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Three Tips for Using Telematics to Keep Drivers Safe This Winter

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Speeding. Harsh stops. Rapid acceleration. Cornering. Fleet managers are likely familiar with these buzzwords related to driver behavior, but what is the real impact of not fixing the way employees operate company vehicles?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driver error causes 94% of all vehicle collisions. Along with the physical and psychological consequences that accidents cause all parties, they can also have far-reaching financial liabilities for businesses if company drivers are found to be the negligent party.

Driving in winter weather amplifies these risks, and without the proper precautions, a company’s drivers may cause a fatal accident on icy or snow-covered roads if they speed when running late, make harsh stops when distracted, or rapidly accelerate in traffic.

We know the basic rules of thumb for driving in winter weather: Slow down, leave extra distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you, turn the wheel into a skid. But for employees who drive company vehicles, there is an added layer to safer driving in winter weather: telematics. Telematics are devices that gather and send data from the vehicle to fleet operators, providing insight into drivers’ actions and their safety, and other information like the conditions of the vehicles and roads.

Here are three tips for using telematics to keep drivers safe during winter weather:

  1. Closely monitor driver speed

Usually, companies set real-time speeding alerts with some room for driver error. Leaving this room for drivers includes setting posted speed alerts that do not trigger unless the driver is traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, or setting high speeding thresholds in general where the alert only hits if the driver is going above 80 miles per hour.

A best practice during winter months is to set these thresholds much lower and become more stringent on violations. For example, setting the posted speed limit violation threshold to 2 miles per hour over the posted speed of the road can ensure that drivers are staying close to the limit and taking their time getting to their next stop.

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  1. Stay alert on maintenance demands

Telematics solutions can monitor for various vehicle maintenance needs, such as oil life and tire pressure, in real time and notify the fleet manager when maintenance is needed.

Batteries die faster in cold weather, especially when they sit for extended periods. By using a telematics solution, fleet managers can receive alerts when batteries drop below a specific voltage. Setting this alert serves as a reminder to start the vehicle or investigate to prevent a dead battery.

This knowledge can save a fleet thousands of dollars in unnecessary maintenance costs and improve safety for drivers by reducing the number of faulty vehicles.

  1. Proactively coach drivers to navigate tough road conditions

Speeding, rapid acceleration and harsh braking should always be avoided, but these actions are particularly dangerous in winter weather environments. By harnessing GPS telematics and predictive analytics, fleet managers can catch patterns of unsafe driving behavior before it results in a serious accident. Rather than rely on general training for all drivers, fleet managers can provide one-on-one evaluations that focus on each driver’s pain points using real-time alerts, reactive reports and driver scorecards.

Enforcing a business safety culture backed by actionable telematics data can ultimately help companies ensure the safety of their employees and the public in real time. No business wants its drivers to be put in harm’s way on the road, but safety also makes good business sense.

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Company vehicles are driving billboards, and along with the potential to put the public in harm’s way, it will ultimately hurt the bottom line if the brand is associated with accidents, fatalities and poor driving habits.

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Drive Safely Work Week Campaign Revs Up in October

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American workers’ safety on the road continues to affect careers and companies. According to the Department of Labor’s National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2015, transportation incidents caused that year’s most fatal work injuries at a staggering 26%; the 1,264 roadway incidents also marked a 9% rise from 2014. When paired with other sobering statistics—such as positive urine drug testing in the workplace increasing 5% from 2014 to 2015, as previously reported—awareness groups are reacting to combat these statistics.

The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) reports that vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death and injury in the workplace. In addition to the pain and suffering caused, traffic crashes cost employers more than billion annually in the U.

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S. alone. Studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have concluded that 80% of all crashes and 65% of near-crashes are due to some form of driver inattention.
NETS is addressing fleet safety and the dangerous combination of impaired driving while at work beginning Oct. 2, when it launches Impaired Driving, its newest Drive Safely Work Week campaign.

The goal for the week is to equip employers with the means to improve awareness of the risks of impaired driving—operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, illicit and prescription drugs, and other substances—by offering tangible solutions employers can implement to reduce them. The NETS site, trafficsafety.org, offers an online toolkit which will be updated in October with Impaired Driving campaign activities that reinforce the program’s safe-driving messages. This includes customizable employer launch letters, fact sheets, pledge cards and interactive employee presentations.

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While the campaign’s top priority is to save lives, it also sheds light on the major financial risks employers face when employees drive under the influence. NETS information indicates that the average cost of an on-the-job crash to employers is:

  • $670,000 per fatality,
  • $65,000 per non-fatal injury, and
  • $6,000 for property damage.

