By Charles Dawson, CEO, AutoSense Australia For a long time, fleet safety has been built around compliance. Logbooks, policies and procedures all have their place. But they’re designed to show rules are being followed, not whether risk is actually being managed in real time. That gap is becoming harder to ignore. A driver can be fully compliant on paper and still be operating in a state of significant impairment. Poor sleep, disrupted routines, or underlying fatigue can all i

Easter travel, disrupted sleep and shifting daylight hours are set to collide in a perfect storm on New Zealand roads this long weekend - a period already associated with heightened road trauma.

Routine changes, increased traffic and seasonal shifts could impact driver alertness – even before a shift begins. Easter may bring quieter roads for some operators, but fatigue experts are warning it can also introduce less visible and often underestimated risks for fleet safety.

Eighty-two per cent of work-related fatalities in New Zealand’s transport and warehousing sector involve vehicles[1], underscoring what safety leaders describe as one of the under-governed workplace risks. AutoSense CEO Charles Dawson says that while vehicle incidents remain one of the most common causes of workplace death[2] in New Zealand, for many organisations, it is a health and safety blind spot. “Driving is the work activity most likely to result in serious harm[3], ye

AutoSense, a leading New Zealand provider of fleet and driver safety solutions, is strengthening its presence in Australia with the launch of LifeSaver Mobile, a first-of-its-kind app designed to stop distracted driving before it starts.

Mobile-phone distraction remains one of the biggest risks for drivers, with Waka Kotahi data showing that in the past three years, 283 drivers in fatal or injury crashes were distracted by a phone....

As schools return for term one, New Zealand roads are about to re-enter their most dangerous daily window - and it’s not late at night or on long-haul routes.

As daylight saving begins this Sunday, Kiwis may welcome the brighter evenings and promise of summer BBQs, but the switch comes with a darker side. Health data shows the sudden disruption to body clocks has measurable consequences: hospitals in Michigan, US found heart attacks spike by 24 percent on the Monday immediately following the spring shift[1], while a 2024 review of 12 studies confirmed a four percent increase in risk across the two weeks that follow[2] setting clock

AutoSense Vision Focus provides reassurance for drivers and fleet managers For more than five years, Guardian by Seeing Machines cameras have become the standard across the entire Foodstuffs North Island fleet, including all company-owned trucks and owner-driver units, and even overflow vehicles. The driver safety system is proven to detect driver fatigue and distraction. Fleet Safety Manager Blair Inglis, says since April 2025 the business has doubled down and started introd

L->R: Santiago Aon (Fonterra, Director Global Supply Chain), Deena Clarkson (CE, Coda Group), Charles Dawson (AutoSense CEO), Lee Thorburn (Fonterra - Commercial Network Manager Global Supply Chain) We’re proud to share that Coda Group has been recognised with the Leadership Award at the 2025 New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards. The award, which AutoSense had the honour of nominating them for, acknowledges Coda’s exceptional commitment to tackling driver fatigue an

How policy can prevent the next tragedy. When a driver sent 45 Snapchat messages from behind the wheel of her truck before ploughing the 30-tonne truck and trailer unit into a stationery ute last year, the driver of the ute was killed[1]. New Zealand vehicle safety and training experts AutoSense says the tragedy underscores the importance for businesses to have safeguards in place to protect their workforce from more preventable harm on our roads. The safety business has inst

Fatigue and sleep health expert Kat Aubrey leads World Sleep Day talk To mark World Sleep Day on Friday 14 March, vehicle safety and training experts AutoSense will host a free webinar, Make Sleep a Health Priority presented by fatigue expert Kat Aubrey. Date: Friday, 14 March 2025 Time: 12:00 - 12:45 pm Online via Microsoft Teams Kat says an astounding 59 driver fatigue events per day* were recorded last year by Guardian cameras installed by AutoSense in New Zealand vehicles

Freezing your pillowcase, putting ice in your water, and eating a green apple at 3 pm may not be the norm for most truckies,

These are the essential features NZ transport companies need In the demanding world of New Zealand transport, where long hours and challenging road conditions are a constant, ensuring driver and freight safety is more than just a priority - it’s essential. With the ongoing risks of driver fatigue and distraction, businesses need a solution that goes beyond basic monitoring. Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) are designed to track behaviour and intervene when needed. A DMS reduce

Ashley Taylor - National Support Manager, Mainfreight Australia Mainfreight Australia is powering up their driver safety efforts with the installation of nearly 600 MiTAC units from AutoSense in their rigid, local fleet vehicles. With around 180 Guardian by Seeing Machines cameras already installed in their line haul (interstate) trucks, Mainfreight Australia National Support Manager Ashley Taylor says adding MiTAC to their arsenal is an obvious next step for their local flee

Dr Angus McKerral to speak in NZ next week Dr Angus McKerral Inside Seeing Machines’ Canberra headquarters, an alarm has been sounding every thirty seconds for the past forty hours. Unlike a noisy suburban house alarm often ignored by neighbours, Seeing Machines Human Factors Research Scientist Dr Angus McKerral, is paying close attention to the high pitched chime. McKerral and his research colleagues are designing a new alert for the company’s driver safety technology, Guard

Company safety priority is a lifeline for drowsy drivers ‘Safe work, safe home’ is the motto of Hilton Haulage, the nationwide transport business that places driver wellbeing firmly in the front seat. A three-month trial of Guardian by Seeing Machines cameras in six of its truck and trailer combinations identified instances of driver fatigue, leading the company to implement the technology across their entire fleet of over 200 vehicles. In an AutoSense podcast hosted by Greg

Did you know the highest number of fatigue-related events are recorded in November? AI-powered tech company Seeing Machines has released its inaugural 2022-23 Guardian Insights Report (for the 12 month period to 30 September 2023), highlighting November as having the highest number of driver fatigue-related events in New Zealand and Australia. Using Guardian technology to monitor driver fatigue and distraction, the report captured a staggering 653,048 risky driving events fr

At least 125 fatigue sleep events occur daily on NZ roads A national roadshow, hosted by motorsport legend Greg Murphy and neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis, to improve truck driver safety in the transport sector by highlighting the dangers of driver fatigue and distraction on our roads, will visit eight New Zealand cities this year. The #EYESUPNZ workshops are being delivered by vehicle safety and training provider AutoSense, who have analysed the data of 4,600 cameras ins

Nigel Moffiet, Editor - TransportTalk A national roadshow highlighting the dangers of driver fatigue and distraction rates in the road transport industry has kicked off. Hosted by motorsport champion Greg Murphy, neuroscientist Nathan Wallis, and road safety expert Kelly McLuckie, the the Eyes Up NZ workshops are visiting eight New Zealand cities with the goal of improving commercial vehicle driver safety. The first sold-out event took place in Auckland on March 14 with over