SAN DIEGO, CA— SmartDrive Systems Inc., a provider of driver risk management systems and services, announced that the Salvation Army—which features the 13th largest fleet of vehicles in the country—is deploying the SmartDrive system throughout its west coast fleet.
Salvation Army has been using SmartDrive's high-tech video-capture hardware and professional incident review service since mid-2006. The contract was awarded to SmartDrive following a lengthy process that included comparing SmartDrive to other safety improvement systems.
The SmartDrive service helps reinforce good driving for the Salvation Army by capturing activities on video and then professionally reviewing and rating these events for subsequent driver counseling. All video and diagnostic data can be viewed by fleet/risk/safety managers by simply logging on to the SmartDrive secure Web site.
The Salvation Army fleet of vehicles is diverse; much of the fleet outfitted with SmartDrive consists of "box trucks" which collect donations in cities across the western region of the United States. The Army is also deploying SmartDrive in its passenger vans.
The SmartDrive in-vehicle unit is mounted behind the rearview mirror and consists of two, tiny cameras: one camera pointing forward, one pointing at the driver. SmartDrive is continuously recording, so driving activities are recorded and saved 15 seconds before the event and 15 seconds after it. The SmartDrive system also features multiple panic buttons, which allow the driver to record and document the behaviors or incidents of other drivers or passengers.
Based in San Diego, SmartDrive mitigates risk by improving driver behavior and assessing liability in collisions. By combining sight and sound, event analysis and driver remediation, SmartDrive's automated event recorder (AER) technology and associated web-based service reduces vehicle damages, workers' compensation and personal injury costs by 50 to 90 percent. Customers include enterprises with small- to mid-size fleets (e.g. ambulances, motor coaches, and taxi companies) and large fleets with 500+ vehicles (e.g. school bus, utility, waste management, and transit companies).
