Guidance note for using the DRIVER tool for the

Identification of High-Risk
Infrastructure Locations

Research undertaken under the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Partnership between the World Bank
and the Government of Japan
2020
 Table of Contents
1 Guidelines Outline..............................................................................................................3
2 DRIVER..............................................................................................................................3
3 Definition of Blackspot.......................................................................................................4
4 Identifying Blackspots in DRIVER....................................................................................4

List of Figures
Figure 1 – Screenshot of DRIVER in the Philippines and Map of Crash data encoded into
DRIVER for 2019-2020.............................................................................................................3
Figure 2 – Accessing the Map by Clicking the Button at the Top-Left side of the Screenshot,
Map is highlighted by a Yellow Rectangle................................................................................4
Figure 3 - Different Tools Found in the Map.............................................................................5
Figure 4- Crash data in four separate regions............................................................................6
Figure 5- Crash data by Severity in Region 13..........................................................................6
Figure 6 - Crash Data in Mindanao by Vehicle Type................................................................7
Figure 7 - Motorcycle Crashes in Butuan-CDO-Iligan Highway..............................................7

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1 Guidelines Outline

This note is intended for any road administrator to understand how to use the Data for Road
Incident Visualization, Evaluation and Reporting (DRIVER) System and effectively use
crash data in prioritizing road safety interventions as a reactive program.

2 DRIVER

DRIVER is a web-based and open-source system for geo-spatially recording and analyzing
road crashes. DRIVER provides a centralized and national platform for gathering, reporting,
and analysis of crashes developed initially for the Philippines, and now being rolled out in
over ten countries/cities around the world. The platform includes:

 A web-based interface: www.roadsafety.gov.ph

 A companion android application for data entry;
 Automated reporting based on the most common reports across agencies;
 Custom search and filter tools; and
 Statistical tools for identifying high-incident areas over time, predicting likelihood of
incidents throughout the day and week, and tracking infrastructure interventions.

The system links multiple agencies involved in recording road crash data (i.e., local
government units, the police, and the health system), standardizes terms and definitions for
reporting, and provides analytical tools to support evidence-based investments and policies
and monitoring the impact of interventions.

DRIVER’s main interface is the Map which enables both the national and the local
government to effectively identify, visualize, assess, and address blackspots or black lengths.
A screenshot of the platform is provided in Figure 1. Since in the Philippines DRIVER is the
most advanced, examples from this note are mainly from that platform.

Figure 1 – Screenshot of DRIVER in the Philippines and Map of Crash data encoded into DRIVER for 2019-2020

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3 Definition of Blackspot

Blackspots and other hazardous components of the road network are identified through
analysis of data in DRIVER to target locations with a concentration of casualty accidents.
These hazardous components take the form of:
 Single sites with high casualty crash frequencies.
 Routes with high casualty crash frequencies per kilometre.

In road safety engineering, the meaning of blackspot is any site with a maximum length of
“x” meters at which at least “y” casualty crashes have been recorded in the last “z” years. In
DRIVER however, the blackspot tool currently uses a predictive model that identifies
blackspots through geography and historical severe and non-severe crashes. To avoid
confusion, this document will follow the definition of blackspot as used in road safety
engineering and will use other tools in DRIVER aside from the blackspot tool (this feature is
being updated under the DRIVER 2.0 version).

4 Identifying Blackspots in DRIVER

Blackspots can be identified in DRIVER primarily through the use of the Map function and
the different filters found on the Map. The Map interface is one of the principal tools in the
DRIVER application and is used to view incidents in a variety of ways, such as through filter
tools, layers, and more. Depending on the type of user, the Map also grants access to
interventions, additional graphs, custom report builder tools, and data exports, among others.

How to Access the Map

While there are small map widgets available on the Dashboard, the main Map interface can
be accessed by clicking the “Dashboard” drop down on the topmost left bar on the DRIVER
dashboard and clicking “Map.” (see Figure 2 below)

Figure 2 – Accessing the Map by Clicking the Button at the Top-Left side of the Screenshot, Map is highlighted by a Yellow
Rectangle

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Map Tools

There are several tools that can be accessed using the map. These tools allow the user to view
data more efficiently by providing different ways to filter and access data. The following
tools that can be used for blackspot analysis are:

 Zoom in/Zoom out. Users may zoom in and out of the map by clicking the (+) and (-)
button on the leftmost side of the map or may zoom in and out using a trackpad or
mouse.
 Attribute Filters. DRIVER lets users narrow down their searches in order to easily
find specific incident entries or sets of incident entries within the DRIVER database.
They may choose between filtering the map towards only a specific area, or the
severity of the incident, among others.
 Layers. Unlike Filters, setting a layer lets users choose what kind of map they want to
access: Incidents, Interventions, Heatmap, City/Province, or Region. Users may also
choose between viewing the Street View or the Satellite View. Users can choose
more than one layer, or a combination of layers to further narrow down their searches.
 Spatial Filters. Users may filter a specific area on the Map using Spatial Filters which
can be the Rectangular or Polygonal Tool. Upon applying a spatial filter, the user’s
selected filters will apply only on the selected area that the boundary was drawn on.

These are the tools that can be used to identify blackspots. Combining these tools will enable
a comprehensive analysis of crash data. Figure 3 shows a screenshot illustrating where these
tools as well as others can be accessed. More information about these tools can be found in
the online user manual at roadsafety.ph.

Figure 3 - Different Tools Found in the Map

Potential blackspots can now be viewed through the DRIVER database by filtering the data
on the map. The filters that will be activated will depend on the criteria that define
blackspots. For example, in Figure 4, data is filtered by regions in the Philippines.

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 Figure 4- Crash data in four separate regions

The geographic filter can be used alongside the filter for crash severity. Figure 5 shows how
the data is filtered for Region 13 and for crash severity.

Figure 5- Crash data by Severity in Region 13

Other filters can also be used such as the vehicle type filter (see Figure 6).

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 Figure 6 - Crash Data in Mindanao by Vehicle Type

All these filters can be used all at once to have a more detailed and thorough investigations.
An example is Figure 7 which uses the polygonal tool with the severity and vehicle type filter
to examine motorcycle crashes. In addition, Google Street map is used separately to generate
street-level photos, but the team is working on adding a new enhancement to DRIVER and
link it with the Mapillary imagery.

Figure 7 - Motorcycle Crashes in Butuan-CDO-Iligan Highway

Finally, an alternative to using the Map in DRIVER is to download the raw data through the
Export CSV function and upload the data in a third part GIS software such as QGIS. There,

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blackspots can be generated by generating clusters that represent a specific number of
crashes.