Seeing Machines Limited, a Canberra-based technology company, has released its 2023-24 Guardian Insights Report, revealing critical insights and trends in driver fatigue and distraction within Australia’s commercial transport and logistics fleets.

Using naturalistic driving data from the company’s driver fatigue and distraction solution, Guardian, the report pinpoints and addresses the trends on risky driving behaviours. It not only highlights the scale of the issue, but it also offers actionable insights to help fleets mitigate the risks relating to driver impairment, reducing road accidents, and protecting lives.

Key findings:

  • Over 3.6 million risky driving events were captured across Australia, including:
    • More than 84,450 fatigue-related incidents
    • Over 288,000 distracted driving events, with 24 per cent attributed to mobile device use.
  • On average, Guardian captured over nine fatigue events per hour and one distracted driving event every 2 minutes

These insights were derived from deidentified data collected from Guardian, installed in more than 32,000 vehicles across Australia. This technology monitors eye, face and head positions to identify signs of fatigue or distraction, with data verified by human analysts at the company’s 24/7 Guardian Centre. Scientifically proven, Guardian reduces fatigue-related driving events by over 90 per cent.

“Driver distraction and fatigue continue to contribute significantly to road fatalities and injuries in Australia and globally,” said Max Verberne, General Manager – Aftermarket, Seeing Machines. “The Guardian Insights Report offers detailed data on when and where these incidents occur, helping fleets address the challenges of diverse operating environments.”

Global View

Now in its second year, the latest Guardian Insights Report has been expanded to include New Zealand, United Kingdom, North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Key findings:

  • Captured 11,632,596 risky driving events worldwide, including:
    • More than 450,000 fatigue events
    • Over 2,679,000 distraction events, with 623,478 attributed to mobile device use
  • On average, Guardian captured over 51 fatigue events per hour and more than five distracted driving events every minute

“The report underscores Seeing Machines’ commitment to achieving zero transport-related fatalities worldwide,” continues Verberne.  “We call on fleet managers, policymakers, and safety advocates to explore the findings and collaborate to enhance road safety.”

Seeing Machines is a global company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Australia, is an industry leader in vision-based monitoring technology that enable machines to see, understand and assist people. Seeing Machines is revolutionising global transport safety through its technology portfolio of AI algorithms, embedded processing and optics, power products that need to deliver reliable real-time understanding of vehicle operators. The technology spans the critical measurement of where a driver is looking, through to classification of their cognitive state as it applies to accident risk.