The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration counted over 3,000 lives lost to distracted driving in 2019 alone. What’s more, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety estimates that in the same period, distracted driving cost employers $18.8 billion.
Eating, drinking, playing with the radio, and any other non-driving activity that happens while behind the wheel is considered distracted driving. As mobile technology has become commonplace, we’ve had more distractions on the road than ever before. Today, distracted driving is a leading cause of traffic accidents. Sadly, it’s no different for commercial fleet drivers.
As a fleet manager or fleet business owner, the safety of your drivers is a primary concern. But since you can’t be there in the cab with each driver, how can you help them combat the temptation to take their minds and eyes off the road? Fortunately, technology has solutions.
Dash Cam Motion Detection
Today’s dashboard cameras are more sophisticated than ever before. In addition to showing you what is happening on the road, dual-facing dash cams can give you a view inside the vehicle. But you don’t have time to spend your days watching camera feeds to make sure your drivers aren’t distracted.
AI-powered dash cams, like Azuga’s SafetyCam, can do the watching for you. Our machine learning technology can recognize when drivers check their phones, eat behind the wheel, or otherwise take their attention off the road. When the camera detects these behaviors, it will alert the driver to correct them. If the alert doesn’t help, it will notify the fleet manager to handle the situation.
But the benefits don’t stop there. A SafetyCam can also tell you when a driver is drowsy and needs a break. It can capture road conditions and other drivers’ behavior in the case of an accident. And it can help you prevent theft, unauthorized vehicle use, and fraud.
Cell Phone Blocking Technology
Not sure that a dash cam solution is enough for your team? Want a way to ensure your drivers aren’t using their phones while driving? Azuga DriveSafe may be just the solution you’ve been seeking.
DriveSafe is a distracted driving app that you can use to prevent unauthorized cell phone use while on the road. Use it to monitor and block distractions, including calls, text messages, and apps. You’ll get detailed reports of which drivers are breaking your cell phone use policies, and in what contexts, so you can take action as you see fit.
But this is no cookie-cutter program that enforces its own rules without regard to your business needs. DriveSafe is fully customizable, allowing you to block or allow specific phone numbers, and set custom rules for each driver in your fleet.
Build a Culture of Safety
The best way to keep your drivers safe on the road is to build a company-wide culture of safety that motivates drivers to avoid distractions and build safe driving habits. This motivation will serve your fleet well in all sorts of situations, both on the road and off. But how can you accomplish this?
Azuga offers a wide variety of fleet safety software to help you build a safety culture within your organization. Our solutions are customizable to allow your fleet to choose the options that work best for your individual needs.
Try our Driver Safety Rewards program to gamify fleet safety. With this solution, your drivers will compete for the safest driving score each month, with gift card rewards for the best of the best. Driving habits will be automatically monitored and scored, and each driver will be able to see their own score as well as where they stand in the competition. It’s a fun and friendly way to take tracking software from “gotcha” to “way to go” and motivate drivers to always do their best.
Azuga Coach is an add-on program that will help you create customized training and coaching programs for each driver in your fleet. The video lessons chosen for each driver are based on real observed behaviors so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, drivers will see only the training they actually need, without wasting time on lessons they’ve already mastered.
Want to know more about all the ways Azuga can help you keep your fleet drivers safe on the road? Contact our fleet technology experts today.
