As the dream of fully autonomous vehicles inches forward at a cautious pace, some innovators are choosing a different route to reduce traffic fatalities. One of them is Georges Aoude, CEO and co-founder of Derq — an MIT spinoff launched in 2016 with a vision to bring the brainpower of AI not just inside cars, but into the traffic infrastructure surrounding them.
AI Beyond the Vehicle: A New Perspective on Road Safety
For Aoude, improving traffic safety isn’t solely about smarter cars — it’s about smarter roads. “We can’t wait for every vehicle on the road to become autonomous,” he says. “But we can make intersections intelligent now.” Derq’s platform does just that by embedding AI into existing infrastructure like traffic lights and roadside sensors. The goal is to make roads more predictive, responsive, and ultimately, safer — especially for the most vulnerable users like pedestrians and cyclists.
Near-Misses as Predictive Indicators
Derq’s software is designed to detect and analyze near-miss incidents in real time — moments where a crash was narrowly avoided. These events have long been considered red flags for future accidents, but capturing them has traditionally required laborious, months-long studies. With Derq’s tech, that process is automated and continuous, enabling city officials to respond to trouble spots before they become tragedies.
- AI analyzes data from cameras and sensors at intersections
- Heat maps reveal high-risk zones across a city
- Alerts can be sent instantly to transportation departments or fleet operators
In practice, this might lead to banning right turns on red in certain areas or redesigning traffic flows where patterns show consistent risk. It’s a dynamic, data-informed approach to urban planning — one that adjusts as conditions change, not years later.
Recognition and Support from U.S. Authorities
Derq’s vision has earned national attention. In January, the company became the only private enterprise to be named a top-tier winner of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intersection Safety Challenge — an initiative aimed at curbing intersection-related crashes, which account for a significant portion of road fatalities.
Industry Validation and Government Collaboration
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America praised the integration of digital infrastructure with physical road systems, calling it a vital path forward. In its 2025 safety blueprint, the group emphasized the importance of technologies like AI, automation, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication in addressing the persistent safety crisis that has kept U.S. road fatalities above 40,000 annually in recent years.
“Technology is a key tool to solving our traffic safety crisis,” the society noted. “It is more apparent than ever that we need to prioritize investments in digital infrastructure.”
From Self-Driving to Smarter Intersections
Aoude’s journey began with the promise of autonomous vehicles — he was part of the MIT team exploring AV tech between 2007 and 2011. But by 2016, it became clear that wide-scale adoption would take longer than anticipated. Rather than wait for the cars to catch up, he pivoted the focus of Derq’s AI to the infrastructure they rely on.
No Need for Vehicle Upgrades
Derq’s biggest advantage? Its systems can operate independently of the vehicles on the road. That means no costly overhauls or software installs are needed for drivers — safety improvements can be implemented at the city level, and their benefits felt immediately.
Growing Reach and Future Expansion
Backed by investors such as AT&T Ventures, Derq’s AI solutions are now active at around 400 intersections across 25 U.S. cities and Dubai. Its first deployment came through the Michigan Department of Transportation in Detroit, where the company still maintains an office. With ongoing plans to expand in 2025, more urban areas are expected to adopt Derq’s solution to tackle intersection risk.
A Broader Mission
As the U.S. marks a century of automotive innovation, Derq is helping shape what the next 100 years could look like — a future where cities can proactively prevent collisions and fatalities, not just react to them. It’s a compelling reminder that smart mobility isn’t just about autonomous cars — it’s also about the roads we build, the systems we connect, and the data we act on.
