Not speed. Not fatigue. Something harder to measure.
18 February 2026
By Simon Donovan | Executive General Manager, Sales and Distribution of Fuse Fleet
How driver distraction is showing up in fleet claims data
When we review commercial fleet and rental vehicle portfolios, some of the most expensive claims share a pattern that’s easy to miss. Not high speed. Not poor conditions. Just a driver whose attention was somewhere else.
These claims cluster around predictable operational conditions. Routines are still resetting in the weeks after a holiday break. High-utilisation periods are compressing the gaps between tasks. Nobody is actively managing cognitive load.
For commercial fleets, Fuse Fleet’s crash probability data picks this up. We can see shifts in braking patterns, cornering consistency and trip-level behaviour that indicate attention drift, often days or weeks before it becomes an incident. That’s the difference between reacting to a claim and intervening before one happens.
For rental operators, CRI sees it in claims patterns. Short-term hirers in unfamiliar vehicles, navigating unfamiliar routes and often under time pressure. The distraction risk is baked into the operating model, which is exactly why our underwriting accounts for it.
The operations that consistently perform well at renewal aren’t the ones with zero distractions. They’re the ones that recognise attention as something they actively manage through scheduling, technology, coaching and culture.
The risk no one sees coming
Research estimates drivers spend around 45% of total driving time engaged in secondary tasks that can be potentially distracting. For professional drivers managing schedules, customer calls and navigation between stops, that number is almost certainly higher.
Most organisations focus their distraction policy on mobile phones. But research from the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) shows the bigger risk is cognitive: what researchers call Busy Brain Syndrome. The driver’s eyes are on the road but their mind is processing a difficult conversation with a manager, ruminating on a personal issue, revisiting their holidays or mentally planning the next three stops. When something unexpected happens, the extra time needed to refocus can be the difference between a near miss and a claim.
Pictured: Jerome Carslake, Director of the NRSPP
Taking your eyes off the road for just two seconds doubles crash risk. Texting increases it tenfold. But cognitive distraction, the kind with no visible warning sign, is harder to detect and arguably more dangerous because nobody sees it coming. Not the driver, not the fleet manager, not the dash cam. The lights are on but nobody is home.
It’s so easy for the mind to drift off and shift to autopilot, especially when drivers are tired or under pressure. Distraction isn’t always a phone in the hand. It’s the mental load that comes with the job. A short conversation about staying focused can genuinely change outcomes, says Jerome Carslake, Director of the NRSPP.
A practical tool for brokers and their customers
NRSPP’s new Inattention and Distraction Toolbox Talk is a ready-to-use resource your customers can run with their drivers in five minutes. No training room required. It’s designed as a conversation starter for team meetings, not a compliance exercise, and it gives fleet managers and rental operators a way to open the conversation about attention that most workplaces never have.
What brokers can do now
Share the Toolbox Talk with fleet and rental customers as a practical resource they can use this week.
Use Fuse Fleet’s crash probability data to identify which drivers and routes show early signs of attention drift before it becomes a claim.
For rental operators, use CRI claims patterns to map where distraction-related incidents are clustering and adjust driver communications accordingly.
This is what brokers can deliver: not another generic safe driving message, but practical risk intelligence that helps customers manage the risk no dash cam can see.
Please reach out to Simon Donovan or the Fuse Fleet team to discuss risk management strategies to keep your people and your fleet safe this festive season.
