How Dash Cams and Vehicle Tracking Can Improve Driver Safety

It’s no secret that safety issues keep fleet managers up at night. Safety is a fleet manager’s biggest concern. So anything that can be done to improve driver safety is welcome. This includes equipping vehicles with dash cam and vehicle tracking capabilities.

Vehicle tracking without onboard video offers helpful telemetry data but doesn’t give a full picture of what is going on. Video Telematics combine vehicle tracking and video take things one step further, giving fleet managers the critical missing data they need to better manage their fleet. 

Initially, fleet drivers may be reluctant to get on board with dash cams and vehicle tracking. But when driver safety is emphasized, resistance can be overcome.

Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts

How do dash cam and vehicle tracking solutions improve driver safety? For starters, modern technology facilitates real-time monitoring and alerts for both drivers and fleet managers. The Idrive system offers video telematics that provide immediate in-cab feedback. Here are just a few examples:

• A dash cam with onboard AI capabilities can recognize and alert to risky behaviors, including distracted driving, following distance, drowsy driving, etc..
• Drivers are alerted with a beep and on screen text before there are serious consequences. Alerts prompt them to take immediate corrective action.
• Fleet managers are also alerted through instant notifications so they can swiftly intervene as needed.

A side effect of real-time monitoring and alerts is modifying driver behavior. A driver routinely alerted to a particularly dangerous action will naturally want to modify how they drives to avoid future alerts. The subsequent behavior modification improves safety.

Advanced Driver Monitoring

Even when drivers are not triggering real-time alerts, a dash cam and vehicle tracking system is still monitoring key data points. Through advanced driver monitoring systems, vehicle speed, acceleration, and braking patterns can be monitored and analyzed for driver coaching later on.

It’s also possible to monitor for signs of distracted driving and driver fatigue. All the telemetry data gathered via driver monitoring is subjected to advanced AI-powered analytics to generate invaluable insights into driver behavior and performance.

Better Training Makes Drivers Safer

Don’t assume that a dash cam and vehicle tracking system is only designed to ‘catch drivers in the act’ of bad driving. All the data being collected also shows when drivers are driving safe and efficiently as well. There is far more to it than that. By monitoring and tracking drivers, fleet managers can gather valuable data for training purposes and often times many commercial drivers are exonerated because they had video evidence of critical incident’s.

Dash cams provide video footage depicting real life scenarios drivers encounter every day. The footage alone can revolutionize how managers train their drivers. Combined with vehicle tracking data, video footage becomes even more powerful.

Better training leads to better performance and safety. Here are just a few examples:

• Video and telemetry data can be utilized to create personalized coaching and training programs based on need.
• Individual drivers receive better training when feedback pertaining to their specific driving behaviors is included.
• Both drivers and fleet managers benefit from a culture of accountability that makes everyone safer.

The accountability aspect cannot be understated. AI-powered technology does amazing things in the modern era. But the one thing that improves driver safety above all is accountability. Dash cam and vehicle tracking systems provide the data necessary to create a culture of accountability.

A Proactive Approach to Safety

Safety is always a concern among fleet managers. But waiting until after an incident to address possible safety issues doesn’t get the job done. Improving safety requires a proactive approach.
A proactive approach based on dash cam and vehicle tracking data is the ticket to better safety. By monitoring driver behavior and vehicle performance, safety concerns can be addressed before something happens. Fleets reduce their incidents while everyone, including drivers and fleet managers, are happier.