In the UK, it’s estimated that 38% of road accidents are caused by “driver fault”. 40% of these accidents are caused by fatigue and 44% relate to distraction. With this in mind, helping drivers to stay focused and on-task can be a dramatically effective means of reducing fleet accidents.
That’s what makes telematics, when deployed and used optimally, perhaps the single greatest tool for reducing fleet accidentsOur clients, and most serious fleets, consider telematics to be essential to ensuring the highest possible standards of vehicle and driver safety, and here’s why.
Driver Behaviour Monitoring to Reduce Driver-Error Accidents
Everyone has a different driving style and unfortunately, some drivers pick up bad habits such as coasting, tailgating, and relying too much on their brakes. Driver behaviour monitoring is another feature that a sophisticated telematics system will offer.
You can use monitoring to analyse your driver’s style and pick up on these bad habits. Many drivers instinctively feel that this is intrusive, but ultimately it’s the only responsible choice for fleet managers, and it’s fast becoming the industry standard. .
For example, speeding is the highest contributing factor to fatal road collisions in the UK. Telematics can provide real-time alerts to drivers who are speeding. This information is available to managers, and can be used as part of training and performance reviews. The potential cost is simply too high to not make use of this kind of common sense tech solution. .
But in 2024, standard driver monitoring isn’t the most sophisticated cost and life-saving technology possible through telematics.
AI Powered Dash Cams - Next Level Driver Safety
Often, your drivers may try and push their limits to meet a deadline or finish a long-haul delivery. This could mean driving for prolonged periods without breaks or exceeding their recommended driving limits. Increased tiredness, slower reactions, and mental fatigue from a lack of breaks result in an increased chance of road accidents.
Or maybe a driver has simply had a late-night, whatever the cause, tiredness is a major player in road accidents.
In our research, distraction is an even more serious problem. Here, distraction refers to any instance of a driver not concentrating on the job at hand for whatever reason.
These sorts of behaviours are harder to fight than clearly measurable factors like speeding, breaking and tailgating.
In the case of our client Actavo, we were able to reduce accidents by 50% by combating issues like tiredness and distraction using our AI powered dash cam technology. The dash cams track driver behaviour and our app provides real-time coaching.
“By installing the Transpoco Collision Management technology we are leading the way in ensuring that the hundreds of Actavo drivers and vehicles operate in the safest and most efficient way possible for our customers.” Michael Burke, Actavo Group Fleet and Facilities Manager.
Even if you put aside the clear improvement in the quality of life for road users that this technology represents, Actavo is now able to reduce costs by up-to €450 per vehicle.
Telematics 2.0: Safety Technology For Busier Roads
Not only can accidents be costly, but the well-being of your drivers is paramount. Using advanced Telematics will ultimately reassure them that you have their safety as a top priority. No one wants to go through the emotional and financial upheaval that a road accident can cause.
So, creating safer roads is both a moral and a financial issue. With roads getting busier and demand increasing across many industries, fleet managers must look to technology to ensure the safety of their fleets, drivers and other road-users. AI has opened up the door to previously impossible levels of safety tracking. This new technology builds upon trusted, standard monitoring practices. Though, it will be interesting to see how fast the industry is in adopting what is surely a no-brainer upgrade, and how many avoidable accidents occur in the meantime.
