Onboard Monitoring System (OBMS) Field Operational Test (FOT)
This project was awarded by the FMCSA. The objective of this project is to determine whether an onboard monitoring system (OBMS) will reduce at-risk behavior among commercial drivers and improve driver safety performance. Specifically, the project will determine if recording and reporting of safety-critical events followed by coaching the driver (by safety managers) using these safety events as feedback will enhance safe driving behavior. This system will also contain an electronic onboard recorder (EOBR) that will be evaluated.
Operator monitoring and feedback can be characterized as a behavior–based safety method. Safe behavior is rewarded and unsafe behavior is coached, thereby proactively improving overall safety. The OBMS to be used in this study will record (through snippets of video and other performance/kinematic measures) unsafe driving behaviors and provide real-time feedback to drivers. Recorded driver problems (e.g., hard braking) will then be transmitted to and reviewed by the driver's fleet safety manager. Depending on the judgment of the fleet safety manager, the recorded incident can then be shown to the driver in a coaching session with the goal of pinpointing the problematic behavior and providing instruction about how to avoid that problem in the future. Corrected action and improved behavior are expected as results of drivers viewing their recorded errors alongside their safety manager and instructed as to the nature of the problematic behavior.
Conceptually, the prospect of improving driver behavior and reducing safety-critical events fits well within the FMCSA mission. Hypothetically, successful implementation of the OBMS program may significantly reduce the number and severity of crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).