The road is unpredictable. Collisions that aren’t captured on dash cams can be complicated. Law enforcement and insurance agencies may not accurately be able to figure out what really happened. Collisions are incredibly expensive—averaging around $91,000—while also impacting your drivers’ CSA scores and the overall health of your business.
That’s where dash cam videos become incredibly valuable. Having a dash cam that captures accidents and near-misses is an invaluable part of any safety program. It eliminates the he-said-she-said and can prove your drivers were not at fault.
The Motive Smart Dashcam is a plug and play (easy to install) high definition camera that mounts on your windshield and captures all the uncertainties of the road. It works seamlessly with the Motive ELD fleet management solution.
We chose real customer footage to show you the value the Smart Dashcams provide for drivers and their fleets. Motive safety expert Chris Hanie provides his feedback and sheds deeper insight behind each video, as it relates to safety. Hanie has a decade of fleet safety management experience and believes safety should be the number one goal for fleets.
1. Move over
The problem: The other driver abruptly changes lanes
What happened: The driver is maintaining his lane in light traffic. Another truck passes him on the left and changes lanes—seemingly without looking in his mirrors. The driver quickly reacts, hits the brakes and pulls over to avoid the collision.
Chris’ safety tip: There’s not much you can do in a situation like this. You just have to be prepared for anything on the road. With dash cam videos, fleets can reward drivers like this for being attentive and aware.
2. Swerving down the open road
The problem: The driver was speeding and swerving all over the road.
What happened: In light traffic, a swerving driver appears to be drowsy or distracted. Throughout the video, the driver had trouble maintaining a lane.
Chris’ safety tip: The dash cam videos provide much-needed context to fleet and safety managers that would otherwise have no idea why the truck rolled over.
3. Just a love tap
The problem: The other driver forces his way into the lane.
What happened: Here we see a driver maintaining his lane in heavy, stop and go traffic while other vehicles are changing lanes. Chris was impressed that this driver “kept leaving themselves an out and lots of space.” But even good driving won’t always protect you from the uncertainty of the road. This video showcases that point when a large fuel truck tries to switch lanes and just assumes they’ll be let in. The truck starts leaving them space, but the fuel truck comes over too fast and clips the truck.
Chris’ safety tip: Despite the driver doing so many right things, Chris mentions that “they could have worked a little harder to give that truck space to move over.” However, the video perfectly captures the other truck’s fault—exonerating the driver. Without video evidence, it would be their word against yours.
Seeing is believing
The above dash cam videos show how important it is to have two eyes — and a dash cam — on the road. Whether it’s using video for coaching, exonerating drivers, or commending their excellent driving, dash cams are an essential part of any fleet safety program.
The Motive Smart Dashcam seamlessly integrates with the Motive fleet management platform and automatically sends videos of critical events to the dashboard — no digging through hours of video to find the right clip.
Request a free demo of the Motive AI Dashcam today and see how it can help improve the safety of your fleet.
