Premium 24/7 incident response and fleet risk specialist, Crash Management, is leading the way to improving driving skills, reducing crashes and making our roads safer.
Crash Management’s success in securing the New Zealand licence for MENTOR by eDriving was profiled in the Company Vehicle June issue and local trials have been a resounding success.
A state-of-the-art smartphone-based app, MENTOR displaces black-box GPS systems, it requires no hardware eaxpense and is significantly more cost effective to operate.
It also extends capability much further into improving risky behaviour by prescribing interactive micro-training modules and coaching directly to drivers via the MENTOR app.
This is a closed-loop system involving a continuous and traceable learning programme including management oversight while protecting privacy.
Case Study
Fortune 500 company EcoLab operates 90 sites globally with 45,000 employees. Their MENTOR journey immediately identified that drivers involved in collision had significantly more risky driving behaviours than drivers who were not.
This may seem obvious, but the observation was now backed by scientific evidence and so could be targeted for remediation.
Within just two months of implementation, EcoLab experienced a significant reduction in the accident rate, the CPMM rate (crash per million miles travelled) plummeted 10 percent during that short period.
Further into the trial, EcoLab discovered that a CPMM reduction of 30 percent was achieved by test regions using MENTOR compared to regions that were not involved in the pilot programme.
The FICO Safe Driving Score that analyses multiple driving behaviours was also very illustrative and delivered the transparency they needed.
EcoLab observed that poor driving scores of 710 or below were twice as likely to be involved in an incident within the next three months. The initial pilot trial has now been rolled-out widely and has reduced overall crash rates by over 25 percent.
Other household name brands using eDriving’s driver risk management solutions include Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Nestle, TNT, Pfizer, British Telecom, Royal Mail and many others.
Closer to home
Innovators in their respective industry sectors have eagerly commenced trials of their own.
Ando Insurance Group
Ando is a specialist commercial vehicle fleet insurer. Their client base is varied, ranging from passenger cars through to heavy truck transport and everything in between. It’s a demanding environment, but Ando seeks to make insurance less complex, less stressful and more transparent for their clients.
Technology plays a big part in Ando’s innovation focus and Commercial Motor Portfolio Manager Blair Robertson is currently undertaking trials of the MENTOR driver app and management reporting capability delivered by the VRM portal (Vehicle Risk Management). Other New Zealand trials include the Health and Safety sectors, vehicle leasing, and insurance brokers.
Safe Work NZ Ltd, H&S Consultancy
WorkSafe Services Director Brent Rice is a former police officer who has dealt first-hand with the devastating effects on families impacted by poor driving.
Brent says, “If you’ve not had any formal driver training, (no, Uncle Phil does not count) then you will have a low level of competency to deal with any situation under stress.”
Brent also advises that from a legal perspective, H&S legislation requires straining, supervision, instruction and review for all tasks at work, and highlights that driving a vehicle for work purposes is a task.
WorkSafe Services has significant TransTasman experience in developing robust driver safety programmes in large fleet environments in pursuit of a crash-free culture. Brent also explains that “A driver’s licence is simply a verification that at a point in time, you passed a test.
“On the other hand, MENTOR provides on-going and continuous training, supervision and instruction to drivers via the app, and business managers have full transparency of driver behaviour.” WorkSafe Services was one of the first to trial MENTOR amongst their company team, and Brent reports remarkable insights and learnings.
“Even with my skills and experience I’m still progressing towards a ‘very low risk’ rating,” Brent says. “MENTOR is a fantastic tool that is constantly making me aware of any shortcomings.”
Driveline Fleet Limited – Finance and Leasing
Driveline Director Paul Tobin is a strong enthusiast of MENTOR. Paul told Company Vehicle that as the leading SME leasing specialist in New Zealand, Driveline continually seeks new technology solutions for their time-poor client base.
Paul told us that Driveline has invested heavily in proprietary technology systems for general fleet management and said that “MENTOR is far superior to any GPS telematics system we’ve investigated to date, due to the advanced analytics capability that automates and delivers driver retraining.”
He confirmed that Driveline is a firm supporter of the product and seeks every opportunity to introduce the app-based solution to their fleet clients.
Donaldson Brown Advisory, Risk, Insurance
Donaldson Brown (DB) is proudly 100 percent New Zealand owned and pride themselves on transparency and pro-actively adding value for their clients. Founding Partner Dan Donaldson says that one of DB’s most successful strategies has been a long-standing integration with Crash Management to deliver 24/7 incident response services and end-to-end collision management for their clients.
Dan reports that “Crash Management is a valued business partner that streamlines the MV claim experience for us and our clients while delivering significant value-add benefits. Their unique offering fits well with our pro-active approach to business, saves costs for all stakeholders, and gets our clients back on the road fast.”
Dan confirms DB has been using the MENTOR driver safety app since its launch in New Zealand.
He says “MENTOR technology represents an innovation step-change towards improving driver skills and attitudes, reducing collision claims, and making our roads safer for everyone. We strongly recommend it to all fleet operators who have a focus on reducing incident rates and operating a generally more efficient and safer fleet.”
The New Zealand Institute of Driving Educators
NZIDE’s CEO Peter Sheppard was an early adopter of MENTOR, immediately identifying the technology as a must-have best practice tool for members. Peter comments that MENTOR “provides an exceptional tool for driver education at all levels of experience”.
NZIDE recognises the need to measure driver behaviour more closely and accurately particularly through early driver developmental stages and to constantly monitor and analyse driver performance through the aging process.
Behaviour modification relies upon reliable and relevant information as evidenced by recent studies showing that 94 percent of motor vehicle crashes (NHS Study) have been caused through driver error.
Reliable driver behaviour data is also required to support root cause analysis of crashes. Data from MENTOR can be used to track these underlying causes.
More importantly, various behavioural change techniques used for modifying driver behaviour, particularly the “Theory of Planned Behaviour” rely on accurate evidence to influence psychological change. Again, the evidence being collected on the driver’s actions through MENTOR is highly accurate and reliable for these purposes.
MENTOR clearly records the driver’s actions of speeding, harsh cornering, braking and distractions which are strong evidence of wrong/unreliable decision making. These actions are reliable evidence for assessing driver performance.
The evidence is in. MENTOR has forever changed the way driving skills are measured, analysed and improved.
Fleet suppliers, fleet operators and fleet insurers that are interested in international best-practice and innovation will want to evaluate the extensive functionality and proven results delivered by MENTOR. Widespread uptake will help reduce New Zealand’s high vehicle crash statistics – we urge you to be part of the solution.
