More cameras will be hitting the dashboards of Hawaiʻi drivers in the next few months through a new “Eyes on the Road" program.
The state Department of Transportation is partnering with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Engineering to give out 1,300 free dashcams to drivers across the state.
The cameras will record the external view on each drive, and the data will be uploaded through the program’s app and to the department’s data consultant, Blyncsy, where an AI system will analyze areas that need maintenance or repairs.
Ed Sniffen, the DOT’s director of transportation, said the goal is to fix dangerous roads, fixtures, and vegetation in a more timely manner.
“When people are driving through different communities and their dashcam picks up a broken guardrail or potholes, we'd like to make sure we can capture it as soon as our dashcams see them,” Sniffen said.
“The whole intent of the program is to ensure we have more access to the data on the system daily. We want to make sure that we can address issues before they become problems.”
Sniffen said anonymity is built into the program by ensuring that the data can only be accessed by Blyncsy and the dashcam’s owner by request, not by the state or any third parties.
“There is no place for any individual or agency to request personal identification information from us on anybody who has that dashcam,” Sniffen said, adding that the data could be used by the camera’s owner in the event of a car accident.
“This is a huge benefit to those who have that camera because they'll have the footage that's necessary to provide to law enforcement so everybody can see exactly what happened.”
20 cameras already deployed
Twenty cameras have already been given out to folks in Honolulu to test run the program, which has helped train the AI software before the program is officially launched.
The system has about a week-long turnaround time, meaning the DOT receives the information on areas of improvement about a week after the consultant gets the original footage. Sniffen believes the response time will get shorter as the AI system is further trained.
“As it gets more reliable and as it gets more information, it’ll definitely get faster and we can get more information out to the public on expected timeframes,” Sniffen said. “But safety will always take priority. Convenience will be on the back burner.”
The DOT is considering putting dashcams on city buses and refuse trucks that have routes in areas where drivers may be lacking, but Sniffen said this may be inefficient because their routes do not change.
He encouraged more folks on Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, and Kauaʻi to apply for a dashcam. Signups for Oʻahu are full. As of Monday, 898 drivers have signed up on Oʻahu, 69 on Hawaiʻi Island, 33 on Maui, 14 on Kauaʻi and one on Molokaʻi.
Sniffen said residents will be chosen based on where they live and drive to make sure that the cameras reach all ends of the islands.
