How driver risk intelligence can reduce road crashes
For many of the largest companies in the world which operate big fleets, road safety is one of their most significant risks. And managing road safety not only poses a huge challenge for such companies, but also comes at a hefty cost.
Yet, with developments in AI-led risk intelligence, managing road safety and reducing road crashes has got a lot easier. Here I’ll explain how to use risk intelligence into road safety to predict and prevent road crashes.
The problem with “at work” drivers and road crashes
Road crashes result in the deaths of approximately 1.19 million people around the world each year and leave between 20 and 50 million people with non-fatal injuries¹. And, while we don’t know the exact number of crashes involving “at work” drivers, we do know that:
- Approximately one in three road deaths involve a driving for work trip
- More than one in three pedestrian deaths involve someone driving for work
- Approximately one in five casualties involves a driving for work trip²
Shockingly, more deaths occur from at-work trips than within the workplace, even considering high-risk industries such as construction and farming. And most of the victims are non-working drivers.
Finding a solution to reduce road crashes
In most countries, companies are legally required to have policies and procedures in place to reduce the risk of driving for work.
Some of the bigger companies will already have a range of solutions and interventions aimed at keeping drivers safe and reducing road crashes. This might include risk assessments, driver training, telematics, dashcams, smartphone apps, collision investigation and other programs. And, while such programs might be helping companies to improve their road safety performance, risk intelligence provides an extra layer of insight to help reduce road crashes and address specific KPIs.
Visualize risk to predict and prevent
More companies are embracing a culture of safety and realizing the benefits of a proactive approach to risk management. Risk intelligence into road crashes supports this approach by predicting the drivers most likely to be involved in a crash, and why, enabling companies to act to prevent the predicted crashes from happening.
With Greater Than’s risk intelligence your company can:
- See crash probability for every driver
- Receive alerts about highest risk drivers
- Understand reasons for crash risk to enable the right action to be taken
Enhancing current programs with new insights
The solutions you have in place already are probably excellent for your needs. But technology evolves, creating opportunities to accelerate existing solutions further and strengthen your efforts to reduce road crashes.
We specialize in harmonizing the data generated through your existing solutions (including telematics, dashcams and smartphone solutions) so you can compare crash risk between drivers in different vehicle types, and in different locations. Even better, you can predict the drivers most likely to be involved in a crash in the coming weeks, giving you enough time to mitigate the risk to reduce road crashes.
Reaching the right drivers with the right messages
By pinpointing the drivers most likely to crash, and why, you can target your risk mitigation action towards the drivers who need it most, saving precious resources and costs.
Working with a recent customer we saw that, after minor incidents, drivers’ crash probability did not reduce, while it did after severe incidents. With this insight, the customer identified a need to intervene after minor incidents, helping drivers to understand their crash risk and reduce it to prevent future crashes.
Risk intelligence into road safety also enables you to identify the best messaging for drivers, depending on factors such as changes in risk level, reasons for crash probability etc. It also provides an opportunity for driver engagement that rewards positive performance, by making it easy to observe trends and see how crash probability changes over time.
It’s easy to integrate new technology into your operations
When you have so many programs and systems already in place, it can feel like an impossible task to add more technology into the mix! That’s why we integrate with existing solutions and act as a hidden layer that enhances the technology you are already familiar with. All that’s needed is an API connection, and we can analyze existing GPS driving data from any device or solution.
We return our risk intelligence to you within your own solutions (unless you want to use our platform), providing a range of options for you to manage and act on the data. This includes tools such as hands-on risk mitigation tools, communication tools, gamification and so on.
If you’re interested in how our risk intelligence can help you strengthen your existing efforts to reduce road crashes, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
¹ World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/road-safety
² Driving for work, A strategic review of risks associated with cars and light vans and implications for policy and practice: https://www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/final_report_ward_christie_walton_dec_2020.pdf
