By RAM Tracking on 8 Dec 2022

Road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of deaths globally, with around 1.2 million people dying yearly from road crashes and 50 million injured, as per World Health Organisation. As the number of trucks on the road has snowballed in recent years, the National Safety Council reports that truck accidents have increased by over 40% in the last decade.

It becomes highly crucial for fleet businesses to ensure road safety for both drivers and vehicles. Changes in weather conditions also influence road accidents; for example, as winters have commenced, snow, ice, and low temperatures impact driving conditions. Drivers and fleet companies should take extra caution while driving on icy roads and conduct vehicle checks to mitigate road mishaps.

Good vehicle maintenance is critical to ensure road safety during winter

Some vehicle checks fleet managers should consider;

• Ensure the battery is fully charged and functioning properly.
• Use thinner oil grade as the usual one becomes thicker in the low temperatures, and regularly change oil filters.
• Ensure all fleet vehicles have snowbrush and scrapers to keep windows and windshields clear for drivers to have good visibility.
• Keep your tires well inflated, and vehicles should be checked daily before drivers start their day.

Whilst vehicle checks can assist drivers in ensuring that the vehicle is in the optimal state for the weather conditions, fleet managers should train drivers to drive slowly on icy roads even if they are the safest roads in the world. Accelerating or taking sharp turns can cause vehicles to slip on the road, and drivers tend to lose control of the vehicles. With this in mind, fleet managers should also be updated about vehicle whereabouts to assist drivers and reach out to them during emergencies.

Thanks to fleet trackers, you can keep track of each vehicle in real-time and get insights to improve operations, improving winter driving safety. Although vehicle checks and maintenance are essential, manually doing so is exhaustive and erroneous.

• RAM Tracking’s vehicle tracking system assists in preventive maintenance and allows you to see when vehicles need to be taken in for maintenance.
• Fleet managers can never miss out on any vehicle maintenance and must make sure that only well-maintained vehicles operate on the road, offering maximum vehicle and driver safety.

But, road fatalities are preventable to a great extent–all you need is the right data to assess the risk and address the issues that need immediate attention. Telematics provides data about drivers’ driving habits like speeding, harsh braking, etc., helping fleet managers monitor their performance and fix issues around road safety management.

Dash Cameras for Fleets

Dash cameras provide another layer of data that helps fleet businesses maintain the highest level of road safety. A dash camera is a small camera mounted on the vehicle’s dashboard that captures on-road and behind-wheel video, giving insights and unbiased context about safety-related events. During accidents, fleet managers can check the dashcam footage to understand what happened or what caused the accident.

How Dash Cameras Provide Road Safety?

Impact or Collision Alerts

Our 4G connected dash camera provides high-quality video footage in real-time.

• The camera can detect any vehicle impact or collision and instantly alert the fleet manager.
•  Fleet managers can view the video footage remotely from our intuitive dashboard to see what happened and take necessary steps accordingly. Besides this, they can submit the video footage to insurance companies as evidence for the First Notification of Loss (FNOL).
• In-built G-sensors enable location tracking, which helps fleet managers to understand where an accident occurred. It also provides greater visibility into operations like unauthorised routes or the cause behind unexpected delays.

Identify Lousy Driving Behaviour

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 95% of road accidents are due to human errors. Hence, drivers should always be attentive to prevent road mishaps.

• Our dash camera automatically detects overbold driving behaviours and which can all be seen within reports so the fleet manager can coach drivers who have poor habits.
• Fleet managers can view the in-cab and on-road video footage in real-time if they are notified of any such activity. They can alert drivers about their performance and ask them to abide by traffic rules.
• By recording every move drivers make on the road, fleet companies can use the video footage as a reference tool when drivers are being trained or when reviewing their performance.

Protection Against Theft and Fraudsters

Along with accidents, fleets need protection against theft, too.

• With the impact detection feature, the dash camera notifies if thieves try to break in and steal the vehicle.
• Fleet management can view the dash cam footage, track the vehicle’s location, share the details with law enforcement agencies and recover it as soon as possible.
• Fraudsters deliberately jump in front of your vehicle and fake injuries for the insurance money. Dash cameras can save your driver, prove that they are innocent, and avert the financial repercussions of lawsuits, protecting your driver and reputation.

Nowadays, some insurance companies offer discounted premiums if your vehicle has a dash camera. They can use the video footage to accelerate the claim process, saving you time and money.

Wrapping Up

With our connected dash camera, fleet managers can access and view any video remotely from any device and ensure the safety of drivers and vehicles. Ultimately, prevention is better than cure, and with dash cameras, you can prevent safety-related incidents and effectively manage a safe fleet business.