Caught on camera? Carriers dabble in filming drivers

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Updated Nov 1, 2013
DriveCam’s system uses a window-mounted recording device that captures forward and cab-facing video.DriveCam’s system uses a window-mounted recording device that captures forward and cab-facing video.

Some large U.S. carriers have began implementing a new method in eliminating accidents and absolving themselves and their drivers of fault in accidents that do occur: Video cameras that film the driver and the road while recording time and place on a map using GPS. 

OD sister site CCJ Technology Editor Aaron Huff has an extended story on the subject on CCJ  — Click here to see it

As noted previously in an Overdrive Extra blog post from earlier this year, fleets have already used the technologies to set the record straight when sued for an accident that was not the fault of their driver. 

These driver risk management systems, as they’re often called, take the form of continuously recording cameras that feature a cab-facing camera and a forward-facing one. As Huff notes, not all of the footage is sent to the truck’s carrier, but when a “risky event” occurs, like a quick lane change, sudden acceleration or deceleration or running a stop sign, short clips are sent to headquarters, showing what happened before, during and after the event.

Huff’s story also covers driver acceptance — geared toward fleet managers — of the cameras, as they are generally perceived as invasions of privacy. 

Last December, Overdrive reported on the news that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration OK’d the use of the in-cab cameras, which led to an ample amount of OD reader response, including one driver saying he’d drive naked as a means to give his carrier something to look at, along with other drivers chiming in on their take on in-cab cameras. Click here to see that story.

This video from SmartDrive shows what carriers get when the clips are sent and shows a driver having to come to a quick stop to avoid a collision: 

[youtube EvsTl8B0lxI nolink]