Top 4 things to consider when rolling out smart dashcams in your fleets

On-road safety starts with visibility, and a smart dashcam provides optimum visibility for businesses. Dashcams can record 100% of driving time to ensure all events are detected and analysed, giving your company transparency into driver behaviour and the ability to correct risky driving with training and feedback.

Any company with fleets can benefit from this added layer of risk reduction and safety – for the business and its operational team, it’s a no-brainer to keep employees safe and reduce road incidents.

Before you’ve decided to roll out dashcams in your company, you’ll need to consider these four things.

 

1. Installation is simple, but be mindful of placement

Installation methods will vary for different vehicle types. Check each vehicle you’ll be installing dashcams in to ensure there’s sufficient space, and follow the advice provided by your solutions provider and their installation team. When your installation date approaches, make sure your vehicles are available long enough for the team to install them correctly.

Double-check the placement of your cameras. They need to capture a wide-angle view in front of the vehicle whilst capturing the driver and in-vehicle space; this ensures the embedded intelligence can do its job by constantly analysing the environment, warning the driver of poor behaviours, and raising alerts. If it isn’t positioned correctly, it won’t function as it should. Follow up with your installation team if the placement appears incorrect.

 

2. You’ll uncover more than you think

You’re bound to uncover far more than you might imagine with a smart dashcam installed. The camera records every minute of driving time, so there’s no telling what might pop up in the video footage, either on the road or in the driver’s seat.

If you choose an AI-powered dashcam, the information is even more in-depth. The AI processor efficiently analyses the recordings and reports on a range of safety and performance metrics in real-time, such as driving too close to the vehicle ahead, distracted driving, harsh driving and more.

Understanding what features you need is important. You might simply want to replay incidents to analyse what went wrong, or you may want to improve safety through real-time vision. Either way, you never know what information could be useful down the track. Recordings can be used as protection against fraudulent claims or to identify key issues for training purposes. So, make sure to store that footage and data – just in case.

 

3. Be transparent with your drivers

Installing cameras in your fleet could be met with some push-back, particularly if you’ve chosen a model with a driver-facing camera. The key here is honesty. Let your team know the benefits of a dashcam –why it’s needed and how it can help. It’s not a tool for spying but a tool to protect their safety, other drivers, and the organisation.

Letting drivers know what footage will be viewed or what metrics will be recorded is an essential step in the roll-out of dashcams in your company and will help ease any concerns. Setting up a scoreboard or reward system to encourage safe driving habits is another great way to get everyone on board and ensure the best results from your dashcams.  

 

4. Be prepared for improved driver performance

Smart dashcam technology doesn’t stop with improved safety; intelligent coaching features encourage drivers to boost their overall performance. Drivers get automatic notifications of events as they occur, giving them the chance to take instant corrective action and improve in real-time. The built-in scorecard system provides visibility into an individual driver’s score relative to the fleet average, key events, and tips for improving their performance to increase their score.

Pairing this positive and constructive feedback from the smart dashcam system with incentives from the business – such as rewards for meeting driver safety targets or improving their score – drivers have a greater opportunity for continual development. This hands-off training can lead to great results for your business and your drivers while creating a culture of safety.

 

Dashcams are just one way to improve the safety of your fleet and increase driver performance. Combined with other fleet management software and systems, they can be a powerful tool on your company’s road to success.