by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – TELEMATICS technology has been identified as an effective measure against the rising traffic collisions in South Africa.
Webfleet has touted this technology as its second annual Road Safety Report for 2023, just released, noted an increase in incidents from last year.
The survey focuses on the truck subsector.
Gathering responses from 54 individuals representing 7 948 trucks operating in South Africa, the report revealed a total of 1 313 collisions. This is an increase compared to last year, when 1 252 collisions occurred out of a total of 14 073 trucks measured.
The latest report was conducted between June and August 2023.
Respondents identified the most prevalent causes of incidents as poor road conditions, driver behaviour and compliance.
Other factors included fatigue management, driver training, vehicle maintenance, budget constraints, technological limitations and criminality.
Webfleet said over 80 percent of the respondents confirmed using a fleet telematics system was effective in reducing collisions. Half said the impact of this technology in preventing incidents is significant.
Justin Manson, Sales Director at Webfleet South Africa, said although telematics technology could rapidly have a strong impact on a business, operators must always look at what they can do across all operations.
“Without proper training, maintenance of vehicles, and policies designed for driver well-being, even the best digital tools have their restrictions and limits,” he said.
Telematics is a method of monitoring cars, trucks, equipment and other assets by using global positioning system (GPS) technology and on-board diagnostics (OBD) to plot the asset’s movements on a computerised map.
It is also known as fleet tracking or GPS vehicle tracking.
– CAJ News