Artificial intelligence, the buzzword on the lips of industries across the globe. Its ability to analyse data, recognise patterns, and improve decision making is transforming every walk of life as we know it.
In the case of road safety, when combined with vehicle camera systems, it has a revolutionary capability of preventing incidents before they occur.
According to Centrad, one of the UK’s leading commercial vehicle camera and telematics solutions specialists, widespread adoption of AI-integrated camera solutions by commercial vehicle operators will unlock a new dimension to road safety, in turn saving hundreds of millions of pounds per year in claims.
For commercial vehicle insurance brokers, widespread usage of such technology by fleet operators presents an opportunity to reduce the number of claims paid out, which is currently on the rise.
The Department for Transport’s 2023 Road Accidents and Safety Statistics report recorded 14,121 accidents involving light and heavy goods vehicles, including buses and coaches.
Provisional data released by the DfT also highlights that the UK experienced a 12 percent rise in reported road traffic accidents in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
As a result, the number of insurance claims made has also increased, placing additional financial strain on insurers.
In Q3 last year, insurers paid out a total of £2.9 billion in motor insurance claims, marking a 14 percent increase from the £2.5 billion paid during the same period in 2023.
A driver’s very own crystal ball, AI-powered technology can detect signs of risky driving behaviours when behind the wheel, in real-time, alerting drivers and fleet managers before a situation escalates into an accident.
A long-standing customer of Centrad, Ashcrofts Mini Travel, recently invested in integrated AI-Powered Dashcam Solutions to deliver a safer, more reliable service for its passengers.
Citing the benefits of the new AI-powered dashcam solutions on his two Yutong GT12 coaches, Chris Ashcroft which were installed by Centrad recently, Director at Ashcrofts Mini Travel commented: “It’s about taking a proactive approach to reducing accidents and keeping people safe. If an incident occurs involving a passenger or the driver, we are now able to quickly access and download footage within minutes to get to the bottom of it, so from a transparency perspective, it’s invaluable.”
Having worked with a myriad of fleet operators over the years, Centrad has seen an increasing shift towards fleet operators turning to AI-powered dashcam solutions, largely due to a greater demand within commercial vehicle sectors for systems which go beyond just traditional recording and instead provide real-time monitoring, proactive alerts for fatigue, instant incident detection or distracted driving habits such as mobile phone usage.
The growing threat of distracted driving, in particular mobile phone usage when behind the wheel, has been earmarked as a concerning trend says Geoff Cross, the company’s Managing Director.
Geoff Cross commented: “Distracted driving is on the rise at an alarming rate, and the use of a mobile phone while driving is at the core of this epidemic.
“Looking through a road safety lens, fleet operators need to address this issue, and quickly, in order to mitigate the risk of drivers putting themselves and other road users in danger by using their mobile phone when behind the wheel.
“By leveraging AI, operators can actually detect signs of distraction – such as glancing down at a phone or failing to keep eyes on the road – and immediately alert drivers to correct their behaviour before it leads to a serious incident. AI isn’t just a tool for improving efficiency, but a proactive means of mitigating risk, and the role it will play in making roads safer has the potential to be groundbreaking.”
Using a mobile phone behind the wheel increases the odds of a driver getting into a collision by four times, says road safety charity Brake.
In the most recent Reported Road Casualties Great Britain (2022) annual report, 22 people lost their lives and 674 were injured in road traffic collisions where driver mobile phone use was identified as a contributing factor.
Findings from the 2024 RAC Report on Motoring also highlight that in 2023 12 percent of drivers admitted to regularly using a handheld mobile phone to make or receive calls while driving, which was up from 10 percent from the year previous.
To tackle this issue, Centrad last year introduced an AI-powered dashcam solution as a part of a campaign to revolutionise road safety.
This proactive approach is already proving invaluable, with Centrad’s AI-driven dashcam solution already making an impact among both fleet operators and insurers by helping to reduce road incidents and, consequently, reducing the number of insurance claims made.
Geoff continued: “Our mission from day one was to help fleet operators take control of road safety and providing a cutting-edge piece of technology that actively prevents accidents, rather than simply recording them will be a catalyst to achieving this goal.
“With road accident rates and insurance claims on the rise, the need for preventative technology has never been greater, hence why his shift towards prevention rather than reaction is a gamechanger. Prevention is always better than cure, and AI is leading the charge in making that possible.
“Distracted driving is a leading cause of road accidents today and all signs point to this trend potentially worsening over the years, so it’s crucial for insurance providers to encourage the use of such technology among their fleet clients. We’re starting to see customers be advised by insurers to implement AI-powered dashcams as a part of their insurance agreement, as the data clearly shows their impact in reducing accidents and, ultimately, claims, and we see this becoming increasingly common as insurers recognise the value of AI-powered camera solutions.”
