Assessing the safety effect through Google Maps usage: FMEA approach (Case study: Indonesia)

Abstract

As the most popular navigation application used in Indonesia, Google Maps provides route information with the shortest route or the fastest travel time. Unfortunately, Google Maps does not consider the safety aspect regarding warnings about the unsafe roads or the unsuitability of road conditions with the type of vehicles that may increase the safety risks for road users. This research aims to assess the safety effect of Google Maps usage by using the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) approach to identify the results or effects of an item’s failure on system operation and to classify each potential failure according to its severity. In the end, FMEA will also analyze the safety aspects of Google Maps by determining the Risk Priority Number (RPN) as the product of severity, occurrence, and detection to prioritize the anticipatory actions, mitigations, and strategies against the highest level of risk. The data source was received from questionnaires distributed to more than a thousand respondents through an online survey that represented the user characteristics of using Google Maps in Indonesia. As the result, the potential failure mode of “Google Maps doesn't give a speeding warning” is assessed as the highest risk level of RPN, thus indicating the recommended action is by providing a speeding warning in the form of audible notification, without disturbing the driver while driving.