Do you have the best safety features installed in your vehicles? Have you made your vehicles completely bullet-proof from external forces? Great! But have you thought about your vehicle’s internal safety? Bad drivers with distracted driving patterns are a major threat to commercial fleets, and we’ll see how in this article.
What is Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving in simple words is when the driver’s focus is put anywhere other than the road and the vehicle. This unhealthy driving pattern can come from anywhere ranging from brain clouds to visual disturbances.
Here are the three main types of distracted driving behavior:
- Visual: Any distraction that might make the driver take their eyes off the road. This could be while changing music on the stereo or looking at passengers’ visual cues.
- Cognitive: Any distraction that takes the driver’s mind off driving. This could be a result of daydreaming, stress, drowsiness, or mobile distractions.
- Manual: While manually distracted, the driver’s mind and eyes are on the road. However, they cannot physically protect themselves from unfortunate circumstances. An example of manual distraction could be when a driver tries to wear a seat belt while driving.
One of the biggest driving distractions is texting. This is so because while texting all three distraction categories collide wherein the driver is neither seeing nor thinking about the road while they also lose control of the wheel.
How is it Dangerous?
Regardless of how smart tracking and surveillance techniques have become, a vehicle anyway is a machine that needs to be controlled by a driver. If the drivers themselves are distracted, there is no way of protecting the vehicle from collision.
Road accidents are obviously harmful to the driver and might put their life in jeopardy. Additionally, your vehicle and consignment might also get damaged or destroyed. Therefore, distracted driving risks emotional, mental, human, and monetary loss, all at once.
Using Telematics Software To Minimize Distracted Driving
If you are tired of distracted driving and the risks it brings to your fleet, you should use GPS tracking software to do the trick. Here are a couple of ways technology can help minimize distracted driving in your fleet:
- Video Telematics: Video telematics is the best way to know that your driver is distracted. You can place road-facing and driver-facing dash cams to see what the driver is doing and seeing on the road. These cameras are also an excellent way of getting insurance claims through visual proofs.
- AI-powered Solutions: Truly powerful fleet management software can detect distracted driving behavior such as drowsiness or texting through video telematics. They can detect motion and facial expressions to know and notify you when your drivers are not focused.
Lead a Safer Fleet With The Best Telematics Solutions
Nobody wants to lead a fleeting fleet. Safety should always come first in the telematics industry for a variety of reasons mentioned in this article. Therefore, you need to make the smarter choice today and choose a telematics software that will safeguard your fleet with video telematics.