Telematics have a lot of benefits, we’ve talked about that here ad-nauseum, but they’re not just for end user drivers and professionals like taxi operators or lorry drivers. In-fact, it’s the unprofessional drivers, IE. the ones that drive regularly but it isn’t their main vocation, that could stand to benefit the most, especially with regards to their health.
According to Del Lisk, San Diego-based vice president of safety services at telematics company Lytx, it’s those that drive quite often, but don’t do it for a living that have the highest risks of accidents on the road and curbing any dangerous or unsavoury driving practices can go a long way to making them safer.
“Nonprofessional drivers, such as managers and salespeople, often present a bigger safety issue because they have had less training,” Mr. Lisk said. When you install telematics and see how they’re driving, then training can be provided specifically geared towards the problematic aspects of their driving.
However, Lisk said that even if companies don’t offer training to these drivers, if they know what their habits are like, they can use analytics software to create predictive models of when these people might be likely to injure themselves, or at what sort or yearly rate it can expect to deal with insurance claims. Similarly insurance companies can make the same calculations.
If training does take place, you need to see that it’s working too. The sort of courses that professionald drivers of fleet vehicles are often sent on, should also be applied to other dirvers, according to Mr Lisk.
“These technologies are sliding down the food chain from large trucks and professional drivers down to nonprofessional drivers,” he said (via BusinessInsurance) “You need tools to make sure that what’s being taught is actually being used by drivers on the road.”
One thing telematics can also help look into as well, are potentially undiagnosed disorders. For example, with weight problems often being prevalent in those that spend a lot of time behind the wheel, sleep apnea is a common ailment as well. If not corrected however, it can lead to overtireness since a good night’s sleep is very hard to find. When that happens, you run the risk of much more dangerous driving. With telematics, you can keep an eye on that person’s driving skills and over time, see that perhaps towards the end of a week their driving worsens. That type of data is what telematics firms can pass on to employers, which can then prompt them to recommend a doctor’s visit.
All of this leads to insurance claims that can bite an employer in the ass, especially since work related car accidents can often feature multiple employees from the same company. Minimising the risks of that with appropriate training and consideration for driver health can go a long way to cutting back on those claims, helping a company’s bottom line over all. If a company car is provided for as well, there are also issues with replacement and further insurance, something that can also be avoided by making sure that drivers stick to good practices.
Image source: Salim Virjil, Stephen Webster
