The warning comes from vehicle-to-business technology provider In-Car Cleverness as it highlights the risks of being found guilty of “wilful blindness”.

‘Having visibility of potentially dangerous or poor driving habits and then not acting upon it appropriately, leaves individuals and businesses liable in the eyes of the law,’ explained Tim Eaves, commercial director of In-Car Cleverness.

‘Given the advances in the analytics available, the concern is whether or not those responsible have the requisite skills to interpret the data, or spot the early warnings. There is also a question mark over whether or not there is enough training and benchmarking support to complement the technology.’

As the technology becomes more mainstream for business, Eaves said that simply by not using it to improve risk management could soon constitute “wilful blindness”.

He added: ‘The number of companies adopting and relying on telematics is only going to grow. As it does so, those who are slow to minimise the risk of accidents could eventually be seen as culpable by their inaction – once an accident has happened, it’s too late.

‘In simple terms, “wilful blindness” means turning a blind eye and, quite apart from the material cost savings that telematics can deliver, fleet operators may soon find there’s a legal reason to further underpin the financial benefits.’