Geotab and General Motors deliver real-time in-vehicle driver coaching for safer roads

Toronto, ON - October 25, 2021 - Underpinning its continued commitment to increase driver safety, Geotab, a global leader in IoT and connected transportation, today announced that it has been working with General Motors (GM) Fleet and OnStar Business Solutions to provide an in-vehicle coaching* service via the Geotab Integrated Solution for GM. Unlike other in-vehicle driver safety alerts that beep, buzz or light up, this new safety service delivers real-time spoken alerts to help keep drivers’ eyes on the road, promoting good driving habits and helping achieve improved fleet safety.

The Driver Feedback (In-Vehicle Coaching) service is now included in the Geotab Integrated Solution for GM. The newly released Driver Feedback service is designed to trigger events via audible alerts delivered through the vehicle infotainment system when certain driving conditions are met. It provides insights into specific driving behaviors to help create awareness and encourage safe driving habits by coaching drivers in real-time. Most Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac models 2015 or newer, equipped with compatible OnStar can get access to this feature with activation of ‘GM Premium+Driver Feedback’ plan. With no additional hardware required, the solution is immediately available in the US.

“At GM, we believe that protecting our customers is of utmost importance, which is why we are continuing to advance the available safety features in our lineup to help drivers prevent collisions,” said Ed Peper, U.S. Vice President of General Motors Fleet. “By integrating Geotab’s proven driver coaching service into our vehicles, we are helping our fleet customers by providing real-time verbal feedback to their drivers to keep themselves and others safe, while also mitigating costly collisions. This service allows us to help drivers stay focused on the task at hand while setting our fleet solutions apart from others in-market.”   

The integrated Driver Feedback solution allows fleets and operations professionals to encourage safer driving and help reduce accidents with real-time driver behavior coaching, including:

• Seat belt alert: “Driver seat belt unbuckled” audio message reminds occupants of an unlatched seat belt and will remind the driver every 15 seconds until the seatbelt is latched.
• Hard acceleration alert: “Hard acceleration detected” audio alert occurs within five seconds of such an event, with an intentional slight delay to avoid additional driver distraction
• Hard braking alert: “Hard brake detected” audio alert occurs for hard excessive braking, thereby improving the lifetime of the vehicle’s brakes. This audio alert occurs within five seconds of such an event with an intentional slight delay to avoid additional driver distraction.
• Speeding alert above posted speed: “Speeding detected” audio alert is played in the vehicle for the driver once speeding is detected above the posted speed, plus the preset threshold for 15 consecutive seconds and is repeated every 15 seconds until the driver is within the posted speed limit plus preset threshold.
• Speeding alert above maximum threshold: “Speeding detected” audio alert is played immediately once speeding is detected above the preset maximum speed.

“Real-time feedback is critical to helping make drivers more conscious when they are behind the wheel, and driver coaching through spoken-word notifications elevates safety by providing drivers with alerts that allow them to keep their eyes on the road,” said Sherry Calkins, Vice President, Connected Car at Geotab. “From verbally alerting the driver of an unlatched seat belt to coaching the driver once aggressive driving or speeding is detected, the Geotab integrated solution for GM is setting higher standards for driver safety among their fleet customers.” 

For more information on the latest Geotab and GM integration visit https://www.geotab.com/gm/.

*In-Vehicle Coaching features and availability vary by vehicle model and year. In-Vehicle Coaching’s Posted Speed monitoring feature will be disabled for any vehicle whose infotainment system privacy settings are set to mask the vehicle’s location. Vehicles must have the latest software in order to maximize connected services. Software updates can be installed via Over-the-Air updates or by visiting a GM dealership. See developers.gm.com for details.