Reduce Fleet Driving Risk Factors With Safety Tracking Measures

Safety tracking tools are essential in keeping your drivers safe. But how do they work? Find out how specialised features prevent accidents.
Safety tracking keeps your drivers safe

Although most journeys by road in the UK turn out incident-free, drivers should never take a complacent attitude. On average per year, just over 25,000 people are killed or seriously injured in driving accidents in the UK alone. 

There are a number of factors that contribute to this statistic. Studies suggest that driver behaviour itself is the number one cause of driving safety issues. Studies also suggest that drivers overstate their driving ability and tend to be overconfident on the road. 

Therefore, keeping tabs your drivers’ driving behaviour is a necessity. Luckily, businesses can easily acquire driver behaviour safety tracking tools. Good safety tracking tools are cost-effective and provide fleet managers with an accurate overview into how their employees are driving their vehicles. Read on to learn more about safety tracking.

Safety Tracking: What Are The 5 Biggest Driving Risks?

According to a study that recorded multiple vehicles over 4 million driving hours, the five most significant driving risks are the following in descending order:

1. Driver Behaviour

Driver behaviour itself was found to be the single biggest risk factor when it came to driver safety. The study concluded that some drivers are inherent risk-takers, corresponding to their general driving habits. 

Dangerous driving behaviour included:

  • Harsh braking
  • Unsteady cornering
  • Speeding

2. Road Type

Accidents are more likely to occur in built-up urban areas, rather than motorways. This is due to the fact that there are more things that could go wrong. Drivers have to be wary of more pedestrians, more cyclists as well as a shorter braking distance between vehicles. 

3. Shift Length

The more drivers drive, the more tired they become. The last hour of commercial driving, particularly for HGV drivers is the most dangerous. This is where harsher braking is more likely to occur. 

4. Sun Position

When the sun is more prominent, drivers are more likely to engage in harsher braking – an average of 14% more. Rainy and snowy driving conditions in fact tend to work the opposite, as drivers tend to drive more carefully. 

5. Day of the Week

More accidents tend to occur when the driver feels more relaxed – particularly on Fridays and weekends. The driver is more likely to accelerate as there are fewer vehicles on the road, meaning harsher braking is also more likely. 

How Does Safety Tracking Keep Your Drivers Safe?

Safety tracking: Don't brake too harshly!

Driver behaviour is the overwhelming factor in the cause of driving accidents. Luckily, there are specially designed tools you can integrate into your business as part of your safety tracking plan. 

This is where Vimcar’s Driving Style Analysis (DSA) tool comes in. DSA is specifically designed with your fleet drivers’ safety in mind. It comes equipped with specialised features to improve driver behaviour. 

Driver Analysis

The Driver Analysis tool, like a driver tracker, tracks your vehicle history, route information as well as driving habits via a dongle in the vehicle’s OBD port. As a result, you gain an accurate insight into the following driver behaviour information:

  • Speeding
  • Braking type
  • Acceleration
  • Vehicle idling 
  • Mobile usage

Read More: 5 Ways How Driver Behaviour Safety Tracking Reduces Costs

This means that you can identify unwanted driving habits early on, preventing future accidents. Moreover, this tool promotes transparency between the fleet manager and the driver. The driver will know that their driving habits are tracked – and is likely to control their driving habits as a result. 

Moreover, a fleet whose drivers drive responsibly is also a fleet that pleases your insurance. Responsible driving lowers your insurance costs as your drivers are less likely to get into accidents or speeding fines.

1-10 Scoring System

Safety tracking also uses a scoring system

A 1-10 scoring system is the easiest way you can grade your drivers based on their driving behaviour. It easily compiles all of their driving statistics into one manageable score. This also facilitates easier one-on-ones with your drivers.

You can use this transparent score to discuss room for improvement and to emphasise the risks of dangerous driving.

This also lets the driver know how they are driving. This means that they themselves become aware of room for improvement, further reducing the risk of them getting into accidents.

How Can You Install Vimcar’s Driving Style Analysis (DSA)?

Vimcar’s safety tracking tool for driver behaviour can be acquired as part of Vimcar’s Fleet Geo. Fleet Geo is a fleet tracking tool and a fleet tracking software that allows you to track real-time vehicle location, vehicle information, which driver is driving what vehicle among other specialised features. 

To get going with Vimcar’s DSA, you can acquire it as part of the Vimcar Fleet Geo package. Luckily, this process is made to be as easy as possible. 

Firstly, you make a choice between a Vimcar Dongle or battery-fitted box for each of your fleet vehicles. Secondly, you receive your hardware as well as your personalised Vimcar login credentials for the app, which you can access via mobile, tablet or desktop. 

If you have opted for Vimcar’s Driving Style Analysis, this tool is already set up and ready for you to use!

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Summary: Accurate Safety Tracking Over Guesswork

When it comes to keeping your drivers safe and ensuring safer working conditions, it pays to rely on hard data. High-grade safety tracking tools for driver behaviour, such as Vimcar’s Driving Style Analysis, is specifically designed to do just that. It gives you pinpoint analysis early on, and promotes transparency within your business from the off. 


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