Verizon Connect study: 10% of drivers operate without seat belts, prompting AI Dashcam enhancements

NEW YORK - Verizon Connect has found that commercial drivers operate vehicles without a seat belt fastened in one out of every ten instances, according to May 2023 research by the Data Science Team at Verizon Connect, in an investigation of 7 million+ videos from Verizon Connect’s own dashcam footage. The findings of the report reflect a related, worrying trend: a growing number of fatalities among unfastened commercial drivers, with 64 percent of trucking drivers killed in automobile accidents not wearing seat belts.

The Verizon Connect study also revealed that 40 percent of all videos showed a vehicle exceeding the posted speed limit. For more than two decades, speeding has contributed to approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities. In 2021, speeding was a factor in 29% of all traffic fatalities.

Given this information, now more than ever, Verizon Connect is committed to providing additional context in each video so fleet managers can more efficiently analyze, classify and prioritize harsh driving events.

“Video is a transformational medium for fleets, boosting operations as well as driver safety. Our research and ongoing enhancements to Verizon Connect’s Integrated Video are part of our commitment to provide our customers with a best-in-class experience when it comes to fleet management,” said Lisa Donnelly, Associate Director of Product Management, Verizon Connect. “They will provide greater actionable insights and the ability to improve coaching for drivers, which we know is key for our customers.”

Based on the aforementioned research, Verizon Connect has launched enhancements, including new AI tags for speeding and unfastened seat belt detection:

New AI tags for Speeding and Unfastened Seat Belt Detection

Using their findings, Verizon Connect today announced a series of new AI Dashcam enhancements delivered in Q2 2023. These enhancements include new AI tags for speeding and unfastened seat belt detection aimed at providing businesses with greater operational efficiencies, boosting both driver safety and opportunities for driver coaching.

Verizon Connect’s Cloud AI (Video Analytics Engine) provides additional context to each video so that fleet managers cut down the time needed to understand what needs their immediate attention. With Cloud AI analysis, fleet managers can view each video with severity labeled alongside additional tags including tailgating, rolling stop, and phone distraction. By enhancing its Cloud AI to identify and tag speeding and unfastened seat belt events, Verizon Connect enables fleet managers to zero-in on the opportunities to coach for better driving behaviors.

Camera Health and Increased Storage Capacity: 256 GB SD Card Option

Dashcam reliability is key to detecting driver issues, such as seat belt use and speeding. Camera Health makes Integrated Video customers quickly aware of issues with their dashcams, and provides self-remediation steps to resolve the issues. With the diagnosis and self-remediation provided by Camera Health, customers are able to increase uptime and quickly resolve any issues that are easily addressed.

In addition, Verizon Connect now offers a 256 GB SD card option, which allows Verizon Connect AI Dashcam users the ability to store and retrieve more on-demand video clips. With the 256 GB SD Card, dashcams can now store approximately 170 recording hours on a road-facing camera and 115 hours on a dual camera.

As these video clips are often used to provide evidence against false claims, recall context of road rage incidents, or share footage of events when driver safety was compromised, this expanded option will particularly benefit customers that are out of network coverage for extended periods of time, increasing the ability to capture even more footage.

Verizon Connect continues to be recognized for product innovation. In 2022, Verizon Connect earned 11 industry awards, including being named #1 in innovation by ABI Research in its 2022 Commercial Telematics Vendors competitive ranking report. Other awards include: Food Logistics' Top Software and Technology Providers Award 2022, Gold Globee Recipient for Product Development Outstanding Performance of the Year and TechRadar's Best GPS Tracking Solutions of 2022.