SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Omnitracs, LLC, a Solera company, today published groundbreaking new insights on distracted driving in the trucking industry. These insights, which aggregate and anonymize data from the SmartDrive advanced video-based analytics platform, help fleets understand operational threats and illuminate the inherent risks associated with distracted driving. The data analysis clearly demonstrates that the most distracted drivers are less safe overall, commit significantly more fundamental driving errors, and drive faster than the speed limit compared to all other drivers.
“Preliminary National Safety Council (NSC) data indicates that 42,060 people died in motor vehicles crashes in 2020,” commented Jason Palmer, General Manager, Transportation Intelligence, Omnitracs. “That’s an 8% rise from 2019, and 2020 was a year where people drove significantly less frequently because of the pandemic. In addition, the rate of death on the roads spiked 24% over the previous 24-month period, despite miles driven dropping 13%. Unfortunately, distracted driving is still an epidemic.”
Analysis of in-cab video and observation data gathered over 29 billion driving miles show that distracted drivers are more likely than all other drivers to have a near collision, fail to stop at an intersection, and exceed the speed limit. For fleets, this increases the risk of collisions and the costs associated when one occurs. The data also confirms the widely held assumption that mobile devices are the predominant cause of distracted driving.
The SmartDrive Distracted Driving Insights for Trucking illuminates key observations that distinguish distracted drivers—including those using mobile devices—during the 12-month analysis period. With validation through video analysis, these findings prove that distraction has a correlation to near collisions and collisions, and the most distracted drivers are significantly more dangerous than others (and least likely to wear seatbelts). Significant conclusions include:
- The most distracted drivers are 72% more likely to be involved in a near collision than all other drivers.
- Drivers distracted heavily by mobile phones are twice as likely to be involved in collisions.
- Drivers identified as ‘most distracted’ roll through stop signs and traffic lights at a rate 2.7 times higher than ‘least distracted’ drivers.
- Drivers distracted heavily by mobile phones had speed incidents with 10+ mph over the speed limit at a rate 3.2 times higher than ‘least distracted’ drivers.
- Drivers identified as ‘most distracted’ drift out of lane at a rate 2.3 times higher than ‘least distracted’ drivers. Drivers identified as ‘most distracted’ fail to wear a seatbelt at a rate over three times higher than ‘least distracted’ drivers.
The complete Distracted Driving Data Insights are available online and includes the “Top 9 Tips to Eliminate Distracted Driving.” This guide is designed to help ensure fleets not only understand how distracted driving is affecting performance but also equips them to do something about it.
About Omnitracs
Omnitracs, a Solera Company, offers the only complete fleet intelligence software platform. Serving the largest for-hire and private fleets in the transportation and distribution industries, Omnitracs’ best-in-class solutions accelerate business success, improve efficiency, and enhance the driver experience for nearly 15,000 customers who collectively travel 700 million miles per week. Omnitracs pioneered digital transformation in trucking more than 30 years ago, and today offers a one-stop shop for enterprise-grade, data-driven solutions across compliance, telematics, workflow, routing, and video safety. Headquartered in Dallas, Omnitracs serves customers in over 50 countries and employs more than 2,000 people worldwide. Recently, Omnitracs launched the Road Ahead Podcast, a new series that explores industry innovations with guest hosts. To subscribe, click HERE. For more information, visit www.Omnitracs.com.
About Solera
Solera is the preeminent global data intelligence and technology leader serving all constituents engaged in vehicle lifecycle management. Solera’s data-driven intelligence is unmatched, with more than one billion transactions annually, and delivers mission-critical solutions to minimize complexity and reduce friction at all touch points in the vehicle lifecycle. Solera’s solutions empower smarter decision-making through software, enriched data, proprietary algorithms, and machine learning that come together to deliver insights to our customers and accelerate business outcomes. Solera serves over 235,000 global customers and partners in more than 90 countries across six continents. By drawing on its market-leading solutions, Solera provides unsurpassed scale and strength with superior performance while delivering innovation to drive the industry forward. For more information, visit www.Solera.com.
