Harsh Braking Alerts Wrong? How to Fix False Driver Behaviour Scores
Charles Alexis
Nothing kills driver buy-in faster than being flagged for harsh braking on a speed bump. If your behaviour scores look unfair, they probably are. Here is how to fix them.
How harsh driving detection works
Trackers and dash cams use an accelerometer to measure forces on the vehicle. When braking, acceleration or cornering goes over a set threshold, they log a harsh event.
That only works if the device knows which way is forward, is firmly mounted and has sensible thresholds. Get any of those wrong and you get false alerts.
Cause 1: the device is not calibrated
The tracker needs to know its orientation in the vehicle. If it does not, it can confuse braking with cornering, or bumps with harsh acceleration.
Many trackers, including Teltonika devices, have an auto-calibration feature that learns orientation as the vehicle drives. Check it is turned on and has had time to complete. If the device was moved, it needs to calibrate again.
Cause 2: loose mounting
A tracker cable-tied loosely behind the dash rattles around. Every pothole becomes a spike.
Fix: mount the device firmly to a solid part of the vehicle.
Cause 3: thresholds that do not suit the vehicle
A van fully loaded behaves differently from a small hatchback. A minibus on a rough estate road is not a sports car. One threshold for every vehicle creates false alerts on some and missed events on others.
Fix: set thresholds by vehicle type.
Cause 4: road conditions
Speed bumps, potholes and rough surfaces cause short sharp forces that look like harsh events. Good systems filter out very short spikes, but cheaper ones do not.
Fix: use a minimum duration so a quick jolt does not count. Look at the location of repeated events. If everyone gets flagged at the same speed bump, it is the road, not the drivers.
Cause 5: GPS-based detection
Some systems work out harsh events from GPS speed changes instead of an accelerometer. Poor GPS signal causes speed to jump, which looks like harsh braking.
Fix: use accelerometer-based detection where possible. See GPS tracker not accurate.
Real harsh braking is not always the driver’s fault
Even accurate harsh braking events need context. Someone pulling out in front is not bad driving. Pairing events with dash cam footage lets you see what happened before you have a conversation with a driver.
See our guide to using dash cam footage to win insurance claims.
Getting drivers on board
- Tell drivers how scoring works.
- Let them see their own events.
- Fix the obviously wrong ones fast.
- Use scores for coaching, not just punishment.
When drivers trust the data, behaviour actually changes, and insurers notice. See our guide to cutting fleet insurance with tracking and dashcams.
Summary
False harsh driving alerts usually come from poor calibration, loose mounting, one-size-fits-all thresholds or road conditions. Fix those and drivers will start trusting the scores.