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Vehicle camera technology
[ch 3: pages 28-29]There are a number of companies that now specialise in the production of technology to maximise effective management of vehicle fleets, including in fuel efficiency and vehicle and driver safety.
An example of the technology utilised by companies in the UK is the DriveCam programme produced by the U.S. company Lytx (other companies offer similar packages).
According to the Lytx website, the programme helps identify why accidents happen and “assists in correcting risky driving habits”, also helping clients “transform their safety culture” and preventing collisions and fraudulent claims.
The DriveCam Video Event Recorder (VER) continually records driving data and provides continuous feedback to the driver. It records both video and audio, focused both externally on the road and traffic and internally on the driver. This is recorded on a short loop but only stored when the vehicle exceeds a preset threshold. Recorded video and audio includes up to eight seconds before an event and four seconds after.
Storage of video may occur for a number of reasons, some of which are related to risky driving behaviour. These include abrupt changes in speed or direction, as well as hard braking. Additionally, all DriveCam VERs have manual buttons that can be used by the driver to activate the VER to record a particular incident. Some installations also have remote manual switches that are used to activate a VER remotely.
Forward facing cameras at DHL
Postal and logistics giant DHL has recently installed forward facing cameras in all its fleet vehicles. A policy agreed with the Unite union in 2013 states that the cameras were installed for the following purposes:
• to make DHL a safer place to work for drivers;
• to learn more from incidents/near misses to reduce future risk and use the recordings to more effectively focus driver coaching and training;
• to reduce the cost of vehicle insurance by providing greater visibility of events that caused an accident; and
• to defend against vexatious claims against the company and its drivers.
The cameras are fixed to the vehicle windscreens. As with vehicle cameras used by other companies, the camera is triggered by sudden movements (acceleration, braking or impact). When triggered, the camera stores images from 15 seconds before the incident or near miss until 15 seconds after.
Drivers can also trigger the cameras themselves to record incidents.
Although the equipment can also record sound, the policy states that sound recording will not be activated. The union insisted from the outset that this should be the case. Consultation must take place before this can be changed.
The policy also states that “should a union steward occasionally want to satisfy himself that a camera sound is still set to the off position — such a request will be accommodated by the local manager”.
The document also stipulates that the forward facing cameras are not a “tool to be used to routinely monitor and gather data with which to discipline drivers”, and only in “exceptional circumstances” will images recorded on the camera be used to support any driver disciplinary process.