Fighting fraud on the busesIn recent years a major headache for bus operators has been the escalating numbers of fraudulent claims for injury, in extreme cases having to contend with claims from individuals who have not even been a passenger on one of their services. Prior to the introduction of CCTV systems on buses it was difficult for operators to prove or disprove such patently fraudulent claims - it was simply their word against the claimant - and often the only realistic option was to settle out of court to avoid costly legal fees. This was far from satisfactory as it tended to encourage more fraudulent activity but there was little the companies felt they could do to stem the tide. Thankfully with new mobile digital CCTV solutions in the last couple of years the battle against the fraudsters has started to move in favour of the bus companies. We are now seeing systems being rolled out across bus fleets which not only assist with the safety and security of passengers but are also able to link images with information such as a vehicle's position, speed, use of indicators and braking forces. In practice this means that should a claim for injury be made data in terms of images and vehicle system information can be checked for the time and date given. Most fraudulent actions can be readily identified and dismissed, for example the CCTV images may show that the claimant was not even on the bus at the time or, if they were, that the bus was being driven normally without excessive braking, acceleration or steering input. Where there are legitimate claims these can also be handled more effectively by the courts with the detailed evidence provided for a speedy resolution. The upshot is that bus fleets are now able to keep a lid on claims which were having a detrimental impact on the profitability of their business. Previous Issues
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