Road Safety: What Driving Data Really Reveals
CNR and OCTO present new report findings: 30% of nighttime accidents occur at high speed; in Northern and Central Italy, accidents at ≥40 km/h exceed 14%, with marginal gender differences
Rome, March 10, 2026 – Road accidents do not depend only on how much people drive, but above all on when and how they drive. This is one of the key findings of the new Road Safety Report developed by the National Research Council – Institute of Information Science and Technologies “Alessandro Faedo” (CNR-ISTI) in collaboration with OCTO. The report analyzes millions of real-world telematics driving data points to better understand the factors influencing risk on Italian roads.
Among the most significant findings is the higher incidence of high-speed accidents during nighttime hours: around 30% of the accidents analyzed at night occur at speeds equal to or above 40 km/h, a significantly higher share compared to daytime.
The report aims to provide a more in-depth understanding of road safety by overcoming the limits of traditional statistics based solely on recorded accidents and introducing an approach grounded in the analysis of real driving behavior observed through telematics. The study is based on an extremely large dataset, ensuring statistical robustness and reliability. It examines over 2.17 million crash events and impact-related dynamics, from which approximately 97,000 accidents with potential vehicle damage were selected for detailed analysis.
The analyzed sample also includes 238 million trips and routes, extracted from 1.93 billion journeys recorded from more than 2.3 million vehicles, enabling observation of road risk with a particularly high level of granularity.
This availability of data makes it possible to analyze road safety not as a simple sum of recorded events, but as a dynamic phenomenon influenced by temporal, geographical, and behavioral factors.
Regional differences and driving behavior
The analysis also highlights territorial differences in driving behavior. In Northern and Central regions, high-speed accidents (≥40 km/h) exceed 14%, while lower average values are recorded in Southern Italy.
Another relevant finding concerns demographic factors: gender differences in driving behavior are marginal, with a maximum observed gap of less than 2.1 percentage points.
Data to drive safety policies
The report has a dual purpose: on one hand, to strengthen the scientific analysis of the phenomenon; on the other, to provide public decision-makers, local administrations, infrastructure managers, and industry operators with useful data-driven tools to guide more effective safety policies.
In this sense, the work represents an example of collaboration between scientific research and technological innovation, where large-scale data collection and analysis combine with methodological rigor to transform vast amounts of information into knowledge that benefits society. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the development of increasingly data-driven prevention policies capable of reducing accident risk and improving the safety of mobility systems.
OCTO
For over 20 years, we have been developing integrated solutions that allow us to stand alongside our clients, supporting them in seizing the opportunities offered by digital transformation.
Thanks to an innovative approach based on Artificial Intelligence, we have developed advanced algorithms for crash detection, driving behavior analysis, claims management, and consumption optimization. These solutions enable us to meet the needs of key markets such as insurance and mobility, with a strong focus on modularity and customization.
Our scalable data analytics platform enables insurance groups, car manufacturers, rental companies, and public administrations to increase productivity and safety levels, improving vehicle usage and user experience. A clear ESG strategy also guides our market approach, focusing on the development of solutions increasingly oriented toward energy transition and data-driven smart urban planning.
OCTO has profiled 20 million drivers and holds the world’s largest telematics database, based on 610 billion kilometers of driving data and over 13 million validated claims. octotelematics.com
OCTO Media Contact
Adriana Zambon
press@octotelematics.com
Phone +39 339 3995640
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