Key Considerations When Implementing a Video Telematics System

1. Overview of Driver Monitoring Systems

Video Telematics Systems combine telematics capabilities with mobile video technology to provide an additional layer of protection for fleets. In addition to tracking location information, these systems capture video from one or more cameras the entire time a vehicle is in operation.

If an incident occurs, a manager can pull historical video of the event over the air remotely, together with audio, location and sensor information to review what actually occurred. This provides invaluable context and can be used to identify fault and prove liability as well as eliminate false damage claims.

If the video telematics system is equipped with Ai technology, then these systems can also provide real-time driver coaching and alerting of risky driver behavior. These risky events can be automatically uploaded as video snippets to an Evidence dashboard for proactive supervisory review.

Of course, these systems also allow for live video streaming on demand -for example,  to improve service quality, enhance driver training and so on.

Finally, the recorded video can be used very effectively for driver safety training -for example, by showing how a scenario played out after the fact in a driver meeting.

2. Video Telematics System Key Considerations

For organizations considering the implementation of a video telematics system into their field vehicles, here are some key points to consider:

1. How many cameras should you have and where should they be located?

There is a wide range of video telematics systems available, ranging from single camera dash cams to 12 camera systems. So what would make sense for your business? 

The number of cameras has a big impact on the hardware price and the installation cost of the system, so this is an important first question. This boils down to a combination of risk points and budget. We recommend that before making a purchase decision, you conduct a review of your previous accidents and incidents by vehicle type to identify your liability exposure. Also, speak to your insurance provider to get their input. 

If your fleet utilizes large industrial vehicles, such as tow vehicles, fuel trucks, dump trucks, waste management vehicles, fuel delivery vehicles, street sweepers, low-boys, etc., then a dash cam may not be sufficient to effectively protect your liability. These vehicles tend to be involved in a high number of merging incidents that are often not captured by a forward or interior facing camera. We estimate that approximately 35% of incidents with heavy duty trucks are merge related. Side cameras mounted on the truck’s mirrors or front fenders, facing backwards capture the entire side of the truck and the road and are therefore much more adept at capturing merge incidents. 

Similarly, many industrial applications can benefit from one or more weatherproof rear cameras to disprove false damage claims, such as in towing or to prove delivery, as in fuel delivery and waste management or to spot incidents in line painting, low-boy transportation, etc. 

Other industries, such as plumbing, HVAC, and alcohol delivery can benefit from a mini-dome camera to spot inventory theft or in passenger transportation buses to record passenger behavior and so on…

Generally speaking, the number of cameras required takes us to a hardware related fork in the road, with dash cam systems down one fork and MDVR’s (Mobile Video Device Recorders) down the other. Generalizing, dash cam systems are lower cost and typically easier to install, while MDVR systems can accommodate more cameras and provide longer historical storage capacity. As the trade-offs are substantial, this first question is worthy of careful consideration.

By analyzing your incident and claims history, you should be able to make a determination of your best product fit. This then needs to be considered with your budget as well.

Of course, the more cameras that you have, the more video storage capacity that you need and this brings us to our second question:

2. How much video history storage do I need?

The second fundamental question when choosing a video telematics system, is how many days of history should the system store? Why does stored video history matter? Simply because many incidents require review well after an incident actually occurred. It’s not uncommon to suddenly receive notification of a claim several weeks after the fact. 

For example, in the towing industry, a common occurrence is when a customer retrieves his vehicle from an impound lot where it was towed 3 weeks previously, claiming the tow company damaged it in the process. Insurance companies are becoming more aware of the value of video context in resolving claims, with some requesting that their clients maintain as much video history as possible. One customer was recently requested to maintain a full year of history.

Stored video can also be invaluable for training purposes. You’re usually not aware until well after the fact, when an incident that played out can become useful for training purposes. Perhaps everything went perfectly or perhaps nothing went well at all. In either case, it can be incredibly useful to use these live situations to conduct a post mortem or to help other drivers learn from the mistakes or the accomplishments of their peers. 

 A common misconception is that dash cam video history is kept in the cloud. This is simply not the case. It would consume far too much data and resources to upload everything to the cloud. Therefore, high quality 30 frame HD video can only be stored on the device itself. For example, a typical 2 camera dash cam system would consume over 1000 GB monthly on its cellular data plan if it were to transmit all of its video to the cloud. Could that device upload its history over WiFi every evening to the cloud? The simple answer is no, this just is not practical or feasible, as even a small fleet uploading every night would swamp your local network.

