Lightfoot has launched a new company car and grey fleet driver behaviour product aimed at improving the safety of employees without invading their privacy.

The system allows users to disable GPS tracking when, for example, the employee is making personal journeys, but still monitors driver behaviour, such as harsh acceleration and braking.

Mark Roberts, CEO of Lightfoot, said: “Company cars and grey fleet vehicles have occupied a complicated space.

“Companies have a duty of care to their employees when using their assets, but have no right to track and monitor what they do outside the working day.”

Lightfoot has created a hybridised version of its fleet and consumer products, which helps improve driver behaviour through a mix of visual and audible alerts from its dashboard display.

Driver performance is recorded, and those with Lightfoot scores of 85% or over become ‘elite drivers’ and are automatically entered into prize draws.

Lightfoot said the ability for drivers to switch off the GPS tracking feature but continue to record driver performance scores should encourage employees to improve their driving at all times, as well as win buy-in to the technology from grey fleet drivers.

Many other companies, such as Geotab and Masternaut, also offer privacy features in their telematics solutions, allowing drivers to disable collection of some or all data generated while driving.

The ability of telematics technology to improve safety should not be overlooked, Dr Lisa Dorn, associated professor of driver behaviour at Cranfield University, told Fleet News in a recent interview.

The data the technology can record and monitor can be key to identifying poor driver behaviour.

This can then be improved through a variety of methods, such as targeted training or by incentives.

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