Fleets often only scratch the tip of the iceberg when calculating the cost of a road traffic accident to their business. However, more substantial costs are hidden under the surface.
Due to long-time driving and urgent deadlines, commercial vehicle drivers are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents. The fleet accident rate has now reached 20% — each accident causing a significant cost to your business.
The direct costs of an at-fault accident are widely known. Firstly, there is the cost of repairing the vehicle. Even for insured fleets, there is still the possibility of paying an excess. Secondly, there are medical expenses for treating and rehabilitating injured employees. Then, there are the costs from the third-party claims that may far exceed the vehicle repair and medical charges. Last but not least, every claim in your fleet will impose an increase in the next insurance premium.
However, the true cost of a fleet accident goes far beyond these direct costs. The hidden indirect costs are often hard to identify and even more difficult to measure, but still threat your company’s daily operations and bottom line. It is estimated 1€ of direct accident cost can translate to approximately 3€ of indirect costs.
The indirect costs of a fleet accident include:
- Administrative burden – the value of time for fleet managers and administrative staff to file insurance claims, conduct crash investigations and safety coaching, and recruit new employees.
- Lost productivity and revenue — the injured drivers are unable to fulfill the existing contracts meaning the missed opportunity to generate revenue
- Lost employee time — the injured employees are unable to work but still must be paid.
- Diminished vehicle value – the value of the vehicle drops after the accident
- Reputational damage – Any negative news stories from an at-fault accident can ruin the corporate reputation and cause negative publicity.
- Legal costs – failing to comply with the legal responsibilities can lead to prosecution, which incurs significant legal fees.
One fleet accident can cost your company over 61,000€ from the direct and indirect expenses. If a fatality is involved, the cost will rise to 827,000€. Everytime your employee gets behind the wheel, your company is at risk if you are not proactively addressing road safety. To mitigate the risk and control fleet accident costs, you must establish a corporate safety culture that protects both your employees and your business.
Most driver safety programs are reactive instead of proactive. Safety coaching or corrective training often takes place after an accident occurs. However, a truly effective driver program is built upon real-time monitoring of driving habits to quickly identify and address high-risk behavior to improve performance, minimize risk, and reduce accident costs.
Artificient Fleet Safety Platform
Here at Artificient, we enable cutting-edge AI technologies in self-driving and driver sensing in your fleet vehicles. Unlike conventional telematics products, our proprietary computer vision technologies monitor the front road traffic and assess road risks in real-time to prevent accidents before they occur. Our Vigito platform also detects drivers’ unsafe driving behaviors and improves their driving performance on the road. Besides, Artificient’s Cloud Fleet Management Panel provides you full visibility into your fleet operation via real-time incident data and driver performance scores. Knowing vehicle and driver states on the road at any given moment empowers your company to quickly customize coaching programs to help prevent accidents.
By integrating Artificient’s technology into your driver safety program, you are now less vulnerable to road accidents, and you can discover the savings of accidents that never happens. Your company’s investment in safety will open drivers’ eyes to the impact of their behavior, empowering you to improve their performance, minimize risk, and reduce accident costs.
Source:
https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/motor_vehicle_guide.pdf
https://www.constructionequipment.com/true-costs-fleet-accidents
https://www.globalfleet.com/fr/safety-safety-environment/global/analysis/safety-management-true-cost-accident