DRIVER BEHAVIOUR INTEGRATION
SHAPING SAFER DRIVERS IN SAFER VEHICLES
MONITORING AND COACHING ON DRIVER BEHAVIOUR VIA TELEMATICS SOFTWARE IS BEING USED BY MORE ORGANISATIONS WITH LARGE FLEETS TO IMPROVE SAFETY, REDUCE COSTS, SECURE CONTRACTS & MUCH MORE.
Read on to discover:
- Why it’s becoming a priority
- Why an in-cab video and behavioural monitoring solution is an important safety addition for fleet management
- How a Driver Behaviour solution is now part of part of the MAX-SAFE Safety Eco-System™, providing unparalleled safety oversight for fleet managers.
DRIVER BEHAVIOUR
In any profession it can take years until you are considered experienced and an expert. The same is true with heavy vehicle driving. Improving driving prowess and remedying poor driver behaviour can be aided by drivers becoming more aware of how they drive as recorded by vehicle monitoring software and videos.
The Top 6 Poor Drivers Behaviours are:
- Speeding
- Ignoring a Stop Sign or Give Way Sign
- Braking harshly
- Hard Acceleration
- Cutting Corners
- Idling excessively
In NSW in 2021 there were 48 crash fatalities involving heavy vehicles. (Source.) Of these:
- 7 were the result of driver speeding
- 6 were the result of driver fatigue
Whoever is at fault, poor driving behaviour increases the propensity to have accidents and thus is first and foremost a safety issue increasing the risk to human life. Such actions also increase the likelihood of damage to vehicles and property through accidents or wear and tear.
By monitoring driver habits, fleet managers can minimise poor driving behaviour that puts the safety of your drivers and others and the reputation of your business at risk.
MiX Telematics technology has helped clients reduce crash rates by between 50 – 75% on average, with even better results in some instances (per the following statistics).
CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS
in 2020, Sydney Metro, the largest public transport program in Australia, adopted the CLOCS standard and as part of this specified that any contractor working for the organisation had to meet minimum safety standards – this included telematics and GPS monitoring. (See here). More and more councils, engineering and civil works companies, such as Fulton Hogan in New Zealand, are requiring vehicles to be fitted with the latest safety management solutions.
Fatigue Management & Driver Distraction
Today, in-cab monitoring systems are able to monitor face and eye tracking movement to gauge head position and eye closure to identify if a driver is fatigued or distracted with mobile phones (usage of which is illegal in most states). These systems can then warn the driver via audio alarms and seat vibration to take a break or re-focus their attention on the road.
Importantly these solutions:
- Have reduced fatigue events by 90%.
- Enable a company to secure a lower insurance premium due to the added safety preventative measures installed. National Transport Insurance, Australia’s leading truck insurer, is one such companies that offers discounts for organisations with fatigue and driver distraction solutions installed on vehicles.
HUMAN ERROR
Statistics vary on the degree to which human error is responsible for accidents (from 57 to 94%). (Source.) In recent years there is growing acceptance of a range of contributing factors – to do with the driver, other vehicles / VRUs involved, conditions etc. In any event, a video monitoring system can help identify some of the contributing factors including risky driver behaviour, and then coach a driver and/or take corrective action to improve safety outcomes. This is important safety learning for Fleet Managers to track and share with all drivers.
HEAVY VEHICLES LESS AT FAULT
According to a 2016 Australian Government Report on Heavy truck safety: crash analysis and trends, (See here) in fatal multi-vehicle crashes involving trucks, fault is only assigned to heavy vehicle drivers in approximately 20% of crashes. That’s a positive. The downside is that heavy vehicles are disproportionately involved in accidents causing injury and fatalities.
With in-cab video recording of a vehicle’s movements, drivers and fleet managers can often help police determine who was at fault due to the footage captured. This can often reduce fines and insurance claims where it is proven the heavy vehicle driver was not at fault.
In-cab video monitoring systems are often part of Driver Behaviour systems. Some can capture a full 24-hour timeline and automatically upload to be available online. Others can be activated to record when a risk event is elevated, e.g., speeding, rapid acceleration or braking, unbalanced vehicle etc.
Such systems can also help provide feedback to police and government departments on better road design to improve hazards.
As you can see, Driver Behaviour solutions provide many advantages.
OUR DRIVER BEHAVIOUR SOLUTION
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MiX TELEMATICS DRIVER BEHAVIOUR
An advanced In-cab video telematics solution records driver behaviour, automatically alerts a driver when risky conditions are detected, reducing the likelihood of an incident. It also uploads all data over a set time period for integration with a Fleet Management system that tracks driver behaviour and vehicle performance.The solution helps Fleet Managers identify which drivers need additional driver safety training or warnings, thereby reducing their safety risk and associated costs to do with vehicle accidents, personal injury, property damage, insurance premiums, and vehicle and staff downtime.
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MiX TELEMATICS FLEET MANAGEMENT
SGESCO-MAX also offers this product to complement the Driver Behaviour solution. It provides fleet managers with dashboard, leader boards, and other tools that improve fleet safety and efficiency. This includes measurable safety scores identifying the associated risks of drivers and vehicles .
WHY USE OUR DRIVER BEHAVIOUR SOLUTION?
Our Driver Behaviour solution integrates with — and is now part of — The MAX-SAFE Safety Eco-System. This system encompasses over 10 leading technologies including:
- The MAX-SAFE ANTI-ROLLAWAY BRAKE SYSTEM™ is an active safety solution that stops a vehicle from rolling away when the park brake has not been applied properly. (Around 5 people in Australia are killed each year while unloading or loading a heavy vehicle)
- SPEED LIMITING SOLUTIONS that limit speed at various locations or to 8 set speed limits as well as RPM Control to protect engine revving in parked situations
- BLIND SPOT MONITORING SOLUTIONS the detect people and objects to the side, front, rear and corners of a vehicle, with active breaking to slow a vehicle in an object is detected if the driver is going too fast, thereby averting a potential accident.
- OCCUPANT SAFETY (ensuring seat belts are clicked in) – suitable for buses and mining site transport vehicles.
These solutions for light rigid and heavy vehicles give fleet managers great confidence in safety management and greater advantages when it comes to securing new business and tender applications. For example, Sydney Metro preferences “optional” additional active and passive safety features in contracts they award.
