Member Article

Company car technology launched by driver rewards firm Lightfoot

Lightfoot, the maker of the world’s first technology to reward better drivers, has launched a “revolutionary” new company car and grey fleet product that enables businesses to provide duty of care to staff through improved safety of drivers, without invading their privacy.

Identified as “the single largest risk on Britain’s roads” by Lightfoot’s CEO Mark Roberts, company car and grey fleet drivers have been a huge challenge for businesses wishing to reduce accidents among staff, while also reducing fuel bills.

Up to now telematics technologies that track drivers and use retrospective, or ‘after-the-incident’, data to inform driver feedback and coaching, have been off limits in company cars, as employees use their vehicles for both work and personal journeys. Whilst a business can justifiably track its vehicles when they are being used for work, it has no right to see what its employees are doing outside their working hours.

To overcome this thorny issue Lightfoot, which has operated in the commercial fleet market since launching in 2013, has spent years refining its technology to meet the needs of both businesses and employees. The result is the release of what has been coined “the first and only technology for company cars”.

“Company cars and grey fleet vehicles have occupied a complicated space,” says Mark Roberts, CEO of Lightfoot. “Companies have a Duty of Care to their employees when using their assets, but have no right to track and monitor what they do outside the working day. The inability to utilise technology that could save lives is a significant issue, as 1 in 3 road deaths in the UK involves a vehicle being driven for work.”

To address this problem, Lightfoot has created a hybridised version of its fleet and consumer products, which enables drivers to disable vehicle tracking when they’re not using the vehicle for work. Unlike other traditional telematics solutions, Lightfoot’s driver feedback does not require GPS data to function. As a result, motorists can be rewarded for better, safer and more efficient driving free from concern that their personal journeys are being tracked.

Drivers achieving a Lightfoot score of 85% or over become ‘Elite Drivers’ and are automatically entered into draws to win cash, and prizes ranging from hotel breaks to the latest consumer technology devices. Lightfoot helps drivers achieve this through a mix of visual and audible alerts from its dashboard display, guiding drivers to a better, safer, more efficient style of driving, which saves up to 20% on fuel cost both in and out of work.

Announcing the new product, Mark Roberts, CEO and founder of Lightfoot, stated: “When it comes to telematics and fleet management, company cars and grey fleets have been the elephant in the room for decades. These are high-value vehicles that clock high mileage in a short amount of time, making them some of highest-risk vehicles on the roads. The fact nobody has been able to offer a technology solution for these vehicles until now is frankly stunning.”

“We’re talking about the single largest risk on Britain’s roads – millions of vehicles driving far in excess of the average yearly mileage, yet with no smart means of utilising technology to reduce avoidable accidents and protect both the drivers and the companies liable for them, until now.”

“Through Lightfoot, we have a product that finally meets the needs of businesses and drivers using company cars and grey fleets. Simple to install and intuitive to use, we’re hoping to make a significant impact on road safety and the wellbeing of thousands of employees across the UK.”

Lightfoot has been helping businesses of all sizes reduce risk, costs, and emissions with its innovative in-vehicle technology that rewards users for better driving. Considered revolutionary in the fleet management and telematics worlds, its disruptive approach to reducing accidents has been adopted by some of the largest players in the market, including Virgin Media, Greencore, and South West Water.

Lightfoot users typically see reductions in fuel costs by up to 20%, falls in harmful emissions by 20%, drops in at-fault accidents by up to 40%, and cuts in wear and tear costs by 45%.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lizzie Bailey .