Impaired Driving is DSWW’s third campaign of the year. The safety week had been observed annually for many years, but NETS updated its structure to quarterly deliveries in 2017. Its focus will not be time-sensitive or tied in with certain events or holidays.

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This way, any of the campaigns can be tailored to the employer’s schedule, without consuming significant time from the work day, said NETS executive director Joe McKillips.

“With these changes, our mission remains the same,” McKillips said. “[That mission is] to improve the safety and health of employees, their families, and members of the communities in which they live and work by preventing traffic crashes that occur both on-and off-the-job.”

For employers looking to host a safety week, NETS suggests alerting employees up to two weeks prior to the week by email and posting notices.

During a scheduled Drive Safely Work Week:

  • Post social media announcements
  • Distribute employee fact sheet(s)
  • Conduct distracted driving training workshop and/or webinar using the PowerPoint presentation contained in the downloadable campaign materials

Founded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), NETS is an employer-led road safety organization comprising global traffic safety leaders across private industry and government, whose fleets range from fewer than 100 vehicles to more than 50,000.

Lessons from Distracted Driving Awareness Month

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June is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and while it is quickly drawing to a close, the message remains: Distracted driving is escalating, with 25% more vehicle accidents resulting from drivers talking or texting on cellphones. More cars on the road, especially during summer months, also translates to more accidents.

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Organizations with fleets should take note as motor vehicle crashes are the number-one cause of work-related deaths, accounting for 24% of all fatal occupational injuries, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). On-the-job crashes are also costly, with employers sustaining costs of more than ,500 per property damage crash and 0,000 per injury crash.

Zurich sums up NSC statistics:
Employers can and are being held liable for damages resulting from employee accidents. “We might expect an employer to be held liable for a crash involving a commercial driver’s license holder who was talking on a cell phone with dispatch about a work-related run at the time of an incident—especially if the employer had processes or a workplace culture that made drivers feel compelled to use cell phones while driving,” the NSC said.

The lines believed to exist between employment-related and personal or private life get blurred in some cases involving:

  • Cell phones owned by employees as well as employer-provided equipment
  • Vehicles that were employee-owned as well as employer-owned or leased
  • Situations where employees were driving during non-working hours or were engaged in personal phone calls

To protect themselves and their employees, the NSC recommended that organizations implement and enforce a total ban policy.

“The best practice is to prohibit all employees from using any cell phone device while driving in any vehicle during work hours or for work-related purposes. Regarding off-the-job hours, precedent has been set by lawsuits.

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Thus employers may want to extend their policies to cover off-the-job use of company-provided wireless devices, use of personally-owned devices that are reimbursed by the company, and use of devices in company-provided vehicles. All work-related cell phone use while driving should be banned 24/7,” the NSA advised.

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Companies should also pay attention to other common distractions that can lead to accidents, Zurich adds:

Warning: Deer Crossing Ahead

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With Oct. 1 just days away, it’s that time of the year, when deer, elk and moose become more active in the United States, increasing the risk of collisions. In fact, the risk of hitting one of these large animals doubles during the months of October, November anddeer-crossing December, according to State Farm.

This is no small matter, as these accidents can cause significant injury and damage. In fact, the average cost per claim nationally for 2015-2016 was ,995.

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08, down slightly from $4,135 in 2014-2015. In its annual ranking, State Farm identifies the state where a driver is most likely to have a claim from a deer, elk or moose collision as West Virginia, where the odds are 1 in 41.

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The state where such a collision is least likely (excluding Hawaii) is Arizona, where odds of getting into such an accident are 1 in 1,175.

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“We know there is an increased risk of collision with deer around dawn and dusk, and also during the October-December breeding season,” Chris Mullen, director of technology research at State Farm said in a statement. “However, drivers should be engaged, alert and on the lookout at all times, because you never know when you may need to react to a deer or any other obstacle that may suddenly be in your path.”

In its 2015-2016 study, State Farm found that the top five states where a driver is most likely to have a claim from a collision with a deer, elk or moose are:
deer-collision-ranking

Safety tips for drivers:

  • Slow down, particularly at dusk and dawn
  • If you see one deer, be prepared for more to cross the road
  • Pay attention to deer crossing signs
  • Always buckle up, every trip, every time
  • Use your high-beams to see farther, except when there is oncoming traffic
  • Brake if you can, but avoid swerving, which could result in a more severe crash
  • Remain focused on the road, scanning for hazards, including animals
  • Avoid distractions, like devices or eating, which could cause you to miss seeing an animal
  • Do not rely on products such as deer whistles, which are not proven effective
  • If riding a motorcycle, always wear protective gear and stay focused on the road ahead.