The new generation of onboard crash prevention technology should be adopted by fleets as a complement to online systems that seek to change driver behavior, according to Ken Latzko, CEI’s senior director of sales. Latzko will deliver this message at Bobit Business Media's Fleet Safety Conference in Schaumberg, Ill. on July 19.

Latzko will point out that while some onboard systems, such as forward crash avoidance with automatic emergency braking, are proving to be effective in preventing or reducing the severity of some kinds of accidents, they intervene after drivers make mistakes, while online systems aim at changing driver behavior so they don’t make those mistakes in the first place.

Forward crash systems with automatic braking have reduced preventable rear-end collisions caused by the driver by about 40%, according to studies by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. But that comes to a much smaller percentage of the fleet accidents in CEI’s customer fleet data base, Latzko said.

“Drivers are always going to make mistakes, so crash avoidance technology has its place in fleets, but they aren’t designed to prevent every accident or every kind of accident,” Latzko said. “But by changing driver’s safety awareness and driving habits, you can achieve significant reductions in all kinds of accidents.”