Safety Technology Sees Boost From Driver Exoneration

With litigation accelerating and insurance premiums becoming more expensive, new research from Teletrac Navman holds that fleets are increasingly turning to safety technology as a legal defense.

Some 84% of fleets the company surveyed now cite driver exoneration as a leading reason for deploying safety tech.

Among fleets that had accidents over the prior year, more than half (53%) said they were able to successfully exonerate a driver.

The "Mobilizing the Future of Fleets: 2026 Risk and Exoneration Edition" uncovered that one-third (34%) of fleets reported being impacted by fraudulent motor claims.

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“The role of telematics is evolving and taking on a more strategic purpose in fleet organizations, moving solely from a tool used for cost control and improvements, to an extremely powerful, proactive risk prevention and management solution,” said Alain Samaha, CEO, Teletrac Navman.

“A high percentage of fleet safety incidents are caused by third parties and other external factors, and video telematics is now the most powerful tool to provide irrefutable, contextual evidence that protects people, preserves reputations, and stabilizes margins.”

The company’s research found that modern fleets are also taking a considered and layered approach to risk management, with 56% utilizing five or more technologies and 74% partnering telematics with dashcams—this combination providing fleets with the full context around driving events, combining performance metrics, video evidence, and location data to create a complete, defensible picture when incidents occur, and for meaningful, proactive driver training.