Lower insurance premiums
Most insurance companies will lower your insurance premiums and general overall insurance costs if you have trackers in your vehicles, this is by far one of the best and most straightforward benefits of adding vehicle trackers. Insurance companies calculate the premium you pay based on an estimate of risk and because of being able to track your vehicle. That is if it was stolen and there is a magnitude of other reasons too. Many of those reasons we’re about to discuss. insurance companies will lower your premiums if you have trackers installed.

Find stolen vehicles
This leads onto our next point and one of the most obvious points. Tracking your vehicle means you can locate it should the vehicle be stolen, you’ll be able to locate it yourself and pass the location onto the Police or other relevant authorities for them to retrieve the vehicle for you. Vehicle theft is and always has been a big problem. It shouldn’t be something which is overlooked or considered “not a crime these days”. It very much is a huge problem, especially as it contains petrol, can be used by others, and may even contain goods.

Know when workers are taking breaks for their health and safety
Another benefit is a legal and legislative benefit. Vehicle tracking shows where your vehicle is and how long it has been moving or not moving for. You have legal responsibilities to your employees to make sure they take breaks and are not driving or working too long. This is applicable under the law of the country you’re driving in. Currently in the UK this is applicable under both UK and EU law. Employees will be understanding of usage of trackers for this reason. After all, it’s for their benefit and their health and safety.

Item / inventory location
If you are a firm which delivers goods, you may need to know the exact location of those goods at any time. Items are therefore never accidentally lost. Tracking for this reason is very important. How will you answer the question “where is my item?” if you do not know.

Speed monitoring
Another benefit regarding employees is that many tracking systems also monitor the speed your drivers are going. This is an added layer of control and health and safety, to make sure your drivers are not putting themselves and others at risk.

Maintenance
Maintenance of trackers is easy and usually handled by the company that provides or installs them. Do not be put off. Another angle for maintenance is the maintenance of vehicles, it shows you just how long a vehicle has been on the road and after general wear and tear, trackers will help you manage the maintenance program of your vehicles.

Efficiency
This leads us onto another point, in general it helps you run your business in an efficient manner. Any process, tool, platform or whatever it may be that can help your business run smoother will result in a more profitable business with happier customers and employees.

Fuel efficiency and saving
And yes, fuel efficiency too! Track how far your vehicles are travelling and how much fuel they really need!

Benefits outweigh cost
One final point is that any costs associated with vehicle tracking are outweighed by the magnitude of the benefits above. It is simply a risk you cannot afford to take.

The post 10 reasons you need vehicle tracking appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

In the article we will also evaluate why it is important to have CCTV in your vehicle too. We want to stress why both tracking and CCTV are beneficial when combined.

Real time tracking
This is where your vehicle, such as a bus or coach is tracked in real time. This means the actual location is tracked by GPS in real time. You will be able to see the exact location as your vehicle moves.

Route playback
This means you can play back the exact route the vehicle took and see the exact roads and locations the bus used.

Waterproofing
Some are waterproof, this may be beneficial in some cases as it means if your driver has an accident and let’s say the vehicle then ends up in a lake, the vehicle can still be tracked. All waterproofing does have some limitation of course.

Over speeding
Most track speed and in some cases have speed tracker alarms which indicates when a vehicle is over speeding. Such as doing 80 miles per hour in a 60 mile per hour zone.

Resistance
Most are shock resistance for example in accidents.

Discreet
Most are discreet, your drivers will forget they are even there.

Reports
Reports can usually be viewed in a few different formats and can help with timesheet and mileage calculation

Driver scoring
Many trackers offer a score on your driver based on their driving.

CCTV
Whilst vehicle trackers do not have CCTV, a top is to have vehicle CCTV too. Let us evaluate some of the benefits of having vehicle CCTV too.

As mentioned at the start of the article, we will also review below, the importance of having CCTV in your vehicles too.

Insurance
Again, a huge and fairly of having CCTV on your bus or coach is for insurance reasons. Insurance costs are driven down by having CCTV in the vehicle. It is important as we currently still live in a ‘claim culture’.

