Winter months being harsher with treacherous driving conditions, this part of the year usually sees the highest number of crashes as well. Fleet operators have the added responsibility to safely and efficiently negotiate the difficult roads and situations, and ensure timely deliveries and profitability.
Here are a few common reasons for commercial vehicle crashes, and effective safety tips that could help you combat them.
Speeding
If there ever was an award for the chief contributor for crashes, speeding would win it hands down! According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), out of 3 fatal trucking incidents, at least 1 is the direct result of speeding. There is a direct and inextricable relation between speeding and crash – as the speed increases, so do the chances of crashing and severity of the impact.
Negligent driving can be combated using AI-based telematics solutions. You can track high-risk behavior such as speeding, sudden braking, swerving etc. through in-cab cameras, GPS-based tracking and dash-cams. With feedback from driver monitoring systems, you can intervene and address the issues through driver training and awareness initiatives.
Overworked Drivers
According to NHTSA, more than 100,000 incidents occur when drivers fall asleep at the wheel. Drowsy drivers cause 40,000 incident-related injuries! Staggering, isn’t it?
Burnout is a real threat to safe driving. Fatigue is among the top reasons for crashes. Fatigue slows down the body’s reflexes and numbs the reactions.
With AI-based solutions, you can plan the route better and allocate the right drivers for the right job. Route and driver optimization ensures that both the vehicle and the driver are well rested, and are working at peak efficiency at all times.
Distracted Driving
AI powered fleet safety systems such as in-cabin video monitoring, dash-cam, satellite-based monitoring systems etc. capture incident videos and upload them to the cloud for automatic analysis. Real-time alerts notify drivers of their distracted driving and help them stay focused and alert. Strategic reports based on driving patterns and route traversed help fleet operators derive and mitigate recurring trends that affect productivity. This helps avoid high-risk driver demographics or accident locations, accident types or scenarios.
Vehicle Breakdowns
Vehicle breakdown is a major cause for crashes. A faulty vehicle is like a loose missile on the road! It poses danger to the driver, as well as other occupants of the road.
Evolution of automobile technology has necessitated sensors and computer chips to monitor and adjust various parameters to ensure efficient functioning of vehicles. The sensors collect and crunch a lot of data. With the help of AI technology, it is possible to monitor, record and understand these data. By accessing and utilizing these inputs, operators can gain valuable insights into the condition and performance of the vehicles. By using AI technology, failures can be predicted accurately and risky situations can be avoided with quick and timely interventions.
Tangerine
Tangerine offers customizable solutions that enable you to combat commercial vehicle crashes and improve the performance of your fleet. Our innovative fleet management tools give you complete visibility and help increase the efficiency, safety and productivity of your fleet through actionable intelligence. You can review, track, intervene and improve your fleet operations stress-free. Whether it is vehicle utilization, current location, driver-vehicle allocation, vehicles needing repairs, you can get answers to all these questions with real-time data displayed at just one place for your convenience. You can also live track all your assets with map and satellite view and filter them based on whether they are currently in motion, idle or offline.
To know more: https://tangerine.ai/blog/trucking-safety-tips-to-combat-the-rise-of-commercial-vehicle-crashes-in-2023-2/
