System to curb truck accidents gains in popularity

Heavy trucks are hazardous on South Africa's roads. Image: Accidents

Cape Town-based Santam collaborated with Libra Brokers‚ one of the biggest transport broker companies in SA‚ to launch the system in February this year. It uses technology designed and built in SA to allow fleet owners to gather information on road conditions and driver performance.

Deadly road accidents involving haulage trucks in SA have left transport authorities scrambling for solutions‚ with mounting calls that all heavy vehicles should be banned on local roads. The government has also indicated that a long-term solution could a greater proportion of goods being transported by rail.

Tom Halliwell‚ owner of Libra Brokers‚ said that by giving truck owners real-time feedback on the performance of the truck and driver‚ the telematics system could reduce risk exposure of heavy trucks on the roads and add value to clients by reducing losses and the premiums they pay.

"Each owner receives a device that has two cameras installed in the vehicle. One camera faces onto the road while the other gives a view of the driver‚" Halliwell said.

This truck go stuck under a bridge in Pietermaritzburg. Image:Arrive Alive

"The cameras provide real-time footage‚ which is transferred to a 24/7 monitoring room. It allows us to provide clients with a risk report on each driver‚ backed by video tapes and real-time statistical evidence‚" he said.

Halliwell said in South Africa there were mainly two types of accidents. High-frequency accidents occurred regularly usually for a number of reasons such as poor road infrastructure‚ lack of visibility and driving techniques. High-severity accidents occurred less often but cost the insurance industry millions‚ because of the high value of the vehicles and the cargo. The causes of these accidents are mainly speeding and driver fatigue. Moreover, hijackings remain a real risk.

"Our statistics show that 80% of heavy commercial vehicle insurance losses implicate the driver‚" Halliwell said. "In the past nine months‚ we have already seen improvements as drivers monitor their driving behaviour. The risk report has helped drivers understand and evaluate their driving and this helps lessen the severity and frequency of accidents," he added.

As well as road accidents‚ the telematics system can be used in case of hijackings. October's release of SA's annual crime statistics showed that the number of truck hijackings had increased by 14.9% compared with the same period in 2011/12.

Shehnaz Somers‚ head of commercial underwriting at Santam‚ said the company had seen a worrying increase in claims relating to hijackings this year compared with last year.

"This (telematics) system allows fleet owners to take a proactive rather than reactive approach when it comes to risk management and mitigate the impact of attempted hijackings. By doing so‚ we can help businesses reduce their risk and‚ ultimately‚ the disruption to their operations‚" she said.