Health and safety
Should anything happen, evidence is needed for any investigation. Should there be an accident or incident, CCTV will be able to help you pinpoint exactly what happened, who is responsible and thus provides information management teams need to make decisions.

Capture anti-social behaviour
Easily capture any anti-social behaviour, vandalism, and damage against your vehicle.

Final word
It is important to have both trackers and CCTV. We hope this article helps you understand the features of tracking and why you need CCTV too. We want to stress again the combination of CCTV and trackers will provide a strong return on investment compared to having neither, which could end up being very costly. Information is king, intelligence is important. Without it, it can be difficult to make decisions.

Do also remember there are laws in which having trackers and CCTV helps you support, but there are legal considerations of their use.

The post Features of vehicle tracking explained appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

Operators are beginning to realise the benefits of having mobile bus and coach CCTV equipment. Most customers use the system to monitor driver’s behaviour and the safety of their passengers.

BENEFITS OF VEHICLE CCTV

Vehicle CCTV has proven to help protect the lives of people and fleet assets, due to accident rates and incidents falling as a direct relation. Its recording delivers encryption level data which is used against the false claim and protect the integrity of the business.

No matter the nature of your fleet, vehicle CCTV installations of between 1 – 16 cameras improves drivers’ behaviour, eliminates blind spots, and also delivers a return on investment.

Vehicle CCTV is fast becoming a staple inclusion of regulatory compliance. Some systems are set up to provide drivers with “an extra set of eyes” to view areas on the vehicle that is not accessible from the driver’s seat. This is vital for commercial and specialist vehicles. The mobile DVR system ensures that LVGs, HVGs and commercial vehicles can capture and record blind spots, such as at the rea of the vehicle or front nearside where cyclists tend to be.

Apart from the above benefits of vehicle CCTV, below are the list of the key benefits you can get when you install vehicle CCTV on your bus and coach.

• Vehicle CCTV has dedicated video playback encrypted software to view incidents
• Prevents against theft and vandalism
• Reduce insurance costs and prevents fraudulent insurance claims
• Protects drivers and passengers
• Increases efficiencies, productivity, and safety through better driving

Another benefit of installing a reliable vehicle CCTV system is that when there is a crash involving a third party, the video footage can be downloaded quickly and exported to a recipient for instant viewing. The vehicle CCTV system helps in proving liability and to make claims resolution process faster with less stress for all concerned parties.

Vehicle CCTV captures all that is happening within the range of its camera. It provides a full record of what happened in case of any crash. These records can be presented to the insurance company or police as evidence. It comes in handy for fleet management with its GPS location ability. Vehicle CCTV systems captures footage from all angles. Because of the values that vehicle CCTV system offers, Government and organisations are taking this initiative seriously and costly steps to put an end to vandalization and accidents.

For information on Vehicle Security Solutions systems, please contact us on 01562 881010 or 07752 652294.

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What is the Direct Vision Standard (DVS)? 

The Direct Vision Standard is changing our attitude towards how we regard public safety on our roads in urban areas. Further, it is a guiding light on how helpful camera technologies can be put to use in multiple ways to protect against incidents, secure vehicles and their loads and optimise fleet management. Advanced operators have been implementing many of these techniques to help improve operations and cut costs but now Transport for London (TfL) is looking to enforce practices within the M25. An HGV Safety Permit will be required for HGVs of 12 tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW) and over from the 26th October 2020 or risk a £550 fine per incident.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) estimates that over 60% of all HGVs over 12 tonnes GVW will be banned from entering London without a permit. To get this permit, first you need to know the star rating of your HGVs, which will dictate what, if any, of TfL’s recommended safety equipment needs to be installed on them. Once the equipment has been installed you can start the permit application process, which is free. 

Star rating for direct vision 

The HGV Safety Permit scheme will cover greater London and be in operation 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Permits will only be granted for vehicles that meet the minimum DVS star rating. Vehicles that don’t meet the minimum DVS star rating will need to be fitted with Safe System improvements. The standard applies to both right–hand and left–hand drive vehicles and includes those from outside of the UK. 

 A star rating will be applied to all vehicles based on the driver’s direct field of view, in order to reduce the risk of close proximity blind spot collisions. You can register any of your vehicles for a star rating here, which will provide you with a list of safety equipment that you need to install for each vehicle on your fleet. 

