Study Shows Fleet Driver Behaviors That Lead to Collisions

SAN DIEGO – DriveCam has released a study of more than 7,000 drivers in the distribution industry and the driving behaviors that have led to collisions in that market segment. The key factors in collisions were drivers failing to maintain reasonable space around their vehicle and following too closely.

Drivers with companies in the distribution market who were involved in a collision were 4.68 times more likely to maintain less than a 1 second following distance and 2.93 times more likely to maintain less than 2 seconds of following distance. In addition, distribution drivers involved in one or more collisions are 6.41 times more likely to fail to keep an “out” while driving.

DriveCam defines “Failing to Keep an Out” as instances where the driver failed to maintain sufficient space around the vehicle. This behavior includes unnecessarily cutting it close to other vehicles, pedestrians, or objects; failing to adjust vehicle pace or position to minimize exposure to a potential problem that is clearly visible; and unnecessarily traveling too long alongside another vehicle, which reduces the number of opportunities to move to one side to avoid a collision.

This Driving Insights release focused on the analysis of over 7,000 active drivers within the distribution industry between July 2009 and December 2010.