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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The bus and coach industry that transports more people in all form of public transport and support around 250,000 jobs is determined to maintain a national network with an unprecedented decline in the coach and bus use. The concern around the spread of this virus surrounding foreign travel in the medium term made UK coach holiday exceed the previous levels.

Maintaining the industry at its current level is essential to ensure that the operators can gear up immediately to deliver full and reliable services like social distancing and other measures. The industry has been playing its part in maintaining a national network. Still, the government and local authorities need to encourage the industry by allowing operators to alter route that will reflect the reality of social distancing.

The bus and coach industry is currently seeking an existential crisis with a complete slump in bookings and unprecedented cancellations. This is because people are changing plans as a result of Coronavirus. Tackling this virus is UK’s number priority, but we also need to have eyes on the future by ensuring that we can resume these services in the coming soonest.

COVID 19 pandemic has negatively affected the bus and coach industry. But soon, attention will lead to recovery from the current standstill. As at now, nothing has been said, but some operatives are considering the recovering that may involve. Some believe that the industry should receive more government support.

The British biggest bus and coach operator on the 6th of May 2020 has called on the government for a joint strategy to secure vital public transport network. He sets up a six-point plan identifying the short and long term changes that will help reboot the economy and also protect the communities.

This COVID 19 Pandemic has shown the importance of humanity to the growth and development of the economy. For example, buses provide social links by helping combat loneliness and hidden health challenges. While many are working from home, coaches are delivering emergency for key workers that are critical for the economy.

With the British most important public transport mode, there is no reason why we cannot return to safety. Transitional support as an investment will pay back as many times in helping us, our community and economy to recover again.

The post The Current State of the Bus and Coach Industry in the UK appeared first on Vehicle Security Solutions Ltd.

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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It was also 4% higher than the 2,292,534 speeding offences recorded in 2017-18.

The total number of all motoring offences detected across the two countries in 2018-19 was 2,837,661, meaning speeding accounted for 84% of them.

Of the 2,386,780 speeding offences detected in 2018-19:

• 44% resulted in the offender being sent on a speed awareness course.
• 34% attracted fixed penalty notices (FPNs).
• 12% were later cancelled.
• 10% resulted in court action.

The headline figure for those caught speeding hides large variations between constabularies.

The analysis – based on Home Office data and carried out by Dr Adam Snow of Liverpool John Moores University and Doreen Lam of the RAC Foundation – showed that West Yorkshire topped the list with 181,867 people caught speeding in 2018-19.

Second was Avon and Somerset (159,210) followed by the Metropolitan Police, including City of London (157,494).

At the other end of the scale Wiltshire Constabulary caught only 807 people speeding, Cleveland caught 11,937 and Derbyshire 12,256. Wiltshire turned off its speed cameras in 2010.

A full table is available below.

Across the 43 constabularies of England and Wales, the vast majority (97%) of offences were detected by speed cameras.

The variations across police forces will in part be down to geographical area, road type and traffic volume. They will also be created by local policing priorities. In Wiltshire, for example, all speed cameras were turned off in 2010.

Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation said: “The simple rule for drivers who don’t want to risk ending up with a speeding ticket is not to break the limit in the first place.

“Where limits are properly signposted and clearly feel right for the road in question then motorists have no excuse for going faster, but that means highway authorities also have a responsibility to make sure the limits they set are appropriate and to avoid instances where the limit repeatedly ‘bounces’ up and down along a single stretch.”

In 2018, “exceeding the speed limit” was recorded as a contributory factor in 13% of fatal crashes in Great Britain where at least one factor was identified.

“Travelling too fast for the conditions” was a contributory factor in 9% of fatal crashes. More than one contributory factor might be recorded per incident.

Since the inception of the National Speed Awareness Course in 2010 about nine million people have attended one.

The RAC Foundation is a transport policy and research organisation that explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users.

Detailed figures for all constabularies in England and Wales can be viewed here.

Original Article by Gareth Roberts – Fleet News
https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2020/01/07/speeding-offences-up-37-in-seven-years

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Brake’s vision is a world that has zero road deaths and injuries, and people can get around in ways that are safe, sustainable, healthy and fair.

They are a humanitarian charity, working with urgency and in partnership with ourselves to implement evidence-led solutions to a crisis that affects us all and our planet.

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Get a car alarm
We’ve all been there at 3am when the neighbour’s car alarm starts going off. And even though everyone in a two mile radius can hear it, the neighbour appears to sleep through it – leaving it going off for hours. As annoying as they may seem, vehicle alarms are actually the best way to prevent people breaking in. Some of them are quite sensitive, meaning that the slightest bump will set them off, but some are more subtle than that – it would have to be a forceful try of the door or something hitting the window to make them go off. And as soon as that noise starts blaring people don’t want to stick around.

Hide any valuables
One of the most common mistakes that people make is leaving their valuables on display. Whether it’s a sat nav left in its cradle, or a phone left on the seat – people do this all the time. Leaving valuables on display is like putting a sign up to thieves saying ‘come and break in here’. For a thief, seeing a car with valuable things inside is like hitting the jackpot. So next time, before you leave your car for the night (or even just a few hours) make sure you have taken the time to hide anything that might be valuable, or even things that look like they could be valuable – empty bags and such. You’ll thank yourself for it later.

Lock the vehicle
This one seems fairly obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many people forget to do this, or just don’t bother. This is the easiest way for thieves to get into your car and take whatever’s inside – or even hotwire it and take it for a spin. Get into the habit of checking your doors whenever you leave your vehicle and make sure they’re always locked up tight. Many thieves are chancers – they’ll simply walk down a street and try the handles of every vehicle they pass in the hopes that one is left unlocked. Don’t let the one unlocked be yours.

There are other things that you can do to make sure your vehicle is secure whenever you leave it. Vehicle CCTV is a tool that is on the rise, and isn’t just for big company vehicles. Unfortunately, vandalism is on the rise too, meaning that you could go out to your car one morning and find it covered in graffiti, or scratched from bumper to bumper. With vehicle CCTV you’ll be able to catch whoever did it. Not only that, but having vehicle CCTV acts as a deterrent, so people will be less likely to break in, or vandalise your vehicle, if they know that they’ll get spotted on camera.

Vehicle CCTV works not just for buses and public transport, but can also be used on personal vehicles too. Vehicle security is something we take very seriously, and we want everyone to be protected when it comes to this.

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