SAN DIEGO - DriveCam Inc., a global driver risk management company, continued its Insights Series by focusing on the frequency of collisions and near collisions in waste fleets. In Waste Insights release #1, DriveCam explored the collision rates of different vehicle types in the waste industry.

DriveCam's Video Event Recorder is capable of identifying collisions and near collisions that could have been avoided. This study focuses on the distribution of the collisions and near collisions identified in 2009 by month, day, and year, specifically comparing commercial waste fleets to an aggregation of commercial fleets in various other industries (construction, distribution, energy, utilities, telco, and transit).

Collisions/Near Collisions by Month of the Year

• The waste industry collision/near collision rate is not significantly different from that of other industries over the course of the year

• The top three months for collisions/near collisions in the waste industry are July, October, and November (11 percent, 12 percent, and 11 percent respectively)

• January and February mark the low point of the year for collisions/near collisions at 5 percent

Collisions/Near Collisions by Day of Week

• The waste industry has a near identical collision/near collision rate compared to other industries on Mondays and Tuesdays

• However, the waste collision/near collision rate is higher than other industries from Wednesday to Friday with a peak on Fridays (21 percent in waste compared to 18 percent in other industries)

Collisions/Near Collisions by Hour of Day

• The waste industry collision/near collision frequency rate is at its lowest between 11 P.M. and 9 A.M. (a total of 15 percent of collisions/near collisions happen during this time)

• The collision/near collision frequency rate begins to ramp up at 9 A.M. peaking sharply between noon and 1 P.M. (9 percent) and does not dip below 7 percent until 5 P.M.

• Nearly half (48 percent) of all collisions/near collisions in the waste industry occur between noon and 6 P.M., compared to 39 percent in other industries

More information can be found on the DriveCam Web site.