Auto cameras save Orange millions, increase safety

Jan. 14--When building inspector Chris Sukut hops into his Orange County truck, he knows a camera is keeping an eye on him.

"Some guys don't like the idea of a camera watching all the time," said Sukut, 50, who logged more than 25,000 miles for the county last year and earned a safe-driving award. "But it's changed how I drive, even in my own vehicle."

The windshield-mounted device features two cameras, one focused on the road and the other on the inside of the vehicle.

John Petrelli, Orange County's director of risk management, said he believes the cameras have saved taxpayers $2 million over the past decade and maybe a life or two. Videos from DriveCam devices also have led the county to fire a half-dozen employees for driving dangerously.

Orlando also uses the devices and Winter Park recently concluded a test in which it reported reductions in crashes and claims. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is testing the technology in 39 of its 1,700 vehicles as well.

In 2007, the year the county began adding DriveCam devices to its fleet, employees were involved in 363 crashes. Employees were involved in 105 crashes or fewer in each of the past five years, though they drive more miles.

The severity of crash claims have dropped, too. In the four years before DriveCam, the county, which is self-insured, paid out an average of $668,000 in claims. In the last four, the county has paid out an average of $246,000 in claims.

The camera is always running when the vehicle is moving, but its recording function is triggered by sudden force from a hard braking, a sharp turn or the impact of a collision. It saves 12 seconds of video from both cameras, eight seconds before the force was detected and four seconds after.

By contract, the device manufacturer, San Diego-based Lytx, reviews the videos and marks clips that show an employee driving poorly or violating safety protocol by texting, talking on a mobile phone or not wearing a seat belt.

Orange County's overall savings take into account $2 million spent on the cameras and other costs so far for monitoring the videos.

About 60 percent of the county's 2,000 vehicles are equipped with the devices, including its fleet of heavy trucks, fire engines and ambulances.

Petrelli said the county most often uses the clips to teach better driving habits. Most employees take the lessons as an opportunity to change bad driving habits, but some don't.

He said the cameras have captured footage of some horrible driving: an animal-services vehicle hitting a woman in a crosswalk, a distracted staffer plowing into a mailbox, and a public-works truck that ran into an intersection because the driver was annoyed by the length of a red light.

That last crash put one person in a coma, seriously injured another and led to the firing of the impatient employee, who coincidentally had served on a departmental safety committee.

"But we see a lot of good stuff, too," Petrelli said.

The cameras have shown alert county employees dodging roadway catastrophes, including a worker who steered his truck away from a car that came hurtling left-of-center in his direction on Lake Underhill Road.

"If he's not paying attention at the time, that's a head-on crash with two dead," Petrelli said, praising the employee, Thomas Robb.

Petrelli credits videos from the cameras for saving the county thousands annually in bogus insurance claims and legal fees.

"When our employees do have an accident, I know whether it's something I should be fighting or not," he said.

He recounted a crash in which a fire engine was T-boned in an intersection by a Nissan Sentra whose driver claimed that she had the green light. There were no witnesses.

A few days later, the county received notices from a lawyer for the driver of the Nissan and from her insurance company.

But DriveCam showed the fire truck had a green light. The woman's lawyer withdrew her claim and her insurance company paid $70,000 to repair the fire truck.

Orlando, which began equipping some of its vehicles about four years ago, hasn't quantified its savings.

But accidents with injuries are down and DriveCam video also has spared Orlando from paying claims in crashes where its workers were not at fault, city spokeswoman Heather Fagan said.

Sukut, who has worked for the county for 21 years, had always considered himself a safe driver, but admitted the cameras have made him better behind the wheel, but not perfect.

After receiving the safety award, Sukut was driving through Azalea Park when a cat darted into his truck's path.

He hit the brakes and missed the cat, but the 12-second video showed Sukut was on his phone at the time.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361

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