Some providers will give the impression that they are sending video history to the cloud, but the reality is, they are only sending periodic timed snapshots, which will not provide the evidence that you need. So, the reality is that the video can only be stored locally on each device. Modern cloud-based systems provide a means of downloading the evidence that you need from the device over the air to resolve an incident.

Once you choose the number of days of history that you need and the number of cameras required, you can do the math. The amount of history is calculated using the number of cameras, the video quality level, the video compression method and the size of the memory. This is then divided by the number of average working hours per day the vehicles are on the road. The chart below shows that a dual dash cam with 512 GB of memory will provide about 12 days of storage if the dash cam utilizes H.265 technology. However, as many dash cams use H.264 video compression, that same SD card will store only approximately 6 days of history. (Based on 10 hour work days per vehicle)

Many popular dash cam systems hold only about 40 hours or about 4 days of history, while others can accommodate up to 2 to 3 weeks.  If your application requires more than 2 or 3 cameras, then a DVR system would likely be recommended, as they can accommodate up to 4 TB of memory, or about 2 months of history from a 5 camera system.

3. Should Ai technology be implemented?

Ai based video telematics systems are broken down into forward facing Ai, called ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and Driver Facing Ai, called DSM.(Driver Safety Monitoring)

Dash cam and DVR systems can be implemented with ADAS only, DSM only, or both depending on your needs. ADAS and DSM consist of several pre-defined events, such as following too closely, using a smartphone, etc. Each of these individual events can be set to warn or coach the driver as well as upload the event to an evidence dashboard for supervisor review.

ADAS System Features

• Following Too Close

Following too closely is also strongly correlated with increased accident rates, particularly rear-end collisions. Approximately 26 percent of accidents that were caused by following too closely resulted in injuries. In addition, drivers can receive tickets for this infraction, which can significantly increase insurance costs. We also know that many heavier commercial vehicles have greater stopping distances, which is why in some markets, they are required to maintain a follow-on distance of 180 feet, yet many drivers of these vehicles only maintain passenger vehicle follow-on-distances out of habit. Ai systems can detect tailgating and warn the driver.

• Lane Adherence

LDW (Lane Departure Warning) systems have shown significant effectiveness in reducing accidents, with studies estimating a reduction of 11-23% in drifting-out-of-lane crashes. Ai systems can readily detect this and warn the driver.

• Crash Warning

FCW, (Forward Crash Warnings) as integrated into many OEM vehicles, have been proven to reduce overall crash rates by 22% and rear-end crash rates by up to 44% for large trucks. Ai systems are adept at capturing these events.

• Pedestrian Warnings

The latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that, in 2022, 7,522 pedestrians died in traffic crashes occurring on public roads. Although Ai systems can detect pedestrians, the correct sensitivities and speed settings can be tricky to get set correctly.

DSM (Driver Safety Monitoring) System Features:

• Seat Belt Compliance

In one recent study, it was found that 64% of truck drivers killed in automobile accidents were found to be not wearing seatbelts. In addition, non compliance on seatbelt use is found to be generally correlated to overall driver safety compliance. Ai systems can detect seatbelt compliance and warn the driver respectively.

• Smartphone Use

At least 48 states have passed laws prohibiting texting while driving and 24 have banned cellphone use completely. In 2021, distracted driving claimed 3,522 lives in the United States according to NHTSA. Other than speeding, cell phone use while driving this is probably the single biggest contributor to accidents. Yet, when reviewing historical video events for customers, we see this happening extensively. Ai systems can detect both talking and texting.

• Driver Fatigue

Driver fatigue may be a contributory factor in up to 20% of road accidents, and up to one quarter of fatal and serious accidents. NHTSA estimates that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and nearly 800 deaths. Hence the reason we now have mandated ELD systems in long haul trucking. Ai systems can detect excessive yawning, blinking and eye closing, which are symptoms of drowsiness.

• Distracted driving

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates that distracted driving claims more than 3,000 lives per year. In 2018 alone, 400,000 people were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers and 2,841 lives were lost as a result. In 2020, 3,142 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver. According to the CDC,On average, a non-fatal injury crash at work that involves distraction costs the employer an average of over $100,000.00. Distracted driving occurs when a driver takes their eyes off the road. Ai systems are able to track eye and head movements, such as when looking to the side, up or down excessively and prompt the driver.

