Bill MesserschmidtManager
Messerschmidt Safety Consultants
Wrapping up the SAE 2011 Highway Vehicle EDR Symposium are two sessions on "Unique Applications." The first of these is on Video Data Recorders. The speakers are from two video providers (DriveCam and SmartDrive) and two universities - Virginia Tech and the University of Iowa.
The first speaker is Robert Bartels from DriveCam. One of DriveCam's goals is to provide video that can be used as a training tool to improve performance and teach drivers better behavior and skills. DriveCam works on the following progression: capture risky behavior, upload triggered events, review and analyze, provide to company, coach driver, driver returns with better skills or understanding. DriveCam boasts cost savings for collisions up to 80% for clients, and fuel and maintenance savings of up to 12%.
The second speaker is Matthew Camden from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Mr. Camden is discussing the combination of Onboard Safety Monitoring systems (OBSMs) with behavior-based safety methods. VTTI studied the implementation of DriveCam in commercial vehicles for two fleets in the US (50 drivers per fleet). Based on their study, the combination of monitoring and coaching produced statistically significant safety benefits (fewer crashes and near misses).
The third speaker is Dr. Daniel McGehee from the University of Iowa. He is speaking by way of video feed. Dr. McGehee is describing the integration of Video Data Recorders (VDR) (like DriveCam and SmartDrive) into the Automatic Crash Notification system. VDR systems have several advantages over other systems, largely because they are capable of providing more information on the context surrounding the crash.
The video feed itself was the one disappointment - otherwise the Symposium has been carried out flawlessly. The problem appears to be that the internet connection speed isn't good enough to support voice + video, and only about every third word of Dr. McGehee's has been audible. The disappointment really is that I've read quite a bit of Dr. McGehee's work, and I was greatly looking forward to his presentation. However, the session organizer, Ms. Freund, announced that Dr. McGehee will be recording an audio file to supplement his PowerPoint.
The final speaker is Jason Palmer from SmartDrive. SmartDrive has a database of 38 million safety critical events, which they use to evaluate driver behavior. Like the other presenters in this area, Mr. Palmer is speaking to the benefits of video monitoring with driver coaching. One of the biggest value-added attributes of these systems (both DriveCam and SmartDrive) is that these companies have gone to great lengths to make the data very easy for the safety manager (coach) to understand and then communicate with drivers.
Visit SAE's page to learn more about the speakers. View the Event Guide for the SAE 2011 Highway Vehicle EDR Symposium (pdf).
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