Solutions for Distracted Driving for Your Fleet Company

The most effective solution for combating distracted driving in your fleet company is to adopt a multifaceted approach that combines technology, policies, and ongoing driver coaching. This strategy mainly involves using telematics and AI-powered dashcams to monitor driver behaviour. The insight from this will show you if drivers are following policies, and what they need more training on. 

Distracted driving is a critical issue that affects the safety of workers and the public. According to the National Library of Medicine, road traffic accidents are one of the greatest challenges that South Africa (and the world) faces. Distracted driving is one of the major contributors to road accidents. It not only puts lives at risk, but also increases expenses; and could ruin your company's reputation. 

Protecting your drivers from distractions begins with choosing the right technology, and we’re here to help you make that choice. 

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The impact of distracted driving on fleets

The impact of distracted driving on fleets includes high accident rates, which lead to: 

• Expensive repairs

• Increased insurance premiums

• Loss in productivity

• Bad company reviews

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All these factors could drive your fleet business to financial loss, affecting profitability, and potentially damaging long-term growth and sustainability. 

Here’s a table overview of the implications of driver distractions: 

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Strategies and solutions to combat distracted driving

The strategies and solutions to combat distracted driving include the following:

• Close monitoring using technology

• Developing strict policies

• Training drivers

• Supporting drivers

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Together, they create a strong safety-focused work culture, ensuring that drivers perform their duties with less risk. These strategies also encourage driver accountability, ensuring that they are more responsible on the road. 

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Technology solutions that reduce distracted driving

• In-cab cameras and video telematics: In-cab cameras are commonly known as dashcams. These vehicle gadgets give you a clear line of sight. You get to see what drivers get up to while in transit, ensuring they're well-behaved on the road and not distracted..
  
  
• Driver alert systems: AI-powered dashcams are the most effective at preventing distracted driving. They detect when a driver is engaging in distractions such as cellphone use, smoking, or looking away from the road while driving. They then give you alerts so that drivers can immediately have their actions corrected. Each incident is recorded by a fleet management system, so you can access reports and identify patterns. Some AI-powered dashcams also help drivers to be more aware of their surroundings. They can give lane-departure and forward-collision warnings to help drivers with blind spots.
  
  
• Hands-free communication tools: Some of the dashcams that are connected to fleet management software allow two-way communication. This means you can speak to the driver through the dashcams, which is a safer way to stay in touch because it prevents manual distractions.
  
  
• Fleet management software: Some distractions cause drivers to speed, idle for too long, or stop harshly. By investing in a fleet management system, you get telematics technology that detects such driving habits. Through this, you’ll get reports on how each driver handles your vehicles and can more readily address your concerns. 

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Policy and training approaches for prevention

• Set clear fleet safety policies: A strong corporate policy is the foundation of preventing distracted driving. Create written guidelines that clearly outline what’s acceptable and what isn’t while on the road. For example, banning the use of cellphones, requiring that drivers use hands-free devices, and restricting eating and drinking to only be done during stops. Drivers must know the consequences of not adhering to policy rules, and managers must apply the rules fairly and regularly to build consistency and accountability.
  
  
• Perform regular driver training and refresher programmes: Training should not only be done when a driver is new to a business. Even with experienced drivers, bad habits tend to creep up over time, and drivers forget the importance of safety. You must regularly conduct driver training sessions, with each session covering different types of driver safety-related topics, such as “defensive driving techniques to handle unexpected situations”.
    
• Incentives and recognition: Every employee needs to be motivated, and one way to do that is by rewarding good driver behaviour through incentives. This encourages your team and improves driver retention. You can do this using driver scorecards that help you rate each driver. The ones with top scores will get recognition, so they remain motivated. 

