Redwing Coaches, based in London, is the biggest private coach operator in the South East of England with a fleet of 76 coaches. They wanted a solution for reducing fleet accident rates so came to VUE as a partner.
Larger vehicles have significant blind spots which can make it nearly impossible for drivers to see moving obstacles such as pedestrians and cyclists in close proximity to the vehicle which is a major problem, particularly in urban areas such as London.
The VDR HD system helps eliminate blind spots on larger vehicles reducing the risk of collisions with obstacles, pedestrians and cyclists. The VDR HD system allows Redwing Coaches to have 6 cameras on the vehicle: a forward facing camera; nearside and offside SideVUE cameras; RearVUE camera; and with 2 internal cameras covering the driver and passengers.
Redwing Coaches installed the VDR HD system to all of their 76 coaches and with the help of VUE, a whole new approach to dealing with accidents was devised. They changed the culture of how they deal with accidents.
They had an inordinately high accident rate and a loss ratio of 233%. They have already seen a reduction in accidents and have reduced their loss ratio to 87%
Redwing realised that installing CCTV to vehicles but not doing anything with the footage is a wasted opportunity. Now each time an incident occurs or a complaint is received, the footage is reviewed and the driver is interviewed. The driver is showed the footage and asked for his opinions then any driving errors are discussed and areas for improvement are agreed. This promotes self awareness from the drivers which has a longer lasting effectiveness on improving driver behaviour.
Colin Miller, Assistant General Manager at Redwing Coaches commented:
“I’m really pleased with it; what I’m finding already is the most important use of the CCTV is the post incident analysis. We can download the footage and see exactly what happened. It takes away any vagueness”.
Redwing Coaches were then able to start random checks and maintained the effectiveness of the CCTV by ensuring that the drivers are aware that the footage is reviewed and monitored.
During 2010 – 2011 they had an inordinately high accident rate and a loss ratio of 233%. They have already seen a reduction in accidents and have reduced their loss ratio to 87% as a result of the combined measures of installing the VDR and then implementing measures devised by the VUE driver behaviour experts along with other risk management strategies.