Over the last few years, dash cams have become increasingly popular, both for personal and business use. This is because dash cams (also known as black box vehicle camera recorders or in-vehicle CCTV) can often provide irrefutable evidence about what actually happened during vehicle accidents, damage or theft.

Fleet dash cams usually take the form of a small camera that affixes to front, side or back of the vehicle and records the road ahead, to the side or behind. Some types of vehicle camera recorders capture speed and location data as well as audio and high definition video recordings.

If you’re running a business fleet, it’s vital that your vehicles are operational and running as cost-effectively as possible. As well as providing sound evidence to alleviate difficult and stressful situations concerning vehicle incidents, there are a number of other benefits that dash cams can provide when they are being used as a fleet management tool.

1. Reduces the number of fraudulent claims

“Crash and Cash” scams are on the rise and unfortunately company vehicles are often the victims of such cases, as fraudsters target companies in the hope of bigger compensation pay outs. By installing a fleet dash cam, the footage showing what happened in an incident like this can be provided to the insurance company and the claim can be disputed quickly.

In turn, this saves the company who has been targeted – and the insurance company itself – time and money. Insurance companies are often happy to pass on lower insurance premiums to companies that have CCTV installed on their fleet vehicles.

2. Increased driver safety and awareness

Surveys have shown that when vehicle camera recorders are installed on vehicles, this can reduce the number of accidents by up to 45%. This is because drivers will subconsciously take more care on the roads and take responsibility for their actions when they know that there is video recording equipment affixed to their vehicle.

3. Driver training resources

Fleet managers can use the data and video footage taken from fleet dash cams and use these as resources to train, educate and incentivise drivers. Doing this helps to continually improve driver awareness and safety, for themselves, the business and the public.

4. Fleet management reporting

Fleet camera recorders are an important tool for the fleet manager because of the sheer amount of information that can be used to improve fleet efficiency. In dash cam systems where GPS is captured, driver behaviour and fuel consumption data can be monitored and used to make money-saving improvements.

5. Saves time and money in the long run

When considering all of the benefits above, it’s clear that installing fleet dash cams provides many advantages that all lead to improved fleet efficiency and the saving of company time and money.

Having reliable CCTV evidence on hand means that any insurance claims are dealt with quickly and favourably, resulting in damaged vehicles being back on the road in no time at all. Fleet dash cams also come in useful for documenting parking accidents, where the vehicle has suffered damage or vandalism without the driver being present.

We recognised earlier in this article about how dash cams can lead to vehicle drivers taking more responsibility for their actions on the road. Not only are driving techniques likely to improve, but driver morale can be positively impacted too. This is turn can lead to decreased staff turnover which can also result in the savings of thousands of pounds for fleet businesses each year.

We hope you found this article on fleet dash cams useful. If you have any questions about our range of commercial dash cams or personal vehicle camera recorders, or want to find out more about what our products can do for you or your business, please get in touch.

*Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons