A recent survey has found that 83% of drivers of passenger vehicles believe they pose less risk on freeways than truck drivers – despite statistics suggesting otherwise.
The study from Verizon Connect uncovered more than 80% of respondents (based in the US) said they have witnessed a commercial vehicle driving dangerously, and 45% have seen an accident involving a commercial vehicle.
“While consumer perceptions around the level of danger posted by commercial drivers may not be fully accurate, these misconceptions persist,” said Kevin Aries, head of global product success at Verizon Connect.
About two-thirds also said commercial drivers appeared to be more focused on schedules than safety. And yet the statistics showed that in densely populated areas, the rate of severe crashes is increasing faster for lighter commercial vehicles (27%) than heavy-duty trucks (16%).
Verizon Connect tied the survey findings into its integrated video system, aimed at helping fleet managers improve safety and mitigate risk. The survey found that 84% of adults living in cities believe heavy vehicle drivers should be required to use video monitoring to improve and monitor their performance.
“Smart video monitoring and other emerging artificial intelligence and IoT technologies are helping commercial drivers stay safe on the road and protect themselves in the event of any incident,” said Aries.
The system also features “speed overlay,” which enables fleets to view the speed of the vehicle directly within the video clip to determine if speed was the factor that caused the event, and “video on demand,” which allows operations managers to request 40-second increments of available footage.
The Verizon Connect survey was conducted earlier this year by Wakefield Research and included 1,000 adults.
