How AI-Powered Dash Cams Make Reducing Risk Faster & Easier

As recently as 5-10 years ago, many carriers were only using telematic data downloaded in one or two-week increments with little to no prioritization. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), dash cameras have evolved from simple recording devices into intelligent safety tools that identify and prioritize risky driving behaviors for corrective action.

Here's how AI-powered dash cams are transforming fleet safety management and saving valuable time.

Unsafe event coaching before cameras

Without video, using only telematic data downloaded every week or two, a driver could avoid taking accountability for improvement making coaching harder and more time-consuming.

Telematic data showed limited incidents such as:

• Hard braking with a date, time, and location, and
• Excessive speeding triggered at one limit, such as 70 miles per hour.

Events were easily denied, and drivers often had no recollection of a specific event.

The evolution of dash cameras

Traditional dash cameras were a leap forward and served a purpose — recording footage that could be reviewed to establish the facts of a crash. Exonerating drivers and minimizing payouts is still important but does little to prevent crashes. The problem was that continuous video recording without AI made it much harder to find the most unsafe events and prioritize them for action.

AI-powered dash cameras foster a proactive safety posture by triggering videos and alerts with advanced features that such as:

• Motion sensors to detect excessive acceleration, deceleration, and cornering;
• Fatigue and distraction monitoring of head nodding, eye closure rate, phone use, and looking away from the road;
• Traffic sign reading and violation detection to flag seat belt, speed limit, failure to yield, and other violations;
• Passive advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) provide additional alerts to help drivers stay aware of their surroundings like vehicles in their blind spot; and
• In-cab alerts that notify drivers of unsafe situations and to take corrective action before an incident occurs.

AI dash cams eliminate the need to review all video footage and ensure that no critical incidents go unnoticed.

Event prioritization and workflow management

Not all risky behaviors carry the same level of danger. AI systems can assess the severity, frequency, and context of each event to help safety managers prioritize which drivers need immediate intervention.

The back-office platform can maximize the value of camera systems with time-saving video event workflows and that include:

• Video scoring,
• Coaching tools,
• Driver overall risk ranking within a group, and
• Insightful analytics via intuitive dashboards.

The most advanced AI systems filter out false positives to minimize wasted time. The driver coaching workflow queues enable near real-time sharing of video clips and feedback with drivers via a web-based application. This immediate feedback loop enhances training effectiveness and helps reinforce safe driving habits.

These systems also track engagement between the carrier and the driver, creating a documented trail of corrective actions that can be invaluable in the event of litigation.

Key Takeaway

AI-powered camera systems reduce the likelihood of accidents, save time, prioritize corrective action efforts, and foster a culture of accountability and safety among drivers and the carrier’s office team.