Driver exoneration has emerged as a leading reason fleets are investing in safety technology, with new research showing 84% of operators cite it as a primary driver for deployment.
The findings come from Teletrac Navman’s Mobilizing the Future of Fleets: 2026 Risk and Exoneration Edition report, which found 53% of fleets that experienced accidents in the past 12 months were able to successfully exonerate a driver.
The research also highlights growing concern around fraudulent claims and rising legal costs. Around 34% of fleets surveyed said they had been impacted by fraudulent motor claims, while 77% agreed that increasing litigation and legal expenses are now a global concern.
Teletrac Navman points to rising fleet insurance premiums as evidence of this trend, with umbrella liability coverage increasing from 10% to 30%, and auto liability premiums rising from 10% to 20%.
“The role of telematics is evolving and taking on a more strategic purpose in fleet organizations, moving solely from a tool used for cost control and improvements, to an extremely powerful, proactive risk prevention and management solution,” Teletrac Navman chief executive Alain Samaha says.
“A high percentage of fleet safety incidents are caused by third parties and other external factors, and video telematics is now the most powerful tool to provide irrefutable, contextual evidence that protects people, preserves reputations, and stabilizes margins,” he says.
The report found fleets are increasingly adopting a layered approach to risk management. More than half of respondents said they use five or more safety technologies, while 74% combine telematics with dashcams.
Teletrac Navman says this pairing provides fleets with full context around driving events, combining performance data, video footage and location information to create a defensible evidence base when incidents occur, as well as supporting proactive driver training.
The research also suggests safety technology is helping fleets offset insurance cost pressures. Since implementing these systems, 85% of fleets said they had been able to counter the general rise in insurance premiums, while 65% reported premium decreases.
Nearly 70% of respondents said combining cameras with telematics data significantly reduced the time required to process accident claims, indicating integrated evidence is streamlining dispute resolution.
“This is a moment for fleet leaders to make a positive, strategic shift,” Samaha says.
“Treat safety tech as a long-term asset: invest in platforms that scale, embed evidence into everyday workflows and fraud protection, and use outcomes to renegotiate insurance and drive operational change. Do this, and safety becomes a competitive differentiator – not just a line on a budget, but a foundation for resilience and growth.”
