When it comes to managing a fleet of any kind, there is no higher priority than safety. While the needs and policies of fleets in various industries may differ, safety should be paramount for all. For instance, construction and other heavy-duty fleets face risks like work zone hazards, vehicle blind spots, traffic management, and driver fatigue, and training—both on and off the jobsite. Other companies with non-CDL fleets of passenger vehicles have to grapple with ensuring safe practices behind the wheel for drivers who may not be commercially trained.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in transportation and material-moving occupations experienced 1,620 fatal work injuries in 2022, representing the most fatalities of any occupation; the next highest were construction and extraction workers. In the same report, transportation incidents were found to be the most frequent type of fatal event for all occupational fatalities.
While a fatality is the worst-imaginable result of a workplace vehicle collision, it is far from the only possible repercussion. Even minor vehicle collisions can result in a host of unexpected costs: from injuries and repairs to insurance premiums and downtime. There is also the ever-present threat of a potentially devastating lawsuit. So, for all workplaces employing drivers, the best approach to safety should prioritize preventing collisions—and the havoc they can wreak—before they occur.
PROACTIVE TECHNOLOGY
While many fleets deploy systems like dash cams to monitor drivers and provide footage which may be helpful after collisions occur, for example to exonerate their drivers, proactive solutions such as collision avoidance systems are designed to actively monitor the road and provide real-time alerts to drivers about potential risks, helping them avoid incidents in the first place.
As a global leader in collision avoidance and ADAS technology, Mobileye uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to drive innovation in technology that keeps drivers, vehicles, and road users safer. Mobileye solutions help prevent collisions and improve driver performance across various industries, from construction to delivery to utilities, using AI-powered, real-time alerts that notify drivers of imminent hazards on the road, including unsafe following distance and impending collisions with other vehicles or road users.
PROTECTING ASSETS
As with many construction and contractor fleets, drivers for DeSilva Gates of Dublin, California, faced long hours of congestion and distractions behind the wheel. As a company that takes pride in its commitment to safety, after experiencing rising collisions among its fleet of over 600 vehicles (from Ford F150 pickup trucks to Kenworth T880s) DeSilva Gates decided to integrate Mobileye into its fleet.
After installation, the company reported an over 80% reduction in at-fault collisions, which then led to a significant decrease in insurance premiums. They credit the consistency and reliability of the system with its success: “What Mobileye has done is given us a coach in the vehicle 24 hours a day.” For DeSilva Gates, what set Mobileye apart from the competition was that it helped them to proactively reduce crashes and improve driver behavior without needing to record and review hours of video footage—a “set-and-forget” solution.
INTEGRATING NEW TECH
Integrating new technology into your vehicles can be a difficult process, particularly for fleets which already have a greater risk for distraction. Such was the case for the Laredo Police Department, one of the largest law enforcement agencies in Texas, whose fleet of over 500 patrol vehicles covers roughly 500,000 miles each month. The risks associated with daily policing activities are undeniably high, not least because of the amount of multitasking that officers are asked to do.
“With all of the equipment we have in our vehicle, we’re at a higher risk of collision. Officers are distracted inside their units: running a subject, running a license plate, then hearing a bang,” says Public Information Officer Emanuel Diaz. While some worried that Mobileye collision avoidance could add to distractions behind the wheel, after installation officers quickly found the opposite. The value of in-cab alerts and added reaction time was immediately apparent, and resulted in significant reductions in both rear-end and lane-changing collisions.
SAFETY IS A PRIORITY
Before installing Mobileye, the team at Heath Consultants, a nationwide natural gas leak detection firm headquartered in Houston, had doubled in size, and come to employ over 1,100 field technicians around the U.S. But that growth came with an increase in road accidents—and that meant increased expenses in insurance claims, employee compensation, and vehicle repairs and maintenance.
As a company in the safety business, Heath felt its employees should operate with safety as a top priority as well. With this in mind, Heath turned to Mobileye to protect its technicians, vehicles, and bottom line. This initial deployment quickly delivered significant value in terms of driver safety and cost mitigation. The at-fault accident rate for vehicles equipped with Mobileye was 65% lower than those not equipped with Mobileye.
FLEET TECH FOR SAFETY
What makes Mobileye collision avoidance systems so valuable to so many types of fleets? The answer is nearly 25 years in the making. Mobileye technology is built on vision—computer vision and artificial intelligence that offers drivers an extra set of eyes behind the wheel. Not only has this set of eyes been trained over hundreds of millions of miles, but it never gets distracted or fatigued. Combined with driver training, collision avoidance systems are an invaluable tool to uphold and enforce your driver and workplace safety policy, ensuring your goals are met without the need to review a large amount of video footage after a collision takes place.
For managers who are interested in the data behind Mobileye collision avoidance, the Mobileye Connect Platform is an optional add-on, integrated with the system, to be used as a safety management tool. With it, a fleet manager gets unique insights into the actual driving patterns of the employees who drive their vehicles, while still resting assured that our in-cab system is working hard in real time to alert drivers to potential hazards.
Regardless of industry, fleet size, or vehicle type, all fleet drivers should feel empowered to make safer decisions behind the wheel. With Mobileye’s AI-powered collision avoidance solutions, more work fleets can achieve their safety goals.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mobileye is a global leader in collision avoidance and computer-vision artificial intelligence. With technology trusted by dozens of OEMs, Mobileye’s safety solutions aim to reduce collisions and improve driver performance for fleets across all industries through real-time, proactive alerts. Find out more here.
