By Andrew Boada, Editor at Large

If you’ve been considering buying hybrid vehicles for your fleet, chances are you’ve been focusing on their excellent fuel economy and reliability, characteristics that make them among the lowest operating cost vehicles on the road today.

Here in the U.K. where I live, I’ve owned a hybrid for a few months now, and on the basis of my experience driving one, I suspect fleet managers will discover they reduce fleet costs in another way: by nudging drivers’ behavior toward a more defensive driving style that will reduce the frequency, severity and cost of accidents. Here’s why.

Most hybrids are engineered specifically to get good fuel economy. One thing that destroys good fuel economy is a powerful engine that delivers lots of acceleration. Hybrids don’t do that. The performance of my Toyota Auris (a.k.a. “Corolla) is typical of vehicles of its kind: from a full stop, with my foot pressing the gas pedal to the floor, it takes almost 11 seconds for it to reach 60 mph. This leisurely rate of acceleration has had an immediate impact on my driving behavior.

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Fatal accidents with trucks hitting cyclists and pedestrians are showing an alarming increase

By Mark Boada, Executive Editor

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, from 2009 through 2017, the latest period for data on the subject, the number of pedestrians killed in collisions with big trucks has increased by 44 percent, and those with cyclists by 36 percent. Meanwhile, independent research indicates the numbers have been increasing recently by nearly 10 percent a year.

While the advent of smartphones may be partly responsible – it’s given rise not just to distracted driving, but distracted walking as well – it doesn’t seem to explain the increase in cyclist fatalities. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that truck drivers need more help avoiding collisions with vulnerable road users (VRU), particularly those in trucks’ right-side blind zones as drivers make a right turn.

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Safety is a top-of-mind concern for fleets and their companies. In addition to protecting drivers and the public, a focus on safety also maximizes company assets and cuts unnecessary operational costs.

With safety as a top-of-mind priority for many fleets, we are currently in the golden age of the fleet safety era. Fleets, their companies and their drivers have benefited from this safety focus in numerous ways:

• Safety programs becoming the norm, not the exception.
• Driver training becoming more comprehensive and effective.
• Driver risk profiles have generally improved, helping to curtail liability costs from accidents.

These benefits are only part of the safety story. Beyond creating safer drivers, fleets have experienced five bottom-line benefits as a result of prioritizing safety.

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BBC News

The European Union is planning to make intelligent speed assistance system (ISA) mandatory on all new cars beginning in 2022.

The European Transport Safety Council has long advocated their use, citing studies suggesting they are the most effective life-saving driver assistance systems.

The ISA system works off of GPS satellite navigation technology and a mapping database..

When a speed limit sign on the dashboard starts blinking irritably, your car begins to slow down by limiting the engine power all by itself. If your speed does creep up for any reason an insistent electronic chime will alert you.

Read article at BBC News.

USA Today

Older drivers are more likely to be distracted while driving when using in-vehicle technology than their younger counterparts, according to a report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah.

When performing simple tasks like programming navigation or tuning the radio, drivers between 55 to 75 took their eyes off the road an average of eight seconds longer than those age 21 to 36, the study showed.

“Voice-command functions found in new in-vehicle technology are intended to help drivers by keeping their eyes and attention on the road,” Dr. David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said. “Unfortunately, the complexity and poor design of some of these systems could cause more harm for older drivers.”

Read the article at USA Today.

The Detroit Bureau

Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Auto Safety have renewed their efforts against Tesla and CEO Elon Musk of putting lives in peril by making claims that the Autopilot technology available on all three models Tesla offers is a fully functional autonomous technology.

Musk has consistently maintained that using Autopilot doesn’t mean that drivers no longer need to be engaged in driving.

“It is time for regulators to step in and put a stop to Tesla’s ongoing autopilot deception,” said Adam Scow, Senior Advocate for Consumer Watchdog. “Tesla has irresponsibly marketed its technology as safety enhancing, when instead it is killing people.”

Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.

J.D. Power

Improvements in infotainment systems and increased availability of advanced driver assistance systems are making customers increasingly satisfied with their new vehicles, according to the J.D. Power 2019 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL).

“Every automaker is producing vehicles that consumers like, but some of them are doing it at a higher level than others,” said Dave Sargent, Vice President of Global Automotive at J.D. Power. “Satisfaction with new technology is improving, but infotainment remains an area where automakers can get better. Owners have higher satisfaction if their vehicle is equipped with safety features such as blind spot monitor, collision avoidance and lane departure warning. This should serve as a positive sign for manufacturers, as these features are some of the early building blocks for fully automated vehicles.”

Read the article at J.D. Power.

Fortune

Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and BMW AG have reached an agreement with California’s Air Resource Board to boost fuel efficiency rebuking the Trump administration’s proposal.

Trump’s EPA calls the compromise a PR stunt, adding that it wouldn’t affect its plans to ease mileage requirements enacted during the Obama administration.

“The Trump administration is hell bent on rolling them back. They are in complete denialism about climate change,” California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters on a media call. “Regardless of what the Trump administration determines in the next few weeks, we are moving forward and we reserve our right to litigate.”

Read the article at Fortune.

Forbes

Thirty years ago, the oil crisis almost killed many car companies.

Competition has only gotten more intense, and manufacturers know that to survive, they must offer self-driving features.

Automakers now have their sights set on full-autonomy and are still figuring out their place in the autonomous future.

The mood at the leading autonomous car companies has shifted from one of experimentation to one of delivering product. Investors are saying “show me the money” and passengers are saying “get us around cheaper and safer!”

Read the article at Forbes.

By Bernie Kavanagh, Senior Vice President & General Manager, WEX Fleet

With 28 years in the fleet business, I’ve observed how technology has evolved and expanded to meet the diverse needs of businesses with vehicles.

But as we dive into the second half of 2019, one thing is plain: The pace of change in fleet is as fast as it’s ever been… and as slow as it will ever be.

In the span of about three weeks this summer, WEX rolled out payments for EV charges to its 11 million US fleet card holders, doubled its mobile payments network to 25,000 accepting sites and pondered what will happen “When the Car Becomes the Card” at an automotive tech conference in Southern California.

As work to connect the vehicle – and all its data — to your back office continues, the job becomes one of connecting dashboards, giving you an ever-more complete view of your fleet as it operates, visually, in real time.

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