Rising accidents demonstrate room for improvement in driver safety
- Department for Transport (DfT) record 148,100 reported injury accidents for year ending June 2012[1]
- Among some of Britain’s largest fleets, over a third of their fleet vehicles are involved in collisions[2]
- Trimble ‘Road Ahead’ report reveals 51% of businesses with fleets and mobile field forces consider the technology they use to manage safety on the road is in need of updating[3]
With this week being Road Safety Week, the latest Government statistics that road death and serious injury increased last year for the first time in almost a decade will not be welcomed. As vehicles driven for work purposes are clocking up some of the highest mileage out on the road, a growing number of fleet and field service organisations are turning to driver safety technology to help reduce accidents and mitigate risk, reveals Trimble, a leading provider of fleet and field service management solutions.
Due to this increase in interest and demand from its customers, Trimble recently announced that it has released new enhancements to its Driver Safety solution, allowing field service organisations to more easily manage and communicate behaviours that influence driver and vehicle safety. The latest enhancements include new report formats, an improved executive dashboard and driver scorecards, and real-time delivery of idling and speeding alerts, all increasing visibility into risky driving behaviour. With the ability to inform multiple stakeholders within a business from human resources to the board of directors, Driver Safety allows both trends and individual behaviours to be recognised and addressed.
Trimble GeoManager Driver Safety enables organisations to manage driving behaviours by identifying and rewarding good drivers, and recognising and coaching drivers who put the company at risk.
"Monitoring driving safety allows organisations to help mitigate risk by measuring safe driving habits, which can result in fewer crashes and lower insurance rates," said Mark Forrest, general manager of Trimble Field Service Management. "With GeoManager Driver Safety, we’re better able to configure the safety needs of a field service fleet. The latest enhancements, which include the Driver Safety’s executive dashboard, driver scorecards and exception alerts, can allow companies to improve driving patterns and optimise safety while helping to reduce liability."
Richard Coteau, corporate liaison officer at Brake said: “Safety behind the wheel has always been a priority for organisations with a large number of vehicles and staff on the road. At Brake we certainly see companies’ focus on road safety and driver behaviour is increasing and the use of technology has really helped to monitor this in a robust way. The members we have in Brake’s Fleet Safety Forum are way ahead of the curve in their application of telematics to not only monitor the safety of their drivers but to then to be able to manage what they are measuring.”
As part of the recent Driver Safety annoucement, Trimble is very happy to be supporting Brake, the UK’s leading road safety charity, with their annual Road Safety Week, 19-25 November. Road Safety Week aims to create awareness of the state of Britain’s roads and offer solutions of what can be done to help prevent further fatalities.
[1] National Statistics: Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: Quarterly Provisional Estimates
[2] Fleet200 report by Sewells
[3] Trimble Road Ahead: The Future of field service delivery. To download the full report visit www.trimble.com/fsm/uk/theroadaheadreport/
For further information about this news brief contact:
Eisha Cooke
Trimble
Tel: 01473 696340
Email: eisha_cooke@trimble.com
About Brake
Brake is an independent road safety charity. Brake exists to stop the five deaths and 65 serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day and to care for families bereaved and seriously injured in road crashes. Brake runs awareness-raising campaigns, community education programmes, events such as Road Safety Week (21-27 November 2011), and a Fleet Safety Forum scheme, providing advice to companies. Brake's support division cares for road crash victims through a helpline and other services.
For further information visit www.brake.org.uk
About Trimble Field Service Management
Trimble’s Field Service Management Division provides visibility into field and fleet operations so businesses can streamline efficiency and increase productivity. The Field Service Management suite includes fleet management, work management and scheduling, worker safety and mobility solutions that transform the effectiveness of work, workers and assets in the field. The cloud-based portfolio allows Trimble to offer customers industry-specific, enterprise-level solutions for exceptional performance and ease of use.
For more information, visit: www.trimble.com/fsm.
About Trimble
Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location: including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilising positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilised to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.
For more information visit: www.trimble.com.