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The impact of AI-enabled safety cameras: 4 key takeaways from our recent webinar

Recently, HDVI participated in a webinar with Netradyne about the Impact of AI-Enabled Safety Cameras. The conversation focused on how cameras can help fleets understand driver behaviors, improve safety performance, and lower insurance premiums.

Here are four key takeaways from the discussion. 

1. HDVI Insurance is based on who your fleet is today – not who you used to be.

It’s no secret that insurance prices are increasing. Loss frequency across the industry is on the rise, as is loss severity. These days, it’s not uncommon for minor incidents to turn into massive settlements.

When traditional insurance carriers are pricing fleets, they take all those trends into account. They also review CSA scores, MVRS, driver quality, and where and what you haul. While those are still great ways to gauge a fleet, they all have one thing in common: they build a picture of who your company was yesterday, not who they are today.

At HDVI, we believe fleets should be rewarded for improvements in safety performance. Working with companies like Netradyne, HDVI helps fleets leverage their technology to identify trends, coach drivers, and reward safe driving behaviors.

HDVI Shift^® is the first dynamically priced insurance product that enables fleets to reduce the cost of their monthly premiums within their policy term. With the Shift policy, 100% of our insureds are saving something, and their rates will never go above the base rate within their policy term.

2. Data is Powerful

For fleet safety managers, measuring safety performance allows them to manage safety more effectively.

AI-enabled in-cab cameras are effective because they constantly scan the environment for safe and unsafe acts. This technology allows drivers to be recognized for safe behaviors, such as creating space between them and the vehicle in front of them. The technology also recognizes unsafe acts, such as a driver running a red light, which can be a coachable event.

We know fleet owners and safety managers wear many hats, and their time is very limited. That’s why every HDVI policy comes with a dedicated fleet services representative that can help identify trends and provide actionable insights into the data. Additionally, all HDVI insureds have 24-hour access to our fleet portal and the HDVI Driver+ app.

3. When it comes to coaching, causality matters

When it comes to coaching drivers, it’s not the safety alert that is going to be helpful, it’s the reason why the alert occurred.

Advanced safety technology can provide context and causality of an event, which is especially helpful for developing training programs and coaching drivers. In the past, fleets have often been limited to doing blanket training on general topics, even when only a handful of drivers were performing poorly. Advanced dashcams allow fleets to know the exact areas where individual drivers need coaching, making the driver coaching process more efficient and effective.

For example, one HDVI insured fleet wanted more information about a driver’s hard braking events. The Fleet Services team reviewed the incidents and helped the fleet understand the context behind them.

It turns out that their driver was routinely in a high traffic area during a busy time of day and there were frequently vehicles improperly merging into his lane. The driver was doing the right thing by taking evasive actions to avoid a loss – which is a rewardable habit. The fleet then reworked the driver’s route to avoid the area in question. As a result, they reduced the frequency of hard braking events, which will positively impact their CSA scores, insurance rates, and even maintenance costs. 

4. Cameras have a positive impact on insurance rates

The combination of Netradyne’s in-cab cameras and HDVI’s Shift insurance has a direct impact on insurance costs.

For the first time, fleets are seeing the real-time benefits of using camera technologies. In the traditional insurance market, fleets that invest in dash cameras may receive a small subsidy for the cameras but still see yearly insurance rate increases.

By pairing in-cab cameras with HDVI insurance, fleets are seeing reductions in insurance rates within months. Over 75% of our insureds have seen an improvement in speeding or harsh breaking in the first six months. That’s a number that rises to over 90% after nine months of becoming an HDVI Shift policyholder.

In addition, cameras can help exonerate drivers if an accident does occur. The HDVI Fleets Services team have assisted customers in getting footage of a loss directly to a driver’s cell phone, so it could be shared with authorities on the scene. This immediate access to information makes it easier to clear drivers when they’re not at fault and can also help claims adjusters negotiate settlements and avoid costly litigation. 

To learn more about how AI-enabled dash cams can reduce insurance premiums watch the full webinar here.