With about 80% of road crashes in South Africa caused by human error, fleet camera provider Optix, aims to facilitate, monitor and maintain positive human behaviour shifts geared towards safer driving through its Safe&Sound solutions set, said Safe&Sound executive Inge-Marie Hilligan.

Speaking at the Optix Future Vision Conference on August 28, Hilligan discussed some of Safe&Sound’s key solutions, such as its Empower Me and Recruit Me platforms.

While some solutions are still in the ideation or research and development phase, the Empower Me and Recruit Me programmes are available in the market.

Recruit Me uses a psychometric pre-screening assessment to identify suitable drivers during recruitment. The solution automates the shortlisting process and aims to improve the quality of hires and reduce the risk of recruiting potentially unsuitable candidates.

Hilligan said the streamlined process allowed the candidate to remotely access a link and complete the assessment independently, with the interview powered by AI. The assessment features multiple-choice questions based on real-world scenarios.

Once completed, the system provides recruiters with information pertaining to the performance and overall score of the candidate during the interview. A detailed statistical recruitment report is generated, providing recruiters with a list of recommended candidates.

Recommendations provided to the recruiter fall under the categories highly recommended, recommended, recommended with reservation and not recommended.

The platform also includes an AI chat function that the recruiter can use to ask questions. The AI recruiter is able to respond by analysing the report. Hilligan said recruiters were thus able to optimise their pipeline.

To illustrate how the solutions work, Hilligan presented results from two pilot assessments that showed a high correlation between assessment outcomes and driver performance.

“We’re refining this model as we go along further, and ultimately, what we strive for is to get the right person in the driver's seat,” she said.

Hilligan also highlighted features of the Safe&Sound Empower Me solution.

By using the Lytx DriveCam technology, the Empower Me solution is able to make video clips available to a driver on a mobile device.

In so doing, the solution encourages self-reflection and self-correction among drivers.

Hilligan noted that about 2 000 drivers in South Africa were using the application, with the company to start a pilot rollout of the solution in Australia and New Zealand in September.

She noted that, through the solution, there had been an improvement of up to 16% on coaching effectiveness through driver self-coaching, as well as reduction in driver risk, with up to a 43% decrease in risky behaviours.

Meanwhile, Optix chief technical officer Waldo Boshoff discussed the implications of expected efficiencies. Boshoff explained the importance of considering the impacts of optimisation in transport.

“Ultimately, we need to make sure that our businesses make money, that we're driving product, that we're ultimately performing that service. So that's where we start to see what the future of optimisation … looks like. So, as we bridge between risk and efficiency, we can see efficiency really needs to be a way for us to streamline process in every one of those buckets,” he said.