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No sane person involved in haulage work wants to be involved in an accident. The risks to life and limb plus the insurance claim costs involved can be a nightmare for drivers and fleet managers alike. Unfortunately though, there are unscrupulous people who see this natural concern and caution on the part of responsible haulage companies as providing them with an opportunity. They are the crooks who make a living out of engaging in fraudulent insurance claims against commercial vehicle drivers. Once considered relatively rare, this ‘crookery’ is now a big industry. Many haulage work companies and their insurance providers have suffered such claims and they are therefore understandably looking at ways they can address the problem. Camera Technology That’s why the recent announcement from SmartWitness, vehicle CCTV specialists, has been welcomed around the industry. Essentially, this comprises a new front and backwards facing camera system with dashboard display, specifically designed for the small to medium sized commercial vehicle segment within the haulage work industry. While cameras are not necessarily anything new, the system is attractive because of its function-related design built around the way drivers actually use their vehicles. For example, the reverse camera is automatically engaged at the time the vehicle is placed into reverse gear and it has an infra-red capability for night-time driving. Another nice feature is that the camera and recording system buffers images for several seconds before and after an accident, thereby providing the driver with proof that they were not responsible or perhaps not entirely responsible. This is only one of several excellent and largely affordable systems that are now available on the marketplace, including the: • Nextbase InCarCam 101 • Mio MiVue 538 Deluxe • Snooper DVR-4 HD Vehicle In Car CCTV Dash Cam & Speed Camera Detector. Practical and Protection Leaving to one side for a second the activities of crooks, cameras have been extremely useful for many years in avoiding reversing accidents. Early systems were admittedly both expensive and unreliable, but that is now history: the modern systems are excellent value for money. Most experienced haulage workers will concede that at times it can be extremely difficult to avoiding hitting something when reversing, so these camera systems may offer a very real practical driving aid benefit. The protection against fraud and/or misrepresented claims is perhaps where the system scores most highly, though. Not only are there organised gangs of crooks out there creating entirely spurious claims, but there are other individuals who will be involved in a genuine accident and deliberately lie about the circumstances leading up to it. Some vehicle protection cameras are not only able to capture the exact details of an accident, but they even calculate the speeds of the other vehicles involved. This is absolutely invaluable information for both the police and insurance companies. As such, it may not be too long before many policies providing cover for haulage work actually make the installation of camera technology a mandatory requirement. Most drivers and companies will agree that can only be a good thing overall. Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry. Connecting logistics professionals across the UK and Europe through their website, Haulage Exchange provides services for matching haulage work with available drivers. Over 4,000 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe 'wholesale' environment.
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