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Supporting drivers to stay focused on the road

• Managing schedules to reduce fatigue: Fatigue is one of the biggest contributors to distracted driving, and it often stems from poor scheduling. When drivers are under pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines or when they work long shifts without enough rest, they lose focus. This makes them more likely to be distracted and cause accidents. It’s important that you properly plan trips, with enough rest in between, and that deadlines are realistic. Breaks also give drivers the chance to check their vehicles, reducing the risk of mechanical issues going unnoticed.
  
  
• Providing wellness programmes: The mental health of your drivers matters. You must have wellness programmes that promote better sleeping habits, stress management techniques, and overall health. By supporting the well-being of your drivers, you actively cut down on mental distractions and help drivers stay alert and engaged while driving.

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How a fleet partner can help your company

A fleet management service provider plays a key role in helping companies combat distracted driving. By providing the tools to track, and handle risky behaviour, a fleet management service provider can help businesses fight distracted driving. Fleet partners provide integrated solutions such as GPS tracking, dashcams, and driver behaviour analytics.

The long-term benefits of these integrated solutions go beyond preventing accidents. By reducing the CHANCES of accidents and risky driving, your business saves on vehicle repair costs, insurance premiums, and downtime. At the same time, drivers become more aware of their behaviour and take responsibility for their safety.

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Keep your drivers focused and your fleet safe with Cartrack 

At Cartrack, we understand the importance of safety and compliance for fleet businesses. A tiny mistake made by one driver can cost your business thousands due to lawsuits, repairs, and downtime. For this reason, we have solutions that specifically focus on distracted driving, helping you reduce incidents and improve on overall fleet safety.

• AI Dual Vision dashcam: 
  The AI Dual Vision dashcam solution is exactly what you need for distracted drivers. It can detect various distracted driving behaviours such as yawning, drowsiness, cellphone use, and smoking. Once detected, these cameras will send out audible alerts to drivers, so they can instantly make corrections.
  
  This dashcam also has a two-way communication feature, meaning you can speak to it while it’s on the move if you spot something. This is a feature that ensures drivers speak with you without having to touch their cellphones. You can even live-stream the footage at any time of the day. The Cartrack AI Dual Vision solution further heightens driver awareness by also giving blind spot and forward collision warnings. 
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• Driver scorecards:
  Cartrack has a Driver Scorecard feature which gives you a reflection of how drivers behave on the road by giving each one a rating. Each driver’s score starts at 100 and goes down every time there’s a harsh event such as speeding or excessive acceleration. You can use the feature to motivate drivers, give recognition to those who are performing well, and reward them.
  
  

• Coaching platform
  To assist with driver training, Cartrack also has a coaching platform. It keeps a record of each risky driving incident so you can see the type of coaching each driver needs. It gives you a full overview of how your teams are performing, highlighting trends from each department. It also records how many times each driver repeated the same incident. Coaches can leave notes for each one-on-one session on the platform, so they can keep track of what was discussed in previous sessions and see if there’ve been improvements. 

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Investing in our solutions will reduce the number of distracted drivers in your fleet business and help you maintain a safe working environment. You’ll also save on insurance costs and accident claims. Reach out to us and cast away your distracted driving woes! 

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Frequently Asked Questions about distracted driving

What are the five ways a person can be distracted while driving? 

The five ways someone can be distracted while driving are cellphone use, talking to passengers, eating and drinking, adjusting the radio, and fatigue. There are many other ways drivers can be distracted, such as when they put too much focus on navigation systems. Anything that takes their attention away from the road is regarded as distracted driving. 

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What are the three techniques to manage distractions as they occur while driving? 

The three techniques to manage distractions while driving are pulling over for anything that requires your attention, delegating all non-driving tasks to passengers, and preparing everything before the trip. These give you a higher chance of concentrating on the road, improving safe driving practices. 

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Who is most at risk of distracted driving?

Younger new drivers (mostly teenagers) are more at risk of being distracted while driving. According to the CDC, most of them are highly drawn to their smartphones, using them for texting and other purposes, which significantly increases the risk of accidents.