information?

Many thanks in advance.

Kind regards,
Sofia

#2

Hi there,

The TomTom Traffic Incidents come mainly from two sources:

The first one is GPS probe data from drivers which is analyzed by the TomTom AI to automatically detect jams, slowdowns or road closures.

The second is input from the community:

  • road authorities, municipalities and trusted partners send alerts and messages to TomTom either via feeds or via the Road Event Reporter tools: https://www.tomtom.com/products/road-event-reporter/
  • drivers can also submit their own reports via navigation apps like TomTom AmiGo https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/sat-nav/amigo/
  • on top of that TomTom has moderation teams in different places in the world. They monitor different channels (news, TV, radio, etc.) and work with local authorities to update the information. This is particularly important in times of disasters (floods) which require fast updates of road closures.

So to answer your question, accidents specifically would most likely come from the second type of input, and would be a mix of reports from trusted partners and drivers.

#3

Hi Louis,

Thank you for such a thorough explanation.

Within the second, is there a way of knowing which are the road/local authorities and trusted partners involded in this process in the specific case of London and Cape Town?

Thank you again,
Sofia

#4

Hi Sofia,

Unfortunately, we can’t disclose our sources without their approval :slight_smile:

#5

Hi Louis,

Thank you for your help.