Research has shown that direct vision is the key factor in improving public safety in urban areas. Although vehicle manufacturers are developing new models that will in time adopt many of these features, it will take many more years for these standards to become mainstream. In the meantime, Safe System improvements can be retrofitted to your fleet to ensure compliance. Further, the Mayors of other cities, such as Manchester, may also consider the implementation of these standards in the near future.

Permit applications 

If your HGV is rated one to five stars, you can apply for a permit without the need to provide any additional evidence. If your HGV has a zero star rating, you will need to make your vehicle safer by fitting it with Safe System improvements and will need to prove this when you apply for your permit. For HGVs that are not rated, you will need to contact the vehicle manufacturer to tell you the star rating. 

The length of your permit will depend on your vehicle’s star rating:

• Zero star permits will be valid until October 2024 
• One and two star permits will be valid until October 2024 
• Three, four and five star permits will be valid for 10 years

Zero, one and two star rated vehicles will need to be fitted with the Progressive Safe System from 2024. Fleet operators can apply for 5 to 3,000 vehicles at one time, through a multi permit application. 

Example of Safe System requirements for a zero star rated vehicle: 

1. Class V mirror shall be fitted to, the nearside of the vehicle. 
2. Class VI mirror shall be fitted to the front of the vehicle. 
3. Side under-run protection shall be fitted to both sides of the vehicle (except where this is impractical or proves to be impossible). 
4. External pictorial stickers and markings shall be displayed on vehicles to warn vulnerable road users of the hazards around the vehicle. 
5. A sensor system that alerts the driver to the presence of a vulnerable road user shall be fitted to the nearside of the vehicle. 
6. Audible vehicle maneuvering warning shall be fitted to warn vulnerable road users when a vehicle is turning left. 
7. A fully operational camera monitoring system shall be fitted to the nearside of the vehicle. 

Camera monitoring to eliminate blind spots 

Camera monitoring systems are required to eliminate or minimise the remaining vehicle blind spot at the nearside – as far as is practical and possible. In-cab monitors are to be installed in vehicles positioned close to a window edge or existing mirror location, without obscuring the view through the window. This helps minimise the time the driver needs to take their eyes away from other important views to scan the monitor. Monitors only intended to show blind spots related to low speed manoeuvring (i.e. not mirror replacement cameras) may switch off at speeds above 20mph.

Why fleet managers and vehicle rental companies use camera monitoring: 

1. Secure video storage: Using a professional camera monitoring system gives you better storage choices, such as solid state lockable drives, avoiding the potential for lost or corrupt data files commonly associated with the use of SD cards. Our cloud platform also provides secure storage for any remote uploads.  
2. Remote video access: The convenience of being able to remotely examine footage without the need to retrieve the camera or vehicle, avoiding the logistical headache of manual retrieval. 
3. Driver training: Opportunity to enhance driver behaviour by delivering examples of bad practice, which left unchecked could result in a more serious incident.  
4. Policy enforcement: Internal cameras are a highly effective way of enforcing company vehicle policy such as seatbelts, mobile phone use and smoking. 
5. Reduced risk and costs: Feedback of driving footage to drivers as part of your advanced driver training programme will aid in the reduction of risk, running costs and improve overall driver safety. 
6. Driver protection: A driver panic button enables the driver to manually bookmark a “panic event” should they feel compelled, alerting fleet operators to the event. For example, road rage attacks or dangerous third party behaviour should be reported. 
7. Insurance reduction: Video evidence supports the timely settlement of non-fault traffic collisions, which may otherwise have been contested, leading to future savings on fleet insurance premiums. 
8. All angles covered: Up-to 16 cameras per vehicle delivers fully flexible and comprehensive protection to meet your needs. Optional and remotely configurable audio allows the capture of internal sound.  
9. FNOL alerts: Supplement video footage with accelerometer events, offering a far greater degree of accuracy when detecting crash or harsh driving events. Within seconds of an event occurring, a detailed FNOL report is delivered. 
10. Add to your existing solution: If you already have a camera solution in place yet do not benefit from remote access, our LiveCam system is also available as a DVR only solution linking to existing, compatible camera equipment and delivering footage remotely. 

