Author: Abaranji Sivakumar

Telematics could be made compulsory for public services fleets after a crash that claimed two lives was caused by dangerous driving by an 80-year-old bus driver who was later diagnosed with dementia.

Birmingham Crown Court found that Kailash Chander, a driver for Stagecoach subsidiary Midland Red South, was driving dangerously when he caused the deaths of Rowan Fitzgerald and Dora Hancox in Coventry city centre in October 2015, FleetNews reports.

Prosecutors argued that Mr Chander mistook the accelerator for the brake before the crash, and highlighted the multiple warning signs leading up to the incident, including the eight warning letters about the standard of his driving.

Mr Chander was also involved in four other driving incidents in the previous three years and missed a one-to-one meeting about concerns over his driving because “his bosses needed him to be out driving”.

Stagecoach had already pleaded guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act in September 2017: failing to ensure the safety of employees and failing to ensure members of the public were not exposed to risks to their safety arising out of the driving of public service vehicles (PSVs).

Stagecoach will be sentenced on November 26th and faces an unlimited fine.

Currently, the traffic commissioner, the government body responsible for licensing and regulating operators of HGVs, PSVs and local bus services, does not consider telematics systems a compulsory requirement.

Paul Loughlin, a solicitor at law firm Stephensons, reckons the whole episode could mean that public service fleets and HGVs may be forced to introduce telematics and driver behaviour monitoring.

He commented: “As in this case, operators can be prosecuted for ignoring clear and indisputable issues relating to health and safety deficiencies highlighted by telematics systems.

“Regulatory action might also come before the traffic commissioner as a result.”

Any revisions to regulations in the wake of the trial would have to be proposed by the Department for Transport before being approved by the traffic commissioner.

Jenny Smith, product manager for Tele-Gence, added: “Telematics can be very useful in flagging up sub-standard driving but the information is only useful if it is acted upon.”

Telematics is expected to boom across Europe over the next few years, according to a new report.

Published by KBV Research, the study foresees Europe’s automotive telematics market attaining a market size of $46.4 billion (£40.7 billion) by 2024.

Germany remained the biggest country for telematics in 2017, with Italy tipped to witness the most significant growth in telematics integration over the next six years.

KBV Research’s study covers all types of telematics featured in vehicles across Europe, include segments such as fleet/asset management, navigation, insurance, infotainment, tele health and others, like V2V and V2I, and remote alarm and monitoring.

The report also covers the various end-users for telematics, which include logistics and transportation, individuals and car rental companies, insurance, healthcare, media and entertainment, automotive manufacturers and dealers and government security agencies.

Global growth

A separate report from the same research group predicted the global telematics market to grow by almost a quarter by 2024, reaching a market size of £116.96 billion.

In a statement accompanying KBV Research’s study, it claims that the automotive industry is going through a phase of digital revolution right now, with cars set to increasingly resemble communication devices over the next few years.

“New hi-tech devices, smartphones, high-speed internet, numerous applications and open sources such as Android systems have transformed the concept of connected vehicles,” it reads.

It adds that over time, smartphones have redefined connectivity, which it deems the “need of the hour”.

The statement goes on: “24/7 connectivity is necessary for availing telematics services, for example tracking of vehicle for avoiding theft or for patient’s health monitoring during their travel.”

Jez Strong, general manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “Telematics has really gathered pace and momentum amongst fleets recently and we can only expect that to continue to boom over the next few years.”