Published reports indicate that more than 1.2 million people die in road collisions worldwide each year – the equivalent of one traffic-related fatality every 30 seconds. 70 percent of collisions are due in part to distracted and reckless driving behaviours and can be prevented.
South African technology and risk mitigation company Fleetkor, this year partnered with Silicon Valley-based leading AI-powered fleet safety provider Nauto, to significantly reduce distracted driving and improve overall transport safety.
Listed as one of CNBC's 2019 technology disruptors, Nauto’smission to end distracted driving, save lives and save money by using AI to make driving safer is a quest aligned to Fleetkor’s strategy.
Accredited by the US National Safety Council, South African body TETA and French firm AEGIDE International as a visionary in the field of fleet risk management, Fleetkor’s partnership with Nauto marks a long-term intention to provide safe transportation strategies to enterprise fleets countrywide.
“We are excited for this partnership which allows us to effectively combat distracted driving, promote safer roads and responsible driver behaviour in South Africa.” Fleetkor Managing Director, Sifiso Twala.
“Nauto’s Driver Behaviour Learning Platform has been deployed by over 400 commercial fleets around the globe to help reduce distracted driving and may prevent collisions before they happen. With insights derived from over 400 million AI-analysed video kilometres and billions of telemetry data points, Nauto’s machine learning algorithms continuously improve and help positively impact driver behaviour before events happen, not after.Nauto’s In-Vehicle Alerts have automatically improved driver behaviour in 80 percent of drivers.” Twala added.
Nauto is the only solution that deploys AI in the vehicle to continuously analyse sensor data from driver behaviours, exterior hazards, and vehicle movement in real-time. Nauto’s In-Vehicle Alerts enable automated coaching in the vehicle to help stop high-risk driving behaviours the moment they occur.
In-Vehicle Alerts for distracted Driving are a set of three progressive audio alerts that can be triggered based on the severity of the driver’s distracted behavior (which can include texting, cell phone use, drowsiness, reviewing paper, eating, and other high-risk behaviours).
Mild distraction: the first audio alert sounds when a driver has been distracted for more than 2.5 seconds. Medium distraction: the second audio alert and a verbal cue, “distracted,” sounds if a driver continues to be distracted for over 4 seconds. Severe distraction: the third and highest alert sounds if a driver continues the behavior for more than 5.5 seconds.
To help further protect drivers, Nauto’s Mark Button enables drivers to capture and upload videos of unsafe of unusual events along the road with a simple push of a button. The upload also notifies operators or managers, helping drivers receive help from their managers in critical moments.
Fleetkor has distribution rights in Africa for Nauto.
