AI cameras provide added data, visibility into fleet while boosting safety

Trucking companies have been using dash cams for years to help prove innocence in the event of a crash, to make sure truck drivers are paying attention to the road and more.

A more recent technological development in dash cameras has brought artificial intelligence into the fold, which can give fleets using AI cameras even more visibility into what is going on in and around their trucks, and also help drivers avoid crashes by predicting traffic patterns using data.

As reported recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s numbers show the first half of 2021 saw the most traffic fatalities through six months in 15 years. Additionally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported that fatal crashes involving large trucks increased from 2018 to 2019.

AI dash cams, such as those from Smarter AI, feature advanced driver assistance systems and driver monitoring systems to provide truck drivers with data in the cab to help them make better decisions on the road.

Chris Piche, founder and CEO of Smarter AI, said now with AI, cameras can be active devices that understand the environments around them rather than passive devices that only relay video without additional data.

Piche said some big reasons he sees traffic fatalities rising in the U.S. and around the world are distracted driving, complacent driving, as well as more inexperienced drivers on the road.

“Distracted driving – we’re all familiar with the problem of texting and driving,” he said. “Complacent driving, thanks to certain technologies, driver assistance technologies … people are over-relying on those driver assistance technologies and operating their vehicles in a complacent manner. And then thanks to the growth in e-commerce and thanks to the growth in ride sharing, we now have more inexperienced commercial drivers on the road than ever before.”

With AI video telematics, Piche said in-vehicle cameras and sensors can be combined with AI “to understand in real-time what’s happening both inside and around a vehicle.”

https://www.ccjdigital.com/technology/article/15282095/how-ai-cameras-can-lower-the-risk-of-crashes