The National Insurance Crime Bureau is happy to report that data from 2017 reveals the prevalence of vehicular theft has continued to decline. The bureau suggests individuals who live in geographical hot spots for this type of crime should utilize four layers of protection to keep their property safe. As the layers of protection on your vehicle increase, the difficulty of stealing your car increases.

The Common-Sense Approach: This first level of protection doesn’t require a budget. Vehicle owners should protect their property by using common sense and remaining mindful about the potential for theft to occur. Basic safety tips should be followed such as parking in a well-lit area and securing your valuables out of view. Never leave your windows down. This practice only encourages car thieves who see an opportunity in your unsecured car. Make sure to lock your doors and bring your keys with you when you aren’t driving.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is no doubt that GPS fleet tracking can be instrumental in helping businesses reduce costs while improving profits. What you may not realize, is that school districts can enjoy massive benefits by adding GPS tracking for school buses and other official vehicles as well. These are a few top benefits you might want to consider.

Improve School Bus Safety

School buses can be dangerous. No matter how carefully you screen drivers, accidents happen. GPS tracking can help reduce the number of accidents in a multitude of ways.

• First, it can help encourage driver accountability for stopping at stop signs, obeying speed limit laws, and ensuring that drivers conduct walkthroughs after routes are run to ensure no children remain on the bus.
• You can also create alerts that notify supervisors of aggressive driving, hard braking, speeding, route deviations, and other behaviors that could affect the safety of the children on the bus.

Allows Districts to Prove Greater Fiscal Accountability

Not only does GPS tracking for buses help you schedule routes that are more fuel efficient, but also routes that allow more children to be picked up with fewer buses.

Reducing fuel costs alone can help many districts pay for the costs of the upgrade. Top that off by keeping bus drivers on their appointed routes, reducing the number of buses on the road, and creating a more efficient system of transportation and you have an investment that gives your district money back.

Additionally, GPS can provide detailed financial data about mileage, gas consumption, fuel costs, and route efficiency so you can share them with the community to prove that you are being responsible stewards of tax dollars when it comes to planning routes and transporting children.

Allow Parents to Track Children

This isn’t only beneficial for parents tracking the bus, so they know when to send children out on cold mornings or when to expect them home from school. It also extends to allow parents to track buses returning from field trips, sports, band trips, and other events that might occur outside of traditional school hours. This allows parents to know when their children will return and track their progress throughout the experience.

While GPS fleet tracking cannot fix all administrative hassles a school district has to face, it can help to reduce the ones related to transportation. The big question to ask, is why your school district hasn’t yet taken the plunge – especially in light of all the benefits GPS fleet tracking has to offer schools.

If you’re interested in implementing GPS fleet tracking into your school district, we can help. Call our GPS fleet tracking experts here at LiveViewGPS and we can help explain the systems and their benefits, and help you choose the best solution for your school. 1-888-544-0494

You should already know how dangerous distracted driving is and the lives it can cost. But, are you familiar with your own state’s laws on distracted driving?

Distracted driving is a top cause of accidents that lead to injuries and death. States all over the country are implementing laws to target distracted driving habits. Fleet managers as well as implementing GPS fleet tracking systems to identify behaviors, like speeding and hard braking, that could indicate distracted driving.

Here are some examples of different states and their laws concerning distracted driving, which may change and be revised over time.

Examples of State Laws

Alabama

In Alabama, it’s prohibited that you text while you’re driving. Drivers aged 16 and 17 who have intermediate licenses they’ve carried less than six months can’t use a handheld communication device while they’re driving. In Montgomery, it’s prohibited to use a handheld cell phone.

California

While you’re driving a motor vehicle, it’s illegal to use a cell phone unless it’s being used in hands-free mode. Individuals who are under 18 years old can’t drive and use a wireless communication device, including, but not limited to:

• A two-way messaging device
• A broadband personal communication device
• A laptop computer
• A pager

Drivers can’t use a wireless communication device to read, send or write text messages while they’re driving. Drivers of school buses can’t use cell phones.

Connecticut

Nobody is allowed to use a hand-held phone or text message while driving. Those under 18 years of age are subject to a complete mobile electronic device and cell phone use ban while driving.

Connecticut also enforces a distracted driving general law that prohibits drivers from engaging in activities that aren’t related to operating the motor vehicle that interferes with the safe operation of the vehicle. Drivers of school buses can’t use cell phones while driving unless it’s for an emergency.

Florida

All drivers are prohibited from texting while driving — a secondary offense.

It’s permitted to use a cell phone with a headset while you’re driving if you can still hear sound from one ear and you can hear surrounding sounds with the other ear.

Minnesota

Drivers can’t text message. Provisional license holders and permit holders who are under 18 years old are not allowed to use a cell phone while they’re driving. School bus drivers are not allowed to use cell phones while they’re driving.

Keep in mind, even if your state doesn’t have a law that directly relates to distracted driving, the act alone of driving while distracted leads to illegal driving behavior like reckless driving as well as other traffic violations. To find out the laws in your particular state, you can visit the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Sources:

http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/cellular-phone-use-and-texting-while-driving-laws.aspx
https://www.ghsa.org/state-laws/issues/Distracted-Driving

Click to access DistractedDrivingLawChart_Jun18.pdf

https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/distracted-driving/
https://www.dmv.org/distracted-driving/laws.php
https://www.idrivesafely.com/driving-resources/laws/distracted-driving/
http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/spotlight-distracted-driving.aspx