What to look for when selecting a camera monitoring system provider 

TfL does not specify or mandate any make or brand of equipment or technology as part of the Safe System. However, do not see this as a simple tick-box exercise for compliance purposes and take the opportunity to review best practice methods and prepare for a future where safety improvements are not one-time changes.  

 Look for a reputable partner with experience in camera monitoring systems, telematics and fleet optimisation in order to get the best results and return on your investment.  

Your ideal camera monitoring system provider will: 

• Develop and run a cloud technology platform 
• Have existing customers with similar use case examples 
• Talk your language and understand your industry challenges 
• Provide installation support and/or training to your vehicle technicians 
• Care about your current and potential future needs 

What to do next 

For more information please contact us on 01562 881010

The post Are you ready for Direct Vision Standard 2020? appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

Reducing your fleet insurance premiums has got to be a good thing. VSS works with several independent commercial insurance brokers specialising in truck, bus and coach insurances. They’re able to offer our customers competitive premiums which can be reduced over time with the introduction of vehicle CCTV and vehicle Telematics solutions. The only exception to this could be if you’re currently insured under an exclusive broker scheme.

Our insurance partners have clients throughout the UK and provide a highly personal and professional service envied by their competitors. They hold agencies with most of the leading insurance companies throughout the UK.

Vehicle CCTV prevents against theft and vandalism. Last year there was 55,000 cash for crash schemes in the UK costing fleet insurance companies £240M. Vehicle cameras help in the protection for the drivers and passengers against fraudulent Insurance claims. Installing GPS tracking and telematics can also determine the precise location of any vehicle at any time, helping our clients achieve fleet insurance discounts.

Commercial vehicles account for less than 1.7% of vehicles on the road but account for 18% of crashes. Fleet insurance companies are keen to work with our clients to help counteract this by vehicle CCTV installation. On average, these insurance companies have seen a 40% reduction in accident claims with commercial vehicles fitted with vehicle CCTV.

Vehicle CCTV can also improve driver best practice, efficiencies, productivity and safety. By working with your fleet insurance company, these efficiencies will ultimately save your business money.

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In recent years, these schemes are becoming more and more commonplace, unfortunately for innocent motorists on the road. There are three main types of crash for cash schemes – none of which are good news for other motorists. The first type is where two fraudsters will crash two of their own cars together, or use tools to simulate the damage of a crash. The second type is where someone will deliberately slam the brakes on their car to ensure that the car behind will crash into them, even though they weren’t braking for anything. The third type of scheme is called a ghost scheme and is where a fraudster will make a claim for an accident that never even happened.

There is good news though. In 2006, the Insurance Fraud Bureau was created to ensure that something would be done about these kinds of crimes. This organisation works alongside the police and insurance companies to investigate every claim that comes to them, making sure that nobody falls victim to these scammers. Unfortunately, they can’t catch every one that comes to them and some of these scams do fall through the net. If you’re worried about this happening to you, then there are some things that you can do. If you’re running any kind of company where you are in charge of people who are driving a lot, then you might also want to pass this advice onto them.

First things first, and something that you should be doing anyway, is making sure you stay alert when driving. Be aware of your own driving as well as those people around you. Be aware of when others are getting too close to you when driving. If there are cars which are driving too quickly and too slowly at the same time, then they may be people looking to fake an accident. Another warning sign is drivers who pay too much attention to the car behind them, and try to stick quite close to them. This could also be passengers doing the same thing. Make sure that you aren’t paying so much attention that you forget to pay attention to what you’re doing.

Make sure that you always maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you. This is something that you should be doing anyway, but it can be easy to forget sometimes, particularly on long journeys, but it is one of the most important ways to keep your driving safe. Make sure to adjust your distance according to how fast you’re going and what the conditions of the roads are like. Another things that fraudsters often do to increase the chances of causing an accident is disabling their brake lights. Be aware if you end up behind a car that doesn’t have any brake lights and make sure to keep an even larger distance between you and that car, just in case.