4. What are the potential caveats of implementing Ai technology?

Implementing Ai does come with some additional costs and responsibilities and therefore, a measured approach is recommended. The additional costs would involve extra Installation costs for setup and alignment of the system. As an example, if you want to monitor lane adherence, then the system needs to be connected to the left and right signal light circuits. Additional costs for hardware and airtime may also be incurred.

• Uploaded Ai events require manpower on the fleet management side
• Ongoing tweaks to the predefined ADAS and DSM events will be required -for example setting the trigger and sensitivity points, which can vary from one vehicle type to another. This requires time by the fleet.
• Ai technology may require additional buy-in and training from your drivers. Even without Ai, your drivers may negatively react to having an interior facing camera. With an AI system constantly issuing voice-prompts to the drivers for infractions, they may view this as an incursion
• Many of the uploaded Ai events can become redundant and drivers can eventually tune out the alerts due to alert fatigue.
• It’s important to note that the majority of accidents and incidents requiring video review are not caught by predefined Ai events, so these need to be downloaded after the fact from the cloud dashboard.

One intensive study in Israel found that the installation of ADAS systems led to a behavioral adaptation that actually increased risky driving. The study determined that when decision makers design a policy that incentivizes or mandates the installation of safety systems, they should consider the possibility that adaptive behavior will be accentuated, thereby potentially offsetting benefits.

Due to the extra costs and efforts involved in Ai technology,  a measured approach is recommended. Systems are available that can be upgraded to Ai after the initial purchase, so you may want to start without Ai, then update a few vehicles to Ai, then run a pilot project before ramping up the entire fleet. 

Ai technology continues to improve as its data set increases over time. When the firmware is remotely updated, the accuracy of the Ai increases. For this reason, it’s important that the Ai system you choose has over-the-air firmware updating.

3. Get Started With Speed

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best approach. Generally speaking, if a driver is constantly speeding, he is likely hard braking, hard cornering and hard accelerating as well. In 2022, for instance, speeding was a factor in 29% of all traffic fatalities and 12,000 deaths. Another study found that a 5% increase in average speed leads to a 10% increase in injury accidents and a 20% increase in fatal crashes. Of the set of driving behaviors, the most meaningful driving behavior–and hence the best researched–is speeding. A driver that ranks poorly in these areas is a high insurance risk and he’s probably wearing out the tires, using more fuel and creating more maintenance at the same time. 

The beautiful thing about speeding is that it is easy to measure and does not require any tweaking from one vehicle to the next. It also works across any telematics device, from a dash cam, to a DVR, to a simple tracking device. If we couple accurate speed monitoring with harsh driving sensors to arrive at a driver score, this will give fleet manager’s an accurate, measurable means of comparing our drivers to weed out those that are high risk. If coupled with a driver training or incentive program, this can be a simple, cost effective way of monitoring driver safety. 

If we then layer this with a video capability that lets us resolve incidents and assess fault and liability in a simple, efficient way, with sufficient camera angles and history, then we can increase driver safety, reduce liability and insurance risk in a cost effective manner.

4. Video Telematics System Benefits

Video telematics systems have become mainstream and are quickly replacing simple GPS tracking devices due to their additional utility. Video telematics systems offer several significant benefits for fleet operations:

Enhanced Safety and Risk Management

Video telematics systems provide evidence based insight into driver behavior, allowing fleet managers to:

• Identify unsafe driving practices like speeding and harsh driving
• Provide targeted coaching and training to improve driver performance
• Reduce accidents and traffic violations through proactive interventions

Liability Protection and Cost Savings

Video evidence from telematics systems helps protect fleets in several ways:

• Exonerating drivers from false claims in accidents
• Reducing legal fees, liability costs, and reputational damage
• Lowering insurance premiums through improved safety records
• Decreasing operational expenses like fuel costs and vehicle maintenance

Improved Operational Efficiency

Video telematics enables fleet managers to:

• Monitor vehicle locations and optimize routes in real-time
• Proactively address potential mechanical issues before they escalate
• Enhance customer service through more accurate ETAs and delivery confirmations

Driver Training and Performance Management

The technology facilitates:

• Detailed analysis of driving patterns for personalized coaching
• Creation of driver scorecards and recognition programs
• Increased driver accountability and professionalism

Data-Driven Decision Making

Video telematics provides comprehensive data that allows fleet operators to:

• Gain full context around incidents and near-misses
• Identify trends and patterns in fleet performance
• Make informed decisions to improve safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness

By combining video footage with telematics data, these systems offer a holistic view of fleet operations, enabling managers to make strategic improvements across various aspects of their business.

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