Severity levels play a vital role in Motive’s safety platform, helping fleet managers prioritize event response and coaching. Knowing how these levels are determined ensures quick, effective action on risky driving behaviors and incidents.
Overview
Motive classifies safety events into four severity levels—Critical, High, Medium, and Low—based on the risk they pose and the urgency required for review.
- [Prioritize Response] – Focus attention where risk is highest.
- [Improve Safety Outcomes] – Tailor coaching to severity for better results.
- [Transparency & Control] – Understand and adjust event severity as needed.
- [Streamlined Reviews] – Quickly triage events for efficient fleet management.
Understanding the four severity levels
Motive assigns severity levels to safety events to help you assess risk and prioritize review:
Critical Severity
- Represents the most urgent and dangerous events, such as verified collisions.
- Demands immediate review and response to ensure safety.
High Severity
- Indicates events with significant risk, like near-miss collisions or egregious speeding.
- Requires prompt intervention to prevent future incidents.
Medium Severity
- Covers moderate-risk events that should be reviewed in a timely manner.
- Useful for identifying patterns and coaching opportunities.
Low Severity
- Denotes lower-risk events, still valuable for proactive coaching and long-term trend analysis.
- Supports continuous improvement even for less urgent behaviors.
How severity is assigned to specific unsafe behaviors
Motive uses a combination of fixed rules, AI analysis, and event-specific thresholds to assign severity levels.
Events with Fixed (Predefined) Severity Levels
Some events always receive the same severity due to their seriousness:
- Collision: Always Critical severity.
- Near Collision: Always High severity.
- Driver Capture (Proactive Recording): Always High severity.
- Forward Collision Warning (FCW): Always High severity.
- Unsafe Parking: Always High severity.
Events with Conditional Severity (Based on Speed and Other Factors)
Some event severities are determined by specific conditions, mainly vehicle speed:
| Safety event | Severity type | Severity definition |
|---|---|---|
| Collision | Critical | Collisions are always critical severity events. |
| Near Collision | High | Near collisions are always high severity events. |
| Driver capture | High | Driver captures are always high severity events because the driver is proactively sharing footage. |
| Forward Collision Warning | High | Forward Collision Warnings are always high severity events. |
| Unsafe Parking | High | Unsafe parking events are always high severity. |
| Speeding Over Posted | Low | Vehicle speed is less than 6 mph over the posted limit. |
| Medium | Vehicle speed is between 6-10 mph over the posted limit. | |
| High | Vehicle speed is between 11-14 mph over the posted speed limit. | |
| Critical | Vehicle speed is greater than or equal to 15mph over the posted speed limit. | |
| Close Following | Low | Driver does not maintain a safe following distance while driving less than 10 mph. |
| Medium | Driver does not maintain a safe following distance while driving between 10-45 mph. | |
| High | Driver does not maintain a safe following distance while driving over 45 mph. | |
| Stop Sign Violation | Low | Driver runs a stop sign going less than 10 mph. |
| Medium | Driver runs a stop sign going between 10-20 mph. | |
| High | Driver runs a stop sign going over 20 mph. | |
| Cell Phone Usage | Low | Driver uses a cell phone while driving less than 5 mph. |
| Medium | Driver uses a cell phone while driving between 5-20 mph. | |
| High | Driver uses a cell phone while driving over 20 mph. | |
| Distraction | Low | Diver appears distracted while driving less than 30 mph. |
| Medium | Driver appears distracted while driving between 30-60 mph. | |
| High | Driver appears distracted while driving over 60 mph. | |
| Seatbelt Violation | Low | Driver does not wear a seatbelt while driving between 25-35 mph. |
| Medium | Driver does not wear a seatbelt while driving between 35-45 mph. | |
| High | Driver does not wear a seatbelt while driving over 45 mph. | |
| Unsafe Lane Change | Low | Driver does not maintain a safe following distance while changing lanes & driving between 0-30 mph. |
| Medium | Driver does not maintain a safe following distance while changing lanes & driving between 30-45 mph. | |
| High | Driver does not maintain a safe following distance while changing lanes & driving over 45 mph. | |
| Obstructed Camera | Low | Vehicle travels with an obstructed camera between 0-15 mph which may have prevented the detection of additional unsafe behaviors. |
| Medium | Vehicle travels with an obstructed camera between 15-45 mph which may have prevented the detection of additional unsafe behaviors. | |
| High | Vehicle travels with an obstructed camera over 45 mph which may have prevented the detection of additional unsafe behaviors. | |
| Drowsiness | Low | Driver appears drowsy or fatigued while driving between 10-25 mph. |
| Medium | Driver appears drowsy or fatigued while driving between 25-45 mph. | |
| High | Driver appears drowsy or fatigued while driving above 45 mph. | |
| Hard Acceleration | Low | Our AI algorithm determines the event's severity using unsafe driver behavior and telematics data. |
| Medium | Our AI algorithm determines the event's severity using unsafe driver behavior and telematics data. | |
| High | Our AI algorithm determines the event's severity using unsafe driver behavior and telematics data. | |
| Hard Cornering | Low | Our AI algorithm determined this event's severity using unsafe driver behavior and telematics data. |
| Medium | Our AI algorithm determined this event's severity using unsafe driver behavior and telematics data. | |
| High | Our AI algorithm determined this event's severity using unsafe driver behavior and telematics data. | |
| Hard Brakes | Low | Vehicle deceleration intensity was between 0.34g and 0.36g |
| Medium | Vehicle deceleration intensity was between 0.36g and 0.40g | |
| High | Vehicle deceleration intensity was above 0.40g |
Important considerations and special cases for event severity
Several special rules and exceptions apply to how event severity is managed:
- Events Tagged by the Safety Review Team: Events like “Lane Cutoff,” “Ran Red Light,” and “Smoking” are tagged by human reviewers and inherit the severity of the main device-generated event.
- Multiple Unsafe Behaviors in One Event: If several risky behaviors occur simultaneously, the highest individual severity is assigned to the overall event.
- Manual Severity Adjustments: Fleet managers can change an event’s severity in Fleet Dashboard if the system’s assessment doesn’t fit their judgment.
- Manual Change Notification: If severity is manually changed, a tooltip will indicate:
“The severity of this event was manually changed by a fleet manager from your company.” - “Pending” Severity Status: If severity is still being determined, the event is marked as “Pending.”
A tooltip will state: “A severity level will be assigned once Motive analyzes this event.”
FAQs
How does Motive decide the severity of a safety event?
Motive assigns severity using a mix of fixed rules, AI analysis, and event-specific context (like vehicle speed).
Can I change the severity level of an event if I disagree with Motive’s assessment?
Yes. Fleet managers can manually adjust the severity in the Fleet Dashboard. All changes are tracked and visible to users.
What does it mean if an event’s severity shows as pending?
Pending in severity status means the system is still analyzing the event data. A severity will be assigned once the analysis is complete.
If an event has more than one unsafe behavior, how is severity set?
The event is assigned the highest severity detected from any of the unsafe behaviors.
What are inherited severities for human-tagged events?
Events like lane cutoff or smoking, tagged by Motive’s safety review team, inherit the severity of the primary safety event and don’t have their own independent severity.
Will I be notified if someone changes an event’s severity?
Yes. When a fleet manager manually changes an event's severity, a tooltip will show the change for full transparency.
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