View this article online: https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/west/2004/09/14/45838.htm
San Diego-based DriveCam Video Systems, a provider in knowledge-based systems to improve driving behavior, announced that Classic Transportation, a provider of ground transportation in Bohemia, N.Y., has reduced insurance losses by more than 50 percent in one year using the DriveCam Driving Feedback System. The DriveCam program reduces fleet operating costs by identifying and improving unsafe driving behaviors.
Classic Transportation is the eighth largest integrated ground transportation provider in the U.S. Its fleet includes vans, motorcoaches, minibuses and more.
The company reportedly chose the DriveCam Driving Feedback System because it provided the opportunity to capture and manage driving incidents before they become crashes. By reducing unsafe driving and collisions, the company has reportedly been able to improve loss runs and lower the physical damage to its equipment.
“We are showing a more than 50% reduction in losses since installing DriveCam. It has saved us $200,000 in the first year,” said Bill Schoolman, president of Classic Transportation. “Since our insurance rates are based on a five year average, we expect even bigger savings to come.”
The DriveCam Driving Feedback System directly addresses the root cause of most collisions – unsafe driving behavior. Driving behaviors are captured by DriveCam, a small video camera mounted unobtrusively behind the rear view mirror. Risky driving behaviors automatically trigger recordings that are downloaded to a computer network for frame-by-frame analysis using HindSight 20/20 software. When drivers receive direct feedback on their driving habits, they reportedly quickly improve.
Schoolman of Classic Transportation asserts the main benefit of the DriveCam system is in preventing collisions. When collisions do occur, DriveCam recordings have also reportedly helped prove the company was not at fault.
In one tragic incident involving a fatality, the DriveCam recording reportedly proved that there was nothing the driver could have done to prevent the accident. The company stated that the ability to re-construct what was happening in the 10 seconds prior to the incident was as important as the incident itself.