The post Crash for Cash Schemes appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

Having CCTV installed on buses and coaches will not only allow the driver to see what is going on while they are trying to navigate busy streets, but it will also protect them, the company and of course, the passengers. CCTV is the easiest way to do this, as they are easy to install and simple to operate and retrieve the footage if needed. This is good news for bus companies as it can be used as evidence in case any accusations are made against the company.

It can also help protect the passengers, by monitoring the drivers to see if they’re behaving appropriately, driving safely and generally not putting anyone at risk. Improving the quality of drivers often means that insurance costs are cheaper. You can also rest easy knowing that your drivers are aware that they’re being watched so will on their best behaviour. It will also reassure passengers that your coach or bus is a reliable and safe method of transportation due to the increased security.

In a world of constant surveillance, people are worried about becoming a ‘Big Brother’ state. However, many of these people are also heavily reliant on CCTV footage to protect them. In inner cities, where surveillance is high, people feel safer because they know should anything happen, there is video evidence of it somewhere. Unfortunately, people don’t always get the same feeling when on public transport, and as such avoid using it. With CCTV installed in your buses or coaches your clients can travel safely in the knowledge that should anything happen they will be covered by the evidence.

VSS903 – Four Channel Hard Drive MDVR

CCTV can also act as a deterrent. A lot of vandalism or anti-social behaviour takes place on board large public vehicles because the driver often cannot put a stop to it as they need to focus on driving. It can be hard to keep track of a full coach of people as well as trying to steer a vehicle that size. Having CCTV in place can prevent people from vandalising or stealing if they know they’re being watched. It can give you and your drivers’ peace of mind when travelling because they know that they don’t have to be aware of every passenger on the bus and can remain focused on the job at hand.

Most CCTV equipment comes with GPS tracking inbuilt, so you can monitor every vehicles’ precise location at any time. This can come in handy for auditing, insurance claims or claims against the company. By being able to monitor the location and movements of your buses, you can make sure that all vehicles are doing what they’re supposed to. It can increase efficiency and productivity because you will be able to see what each coach or bus does with its time.

Buss and coach tamper proof cameras

A large percentage of speeding incidents can be avoided if the driver is aware they are being watched, and having CCTV on board your vehicles can reduce insurance by up to a significant percentage. Commercial vehicles make up a small percentage of vehicles on the road at just 1.7%, but these same vehicles account for 18% of accidents. These numbers can be reduced with the installation of CCTV, because everyone is more aware that they are being watched and therefore likely to behave with more caution. It can also reduce the number of false claims made against your company or your drivers – as there will be video evidence to back your company up.

Nearly every public place in the UK now has CCTV, why should a bus or coach be any different?
Contact us now at Vehicle Security Solutions on 01562 544108 to discuss your vehicle CCTV requirements and obtain a free quote or email us at:- info@vehiclesecuritysolutions.co.uk.

The post Benefits of Vehicle CCTV appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

As the cost of fuel continues to rise, many companies are looking to reduce the amount of fuel they’re using in order to save them money. There are a lot of things that can be done to reduce the amount of fuel being used and vehicle tracking is one of them.

When a vehicle is idling it can use fuel unnecessarily and stopping this idle time can be one of the easiest ways to cut down on fuel costs.

Why do vehicles remain idle if they don’t need to?

There are a number of reasons that a vehicle can remain idle, particularly if the driver is in their vehicle for long periods of time. Lorry drivers can sometimes spend a few days in their cabin – often sleeping there at night and Bus and Coach drivers keep their vehicles running during winter months to keep the heaters on.

Obviously, a driver spending this much time in a vehicle will want it to be as comfortable as their home. Warm at nights and during the winter, yet cool during the summer. Because of this, when they stop – be it for dropping off deliveries, waiting to collect passengers or just stopping for a rest – they can leave their vehicle running. This will cause fuel to be used even if the vehicle isn’t moving.

What effect does this have?

This can add unnecessary mileage to a vehicle, potentially shortening its life span. Not only is it losing fuel while it is running, but all this mileage will age the vehicle. The older the vehicle is, the worse its fuel economy gets, thus losing further fuel in the long term.

What will vehicle tracking achieve?

