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Risk mitigation perspectives: a spotlight on video telematics
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Regional Director for Webfleet Solutions UKI, Beverley Wise, considers how the latest video telematics technology can raise the bar in risk mitigation for van fleets.
Insurance constitutes one of the heftiest elements of fleet TCO (total cost of ownership), typically only outstripped by vehicle depreciation and fuel. And as road traffic returns to pre-lockdown levels, with the cost of parts, repairs and other services burgeoning, the pressure on premiums is intensifying according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
With distracted driving causing up to 80 per cent of preventable accidents a year, it is in the interests of both van fleets and insurers to work closely to assess and manage risk.
Fleet management technology – and the insights the systems impart – can have an important role to play here, improving the safety of mobile workers and their propensity for accidents. Indeed, telematics data has long been utilised by insurers to assess risk and underwrite policies more accurately.
Integrated camera systems that enrich telematics insights with video to help reveal the bigger picture, expand the offering, providing further opportunities to enhance driver safety and reduce SMR (service, maintenance and repair) spend.
Their success is undeniable. The tyre delivery fleet of Exhausts, Tyres and Batteries (ETB), for example, reduced its accident rate by 40 per cent, with an anticipated fall in insurance premiums of up to £30,000, following the integration of cameras with Webfleet Solution’s WEBFLEET fleet management system.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
A more forward-thinking approach to fleet risk is now taking hold among insurers, seeing them look beyond established technologies that accelerate the claims process by providing a First Notification of Loss (FNOL) after road incidents.
WEBFLEET Video uses the latest in connected dashcams, powered by Lytx, to help identify and mitigate risky behaviour and generate a First Notification of Risk (FNOR).
The machine vision capabilities of the in-vehicle dashcams enable the analysis of images and video data to “see” and recognise objects and driver behaviours, such as distracted driving and mobile phone usage. Artificial intelligence technology then learns from the data to interpret what the machine vision sees.
INFORMING AND EMPOWERING
Fleet managers can use FNOR to take a proactive approach to managing driver safety, using video evidence for driving training programmes that are even more tailored, or to underpin reward initiatives that recognise good driving behaviour.
Furthermore, where FNOR data and reports are shared with insurance companies, this unprecedented visibility enables fleet risk, premiums and costs to be proactively managed.
Thanks to real-time visual and audio alerts (subject to cellular network coverage), drivers can self-correct their risky driving behaviour and develop safer driving habits. Their privacy can also be protected by configuring their in-cabin lens to be on or off, or by turning on ‘privacy suppressed’ mode to prevent events from being retrieved from the device.
With the availability of such advanced technology, van fleets are set to be catapulted into a new era of enhanced safety standards and insurance cost control.
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Published On: 03/03/2022 16:00:34
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