Two-thirds of drivers (68%) would be comfortable with telematics being installed in their vehicles, according to research from Masternaut.
The shift in consumer attitudes follows the increasing use of telematics for corporate and personal use, with privacy issues and monitoring no longer presenting a barrier to entry for installation, it says.
Despite being comfortable with telematics, 72% of respondents said that neither their work nor personal vehicles were fitted with a telematics device.
Just 17% of respondents said their work vehicles were tracked, while only 11% said the personal vehicles they use for work are tracked.
The remaining 32% of business drivers surveyed said they would not be comfortable with the idea of having telematics installed in their vehicles.
Top reasons for not having telematics in their vehicles are concerns around privacy (51%), not understanding how the data is used (14%) and not understanding the benefits of such a system (18%).
Martin Hiscox, CEO and chairman of Masternaut, said: “In the past, UK drivers have shown a measured response to vehicle tracking technologies, which is now largely over both from a consumer and business perspective.
“But we mustn’t be apathetic – the concept of telematics being purely a vehicle tracking technology is outdated and we need to continue talking more about the safety and efficiency benefits instead.
“As an industry, we cannot ignore the feedback from some drivers about data privacy.
“At Masternaut we’ve addressed this head on with our new Masternaut Connect platform, which holds data in a secure, anonymised format.
“We’ve also worked closely with unions and workers councils across Europe and taken the feedback on board to create a system that addresses driver and business requirements.”
The survey was conducted by Atomik Research, commissioned by Masternaut. Data is based on responses from 2,032 employees in the UK that drive as part of their job.
Bob the Engineer - 16/10/2014 16:53
It should state "Two-thirds of BUSINESS drivers (68%) " I think you would find a broad survey of all driver would show to bet far less 'comfortable' with it than these numbers. Business drivers are probably just resigned to the fact the UK obsession with over/micro management means its inevitable. On the right bit of paper telematics can be made to appear to increase productivity in justification, but get a bigger piece of paper and in the broader picture the damage to trust and work ethos it causes are beyond repair, true productivity actually drops in reality as employees adopt an us and them guerilla warfare approach to their jobs. Their manager might be able to track and know they are on the job, but they are doing it a lot slower while they are there!!