Vehicle tracking has many uses, the basic concept of a tracker is to make the fleet manager aware of the movements and habits of a particular vehicle. Vehicle tracking can monitor speeds, which in some cases is much needed. A lot of delivery companies want their packages delivered as quickly as possible, and speed is of high importance these days when it comes to making deliveries. Because of this, many drivers use this as an excuse to exceed the speed limit. This can cause the company or the driver fines and can also lose you competent drivers, if they are going over the speed limit.

The other reason why you may want to track vehicle speeds is because going higher speeds can significantly reduce fuel efficiency. If you can keep track of which drivers are going over the limit, you can take steps to ensure they understand why they shouldn’t be doing this. You can also monitor people of a period of time, so you can see which drivers are consistently exceeding the limit. This isn’t about tracking the drivers, but more making sure that you are getting the most out of your fuel consumption.

As well as speed, vehicle tracking can show you when a vehicle is stopped but still idling, when it is switched off entirely, and of course when it is on the move. This can be handy as it enables you to see which vehicles stop the most often, for how long and for what reason. Knowing this information can help your company to provide better solutions to why the drivers have left the engine running.

For instance, if a driver leaves the vehicle running while they are going to make a delivery, and you find that it’s because they want to leave their air conditioning on, you can think of alternative ways to keep the cabin cool while they’re making the deliveries. The same if they want to keep the heating on, offering up other solutions such as adding a company uniform jacket may help solve the problem of why some vehicles are kept running. You can monitor which drivers stop the most, and if you seem to find a common problem, you can solve it throughout the whole country – giving every employee different options and essentially saving you lots of money in fuel costs.

All in all, there are many different uses for a vehicle tracker and if you’re looking to save money, this is a simple and easy way to keep track of your vehicles and make sure they are not using fuel unnecessarily.

For working out which tracker is right for you or to discuss additional options such as driver Fobs, then please don’t hesitate to contact us at Vehicle Security Solutions on 01562 544108 or email us at info@vehiclesecuritysolutions.co.uk

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As I look through my living room window in the aftermath of a ‘Tornado’ hitting our village, I begin to assess the costs of this natural disaster and how it will affect the local community as a whole. Insurance companies telephone lines will be ‘red hot’ today.

You see, unfortunate events like this affect us all. Personally, we came away relatively unscathed with regards to actual damage, however, with insurance claims being submitted by those directly affected over the next few days, the costs of insurance premiums in our postcode will rise.

I can accept this, as there was nothing anyone could have done. It was no one’s fault, we all bore witness to what this storm threw down at us. It was a natural phenomenon. You try taking Mother Nature to court to sue for damages. You can’t. It’s just one of those things.

Estimated wind speeds last night were around 72mph. I’ve checked the internet and found that on the Beaufort scale which rates ranks wind speeds from scale 1-12, we were hit hard.

There was no warning system to tell us otherwise. We couldn’t have slowed the wind down to be less destructive, therefore resulting in less or no damage and ultimately no insurance claims and premium hikes!

Where am I going with this story you might wonder and what relevance does this have to the transport industry? I’ll tell you.

Driving Responsibly?

I work in the world of vehicle CCTV and Telematics and recently visited a prospect who had enquired about such systems. They’d recently been sent their new annual insurance premium which had gone up an incredible £60,000 across their fleet of twenty passenger service vehicles!

When I questioned why the huge rise, they told me that one of their vehicles was written off last year after it braked hard, skidded off the road and veered off into a ditch. Fortunately, no one else was onboard the vehicle which was on its way back to the depot and the driver was lucky to have walked away with minor injuries.

After a short investigation, the incident was put down to poor driver behaviour. The driver used their mobile phone whilst speeding. The driver got fired! Could this have been prevented? Yes.

On another visit last year, this time to a haulage firm, they were faced with a similar hike in their insurance premiums due to one of their vehicles being involved in an RTA. This turned out to be a crash for cash incident with five occupants of the car involved (three of these were ‘ghost riders’ as the truck driver said there were only two passengers in the vehicle at the time). Could this have been prevented? Maybe, if you had a reliable witness.

There were 180,000 incidents involving cash for crash scams in the UK between June 2015-16.

I hear these stories all the time. But what can be done to eradicate poor driver behaviour? How can we prove who was at fault? How can we prevent drivers speeding? How can we stop insurance premiums rising against us when we’re not in the wrong? What steps can we take to stop this?

