Survey reveals 56% of passenger automobile drivers really feel unsafe driving beside a industrial truck

Greater than half (56%) of passenger automobile drivers have felt unsafe driving subsequent to a industrial truck up to now yr, and 64% have witnessed unsafe driving behaviors amongst industrial truck drivers.

That’s in response to a latest survey of 1,000 U.S. adults performed by Dynata in August on behalf of car lifecycle administration firm Solera that goals to uncover insights on the perceptions round security within the fleet trade.

These passenger automobile drivers’ perceptions revealed that they assume expertise can play a serious position in making industrial drivers safer, amongst different issues.

“I believe there must be understanding going each instructions. I believe it is essential for the trucking trade to know the perceptions of passenger autos on the highway. On the identical time, I believe it is essential for normal passenger car drivers to know what is occurring within the trucking trade in making the roads safer,” mentioned Michal Yariv, vice chairman and basic supervisor of strategic initiatives at Solera. “Speaking about video-based security and methods that now we have utilizing issues like synthetic intelligence to establish distracted driving is an enormous a part of our message proper now round how we may also help all of the distractions within the cab and make the roads safer.”

Solely 12% of respondents mentioned they haven’t pushed subsequent to or close to a industrial truck up to now yr. Of the 88% remaining, greater than two-thirds (69%) assume truck drivers must be beneath extra video surveillance whereas on the highway, primarily because of aggressive driving.

Thirty-seven % of respondents mentioned they’ve witnessed aggressive driving conduct amongst industrial drivers. Different unsafe driving behaviors they’ve reportedly witnessed embody utilizing a cellphone/pill whereas driving (30%); consuming whereas driving (24%) and driving whereas drowsy (22%). The excellent news is 36% – the second-highest response – mentioned they haven’t witnessed unsafe driving behaviors.

Yariv mentioned video expertise that may detect a majority of these behaviors and provide built-in driver teaching is the important thing to attaining optimum security and overcoming these adverse perceptions.

“Our first precedence is at all times … getting drivers house secure each night time,” she mentioned. “So proper now our focus is de facto on demonstrating to fleets how this expertise may also help as a result of whereas there are numerous fleets which can be wholeheartedly adopting this type of expertise and see the good thing about it, there’s nonetheless numerous dialogue within the trade about” how cameras could have an effect on hiring.

Since digital camera expertise got here available on the market, carriers have anxious about how their drivers and potential drivers will obtain it.

The Solera survey additionally requested respondents if safety-based applied sciences like AI driving instruments and in-cab and road-facing video would lead extra folks to wish to turn into a industrial truck driver – an essential piece of the puzzle contemplating nearly all of respondents (27%) mentioned they imagine the driving force scarcity is essentially the most obvious challenge for right now’s industrial fleet firms, adopted by security on the highway (26%), prices associated to fuel (20%), sustainability (12%) and effectivity of driving routes (7%). Of these 27%, 21% of respondents had been Gen Z, and 16% had been millennials.

Forty-four % of respondents – 55% Gen Z and 53% Millennial – mentioned they do assume folks could be extra prone to turn into a industrial truck driver with the addition of extra safety-based applied sciences.

“It is attention-grabbing to consider how expertise isn’t non-compulsory for (the following technology),” Yariv mentioned. “They give thought to issues by way of expertise, and after we take into consideration youthful generations desirous to do jobs which can be expertise enabled, I believe having these applied sciences makes it a extra inviting job prospect for anyone from these new generations.”

She mentioned carriers are starting to appreciate that they will must chew the bullet and put money into these applied sciences with the intention to not solely appeal to and retain drivers due to ease of use but in addition to help in exoneration within the occasion of an accident and in the end forestall accidents from occurring within the first place.

Sixty-seven % of passenger automobile drivers surveyed mentioned they assume video-based security methods (in-cab and road-facing video recording) would have a constructive impact on a truck driver’s means to drive security.

“I believe folks intuitively imagine that which we all know to be factually true, which is that if you put cameras in a as a part of an general security program, you see safer drivers; you see higher outcomes,” Yariv mentioned. “The fact is these applied sciences do make drivers safer, and if used as an applicable a part of the security program and outcomes are measured, it might save lives.”