Traffic Safety

Snohomish County is partnering with the City of Bellevue, Microsoft, the University of Washington, and organizations across America to develop cutting-edge technology to prevent traffic deaths and serious injuries. By providing expertise and traffic camera footage, the county is helping Microsoft build technology to predict where future collisions may occur through analyzing traffic camera footage and identifying near misses. The project, called Video Analytics Towards Vision Zero, will use machine learning technology to analyze video footage and use near-miss collisions to predict where future crashes may occur.

“Snohomish County is focused on utilizing technology to better serve our residents,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “The Video Analytics Towards Vision Zero project is a step in the right direction for traffic, pedestrian and cyclist safety and supports our goal of becoming a smart county.”

Creating smart county centers on deploying technology and using innovative ideas from both the private and public sectors to spur economic growth, accessibility and connectivity for all residents. Video Analytics Towards Vision Zero and Snohomish County are inviting the public to watch traffic camera footage and identify objects and movements so that machine-learning technology can understand large quantities of data to then develop algorithms. The videos and tools are now available on the project webpage.

“Safety is a top priority for Snohomish County; we welcome the opportunity to be a partner on a regional team exploring innovative ways to improve intersections or roads safety” said Steve Thomsen, Snohomish County Public Works Director.

Snohomish County is encouraging as many people as possible to help by watching traffic camera video. Footage featured on the videos was obtained from across the nation and features Snohomish County intersections. The crowdsourcing effort is critical to the program’s accuracy and ultimately the project’s success.