FORS can help towards safety on the roads

The aim of FORS is simple. One comprehensive scheme that encompasses all aspects of safety, fuel efficiency, economical operations and vehicle emissions. FORS is a voluntary scheme that helps improve operators’ performance in each of these areas. And it’s the safety part of the scheme we’ll concentrate on here.

The need to install additional safety equipment such as CCTV and Telematics on your vehicles is growing. For example, to meet Transport for London (TFL) requirements and to be eligible for business deals within London, as well as infrastructure plans such as Cross Rail, you must fulfil the requirements of the Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme (FORS). And having vehicle CCTV and using Telematics systems really does help towards aspects of safety.

For vehicle operators, it offers peace of mind that they are meeting their legislative requirements. Banded as Gold, Silver and Bronze accreditations, each one carries its own merits. It is an excellent way to prove to existing and potential clients your credentials as a high performing operator who adheres to high quality standards.

Bronze is entry level accreditation but gaining Silver endorsement, shows you’re dramatically improving the overall safety of operator’s fleet vehicles which in turn ensures compliance with the Standard for construction logistics

What kind of Technology can help?

Vehicle CCTV is paramount in today’s battle against fraudulent accident claims and has ultimately improved the overall claims experience in the industry. What’s more, with GPS tracking, you’re able to view footage in sync with a map showing the location and speed of the vehicle.

A major benefit of having vehicle CCTV is that it improves vehicle safety and security and encourages best practice amongst drivers.

Telematics devices are generally systems that are installed in your vehicle that records information about your driving habits, such as the number of miles you drive, your speed, and how quickly you brake. Studies have shown that a 5% decrease in average speed leads to approximately a 10% decrease in injury and 20% decrease in fatal crashes (2014, U.S Dept of Transportation).

Based on a telematics data base research in the UK, an incredible 92% of speeding incidences can be avoided by an installed telematics system.

These systems can quite often be integrated into a vehicle CCTV device, so gives you the best of both worlds.

Roads are getting more congested, in fact Motor vehicle traffic in Great Britain increased by 2.3% in the year ending June 2015 from the previous year. The provisional figure of 314.6 billion vehicle miles is the highest rolling annual total ever! (National statistics).

We need all the help we can get out there and the aforementioned systems will not only help your drivers be safer on the roads and curtail the fraudulent accident claims but will protect and enhance your reputation.

So unlike the Tornado tale mentioned earlier, which was unavoidable, WE can put at stop to poor driver behaviour and fraudulent accident claims by installing such systems mentioned above. Can you afford to be without it?

The post Can you afford to be without vehicle CCTV and Telematics? appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

The top portable breath alcohol tester in the UK is the Alert J5 which also comes with a Printer and is used extensively within the transport sector. Below is an in-depth overview of this alcohol testing device.

ALERT J5 BREATH ALCOHOL TESTER WITH PRINTER

The Alert J5 combines the top breath features required by law enforcement, healthcare and industrial-safety professionals into one convenient and affordable solution. The Alert J5 Breath Alcohol Tester is coupled to a Bluetooth printer to give fast and accurate record of the test result when a person blows into the device, which can be used as evidence.

Below are a few of the main elements of the Alert J5…

Convenient menu
The Alert J5 allows you to capture breath samples, print test results with the optional print function, and recall previous tests in seconds.

Evidential accuracy
The Alert J5 uses a fuel cell – the standard in law enforcement breath testers. The long-term stability of the sensor means you can count on accurate results year after year.

Optional printing
The Alert J5 has an onboard RS-232 printing capability, allowing it to print using the optional portable impact printer.

Multi-language display
Users can easily change languages without having to upgrade software. All Alert J5 alcohol testers are available with multiple language options.

Limited warranty
ACS breath alcohol testers are warranted to be free from defects in workmanship and material for one year from the date of purchase. Only qualified technicians should perform the maintenance of any breath alcohol tester.

At VSS, we also offer throw away alcohol and drug testing equipment, plus alcohol testing equipment linked to ignition. Contact us on 01562 544108 or complete the online enquiry form.

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