Omnitracs Technology Targets Distracted Driving

Fleet intelligence and telematics provider Omnitracs announced Thursday the release of SmartSense for Inattentive Driving+, which identifies distracted driving and aims to reduce accidents.

The next generation of the company's SmartSense technology uses cab-facing cameras and a sensor to engage AI and computer vision to detect drivers who may be drowsy or using their cellphones. The system monitors changes in head position and blinking to alert drivers when they are distracted or nodding off.

"Inattention is a pandemic — and one that has become increasingly worse," said Ray Ghanbari, Omnitracs CTO. "SmartSense for Inattentive Driving+ addresses this problem head on using advanced technologies and analytics to keep our drivers safe and help all of us get home safely."

Using technology picked up in its acquisition of SmartDrive, SmartSense for Inattentive Driving+ has two cameras built into one unit, which provides full cab visibility and driver monitoring through wide-angle and zoom-in views. The technology can give context of an event and help fleet owners address systemic issues with drivers.

"It is only with two cameras that a fleet truly knows if a driver is attentive or not, even if the driver is wearing sunglasses," the press release stated.

The system advances risk detection already built into the SR4, "continually making the thousands of vehicles on the road equipped with an SR4 smarter with each and every mile driven."

System updates can be made over the air without equipment changes.

The next phase of the SmartSense technology is already being utilized by some fleets.

"We needed a solution that proactively alerts drivers and notifies me when a situation occurs," said Mike Goldberg, safety manager for Conico Oil. "SmartSense for Inattentive Driving+ has helped us reduce both inattentive and drowsy driving. I won't let any of our drivers hit the road now without it."

Goldberg oversees nonstop fuel distribution across some of the most congested urban areas in Southern California.

SmartSense for Inattentive Driving+ will be widely available this summer.

Omnitracs was acquired in May by Solera Holdings, a global data intelligence and technology company digitizing the vehicle life cycle.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden.

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