20 Apr Discussing Artificial Intelligence in Fleet Telematics with Nick Casalini

Meet one of our skilful Risk Analysts, Nick Casalini. Nick started at DriveRisk as Key Client Success Manager in 2018 before stepping into his role as Risk Analyst in 2020. Responsible for conducting program performance analyses, Nick works closely alongside our clients to provide accurate insights to reduce overall risk.

We sat down with Nick to discuss the role of Artificial Intelligence in fleet telematics and why it’s fast gaining popularity in transport. 

So, what is Artificial Intelligence, and why is it so prevalent nowadays?

The term Artificial Intelligence itself has had a lot of stigma attached to it. It sounds very futuristic, maybe too futuristic that it’s fallen on deaf ears for too long. But in reality, it’s here, and it’s been serving a great purpose for quite some time. 

However, Artificial Intelligence is now gaining a lot of attention, particularly among transport operators who are becoming more familiar with its capabilities and the benefits it offers, both drivers and managers.

In the simplest terms, Artificial Intelligence in the context that we utilise it is comprised of numerous methods of pattern matching and identification, which can serve an incredible amount of value in road safety.

How does Artificial Intelligence benefit fleet operators?

Traditionally, a lot of fleet telematics systems were based on events that happened outside the vehicle. When triggered by harsh braking, following distance or speeding, among other things, the device would begin recording, however, it would still require manual analysis of the recorded video to understand what caused the trigger initially. Therefore, there was a major limitation in understanding why something happened only after it had occurred. When the focus is turned on the driver, there’s a world of difference.

Artificial Intelligence allows us to measure the driver’s behaviour directly. Its advanced capabilities allow us to recognise, predict and alert the driver of risky driving behaviours, such as being distracted from the driving task, not wearing a seatbelt, or mobile phone use before an incident occurs. 

It’s taken a huge leap forward in road safety, where we can now provide our clients with incredibly insightful data – this is extremely valuable for maintaining a company’s reputation, optimising productivity, above all ensuring the safety of their drivers.

How accurate is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence can be highly accurate. However, there is certainly a spectrum of reliability and effectiveness in the current market.

Some fatigue and distraction monitoring systems have been shown to produce an alarmingly high number of false positives, becoming more of a distraction than a solution.

The nature of how systems operate, the accuracy, and the insights provided will only be as good as the data fed to them. 

As an exclusive partner to Lytx, who continue to accumulate the largest repository of driver behaviour data globally, we’re able to learn more and improve our Artificial Intelligence capabilities at a much faster rate than any other solution on the market. These outcomes are improving at an exponential rate, and that’s because high quality validated data is the best way to achieve the most accurate results.

Has there been a standout DriveRisk success story you can tell us about?

While we’re confident in making each DriveRisk client a success story, there’s one client that stands out, as featured in our 2021 annual report.

For confidentiality reasons, we won’t refer to them by name. But to give you an idea, this client is a large national fleet with various types of vehicles and operations. 

What made this client such a remarkable success story was the level of dedication to making a difference. We recorded:

• 78% reduction in high-risk following distance (<2s)
• 68% reduction in drivers responding late
• 26% reduction in near-collision outcomes (avoidable)
• 25% reduction in drivers unbelted on a roadway
• 15% reduction in inattention

Every day there are hundreds of thousands of Lytx DriveCam devices around the world collecting driving data. Which means things are only going to get better. And with an actively managed safety program, the behaviour changes are remarkable.

Find out more about DriveRisk’s artificial intelligence capabilities in-vehicle driver safety solutions, and how we can help make safer drivers, safer roads & safer workplaces for Australians.