Investors are flocking to truck accident litigation, and it’s easy to see why. With billion-dollar settlements awarded in some cases – and with litigation funding bringing about a 50 percent annual return, a successful lawsuit can be incredibly lucrative. But why is this particular area so attractive right now?
We’ll explore how investors and attorneys act quickly to get ahead of a lawsuit and what leaves fleet companies easy targets with some key solutions that can help your business. Whether you’re an investor or involved in managing a fleet operation team facing such a case, it pays to stay informed on developments relating to truck accident litigation.
Addressing Low Visibility
Having low visibility around your vehicles makes your drivers more vulnerable to collisions. To keep your drivers safe and protected, a 360-degree view of the vehicle is essential. Having this visibility can help prevent collisions proactively – in fact, a study of 14,100 crashes conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) found that 10.3 percent were sideswipe truck accidents. A proactive approach to this issue is to find a fleet safety system that offers four cameras that can be installed around your vehicles.
Having a four-camera system gives you that 360-degree view that will help your fleet capture needed information to exonerate your drivers. Most of the time, attorneys will have a presentation of videos, written material, and reports to defend their clients. You need to ensure you have the data to effectively dispute or at least minimize these claims. The level of visibility provided by dash cams will also help your drivers proactively avoid collisions. 
It’s also critical that these cameras capture 100 percent of drive time so you get the whole picture of a risky driving event. No detail is too small when going against a lawsuit that can have a heavy impact on your budget.
Investing in an Exoneration Tool for Drivers
When facing litigation or a false claim, you need reliable data to exonerate your drivers. A dual-facing AI-powered dash cam that captures both positive and risky driving behaviors provides proof that will protect your fleet. In addition, an inward-facing dash cam is able to capture when a driver is texting and driving and help correct the issue live with in-cab audio coaching. These behaviors show that your drivers are alert and aware while driving. 
A dash cam is not a surveillance tool, but a co-pilot that can capture the critical information needed to protect your driver when they aren’t at fault. With that said, some drivers do have some privacy concerns, as the cab is their home when on the job. With enhanced privacy mode, you can choose to not send driver-facing video to your safety coaches, but still measure risky behavior and coach it with live in-cab audio alerts. This can help balance driver privacy and safety.
Why Video Evidence Is No Longer Enough to Protect Your Fleet Against Litigation
When it comes to legal proceedings, video evidence is only one part of the puzzle. Attorneys will go through your safety records and culture with a fine-toothed comb – if you don’t have an official program in place for overseeing driver safety, then even clear-cut footage might not be enough to reach a favorable verdict. The key here is having data on hand that proves unsafe driving wasn’t caused by any lack of oversight from your organization—the new standard is coaching drivers weekly. Yes, every week!
And luckily there’s a fleet safety solution out there designed specifically for this purpose. This type of technology lets companies remotely coach drivers on a weekly basis so bad driving habits are broken quicker and positive driving habits are recognized and rewarded. Companies who coach their drivers on a regular basis like Bryan Truck Line saw that drivers improved their following distance compliance from 50 percent to 98.4 percent in 24 months. The company also implemented a safety positivity campaign using the video data captured by Netradyne’s fleet safety solution to recognize when drivers were performing well. 
By sharing this information throughout the fleet on a regular basis, companies are able to boost their safety culture and make the drive to reduce claims and collisions a team effort.
Final Thoughts
If you are missing any of the above points discussed then now is the time to take action to protect your fleet against trucking accident lawsuits. Learn more about how Netradyne’s Driver•i can help defend your fleet in addition to helping you create long-term safety solutions for your business.
