These days, it seems as if you can’t scroll through YouTube or another form of social media without seeing a dashcam video that shows some sort of strange, exciting, or dangerous occurrence on the road. These videos are often extremely attention-grabbing and eye-catching, and they can often leave you shocked or horrified about whatever you have witnessed.
In reality, most of the footage captured on a dashcam isn’t nearly as exciting. However, these videos touch on a fundamental truth: Dashcams can be hugely effective in terms of safety and security for any car, truck, RV, or fleet manager. Indeed, there are multiple benefits when it comes to dashcams that can help save you money, improve the performance of your fleet, and potentially protect you from the legal or financial consequences of a major accident.
Looking for more information on how dashcams can protect you and how integrating dashcams with other technological tools can enhance the safety and efficiency of your entire fleet? Read on for more!
Monitor Driver Behavior
Fleet managers have many tools to help ensure optimal and safe driving behavior. This includes GPS tracking, remote vehicle health monitors, and more. Dashcams can provide something that other technological tools cannot do: Real-time, second-by-second monitoring of how someone is driving and what obstacles that driver may face on the road.
There are many different types of dashcams. Some record continuously, while others record only when a certain event occurs, such as an abrupt break or sharp turn. However, both can be useful for ensuring drivers or renters are operating their vehicles appropriately. When used correctly, they can eliminate doubt about whether a driver uses your vehicles responsibly.
Furthermore, dashcams can provide additional insight that is not available otherwise. For example, you may have GPS monitoring that shows a driver speeding, but a driver may claim the circumstances of the road required an accelerating speed at that moment. In this instance, you could refer to the comments from a driver against the footage from the dashcam. It may prove the driver’s claims correct or demonstrate that the driver was using their vehicle dangerously or inappropriately. As such, a dashcam can provide critically useful insight into driver behavior.
Legal and Financial Protection
Unfortunately, at the moment, you can’t use a dashcam to seek discounts from insurance providers. However, they have extensive other uses for protecting you from a legal perspective.
Imagine the following scenario: You manage a car fleet, and one of your vehicles gets into an accident. The driver of the vehicle in question may claim it was the other car’s fault, but the other car — and their insurance company — say the driver of your car is the one to blame. In this instance, you could use the dashcam footage to guide how you approach the case. Furthermore, if you use other dashcam solutions — like the Zubie dashcam — you could be guaranteed your dashcam footage could easily interact with other tracking measures you use, including GPS tracking and vehicle health. Doing so enables you to use this footage against other measures before determining the next steps that you had to take.
Something that protects your fleet legally will also protect it financially. By ensuring you have all the necessary information, you can make better decisions about how to proceed with legal or civil actions against a driver. This allows you to save your limited resources and ensures that you are only spending money in ways that will get you a better financial outcome. As such, you need to view dashcams not as an expense but as a long-term investment — one that will protect you from wasting your limited funds on lost financial causes.
Theft Deterrence
Unfortunately, auto thefts remain a major issue and challenge for any fleet manager. Technology has come a long way since the advent of car alarms and “the club” that first protected cars from thieves. However, there is a constant need to use better technological solutions to protect your car. Thankfully, a dashcam can do just that.
Cameras — such as Ring devices or smaller security cameras — are popular deterrents for protecting against theft or break-ins. Dashcams work similarly. By having a dashcam installed, a potential thief may instead decide to break into another car that is more vulnerable and less able to collect evidence of their thievery. In addition, if a car part is stolen, a dashcam that is motion-activated may find identifying information on your thief. This information may prove critical to catching the culprit, thus giving you a chance to get back your car or car part.
As you can see, dashcams have many uses. However, they are far from the only things you can do to protect your fleet. Are you seeking more information on dashcams or other professional fleet management services? Do you want information on how an entire suite of technological tools can help improve your fleet? Contact Zubie today, and let us provide you with a demo, quote, and free trial.