Fleet Safety

The Facts:

1) Vehicle accidents are the most common cause of work related injuries, fatalities and absence from work in Australia

2) 25% of company vehicles are involved in an accident in any given year

3) Mobile employees are more likely to use phones while driving, putting them at greater risk

4) Professional drivers are often under time pressure, potentially leading to greater risk taking

(Source: Victorian Transport Accident Commission)

The Issue

According to the National Transport Commission, work-related road crashes in Australia account about half of all occupational fatalities. They go on to say:

“On average, company drivers travel more than twice the annual distance of private car drivers and have about 50 per cent more incidents. This suggests fertile ground and great potential rewards from improving road behaviour by working closely with organisations and employers”.

Given the statistics, it makes real sense for fleet managers to take action to improve the safety of their fleets. The benefits are not just safety – the savings that can be made from reducing the costs of vehicle accidents – insurance, repairs, unplanned absences etc – are enormous.

What can organisations and fleet managers do?

One important first step is having a road safety or fleet safety policy that all employees and drivers understand and adhere to. A good example of a safety policy is provided by the Victorian Transport Accident Commission here.

Secondly, today’s technology provides a number of tools to facilitate safer driving, particularly with company drivers. Some of the key products available are:

1) Hands free car kits for mobile phones

These should be considered essential equipment for drivers that require a mobile phone for their work. It is illegal to use a hand held phone while driving; a professionally-installed hands-free car kit is the safest way to use a phone behind the wheel.

Of course, it is part of any good safe driving policy to advise drivers to minimise their phone use when driving, as even with a hands free kit the risk of accidents does increase whilst talking on the phone.

2) Reversing cameras and parking sensors

20% of accidents occur when reversing – these could be simple car park accidents, or worse, they could involve pedestrians or small children not seen in the rear view mirror.

Of course, trucks, buses and other large vehicles have extremely limited rear vision so technology like this has particular value for these types of vehicles.

These systems are available in many new cars but can also be added to any existing vehicle from around $500 for reversing cameras and $270 for parking sensors.

3) Event data recorders

Basic event data recorders keep a log of a vehicle’s movement, speed and location so that if an event such as an accident occurs, the fleet manager can find out what the contributing factors were.

Video event data recorders go further, by recording video footage from front and/or rear facing cameras so that events such as accidents or dangerous driving can be recorded and viewed later on any PC. They include GPS and motion sensors so vehicle location, speed and even erratic driving can be tracked and recorded.

These devices not only promote safer driving, but have been shown to reduce fuel consumption and can also potentially reduce insurance premiums.

More information

The National Transport Commission’s discussion paper on Corporate Road Safety

An example of a Safer Driving Policy from the Victorian Transport Accident Commission

Our product pages for Hands Free Car Kits and Reversing Cameras and Sensors