AI-powered Eating Detection identifies when a driver is holding or eating food while driving. When detected, Motive generates a safety event and can trigger an in-cab alert, enabling fleets to review the behavior and take corrective action to reduce distracted driving.
Overview
Eating while driving is a form of distracted driving that can reduce a driver’s focus on the road. AI-powered Eating Detection helps fleets:
- Detect eating behavior: Identifies instances where drivers are holding or eating food while driving
- Generate safety events: Captures events that can be reviewed for safety monitoring and coaching
- Trigger in-cab alerts: Notifies drivers in real time to encourage safer driving behavior
- Improve visibility: Provides insight into eating-related distraction trends across the fleet
Eating Detection is part of Motive’s Unsafe Behavior Detection system and follows the same event workflow as other AI-detected safety behaviors.
How Eating Detection works
Eating Detection uses AI models on supported Motive dashcams to identify when a driver brings food to their mouth while driving.
A safety event is generated when all of the following conditions are met:
- A clearly visible edible item (food) is detected in the driver’s hand or near the mouth.
- The vehicle is traveling at speeds greater than 25 mph.
- The behavior continues for at least 5 seconds.
Once detected:
- A safety event is created and displayed in the Fleet Dashboard.
- Event details include driver, vehicle, and trip context (when available)
- The event is available for review in Safety > Events
| Note: Eating Detection does not identify drinking behavior. |
Enable Eating Detection
Eating Detection can be enabled from the Unsafe Behavior Detection and Event Intelligence page of the Fleet Dashboard.
To enable Eating Detection:
- Log in to the Fleet Dashboard and click Admin.
- Select Safety > Unsafe Behavior Detection and Event Intelligence section.
- Scroll to the Unsafe Behavior Detection: Beta section, click Edit.
- Locate the Eating behavior.
- Enable one or both options:
- Event capture
- In-cab alert
- Click Save to apply changes.
| Note: Eating AI is available but turned off by default. Admins must enable it at the Company or Vehicle level |
Create alerts and notifications for Eating events
You can configure alerts to receive notifications when an Eating event occurs.
To create an alert:
- In the Platform dropdown, click Alerts
- Click Create Alert
- In the Create Alert window, select Safety
- Select Eating from the list of behaviors
- Configure the alert details:
- Entities: Select groups, vehicles, or drivers the alert applies to
- Recipients: Choose fleet users or external recipients to notify
- Delivery method: Select how alerts are sent (Email, Notification, SMS, or WhatsApp)
- Frequency: Choose when alerts are delivered (Immediate or Scheduled)
- Click Save
In-cab alerts
When enabled, an in-cab alert can be triggered when eating is detected during driving.
These alerts notify drivers in real time and encourage safer behavior. Alert frequency is automatically controlled to prevent excessive or repetitive notifications within a short time period.
| Note: In-cab alerts are not available on VG5. It will be added in future iterations. |
Event behavior and prioritization
If eating behavior is detected at the same time as another distraction-related behavior:
- The event is recorded as Eating
- Duplicate distraction events are suppressed
This ensures that fleets see the most specific and relevant behavior for each incident.
How is Severity calculated for Eating?
Eating severity is determined based on the speed of the vehicle at the time the event occurs. Higher speeds increase the risk associated with distracted driving behaviors such as eating.
This classification helps fleets prioritize coaching and review efforts, especially for higher-risk events.
| LOW: Less than 30 mph | MED: 30 to 60 mph | HIGH: Greater than 60 mph |
Viewing Eating events
Eating events appear alongside other safety events in the Fleet Dashboard.
To view events:
- Go to Safety
- Select the Events tab
- Filter or search for Eating events
- Click an event to view details, including video footage (if available)
Limitations
Eating Detection is designed for high accuracy, but certain limitations may apply:
- Similar actions such as vaping, hand movements, or object handling may occasionally be misclassified
- Event detection thresholds are not currently configurable from the dashboard
- Any changes to detection sensitivity must be requested through Motive Support
- Event frequency may be limited to maintain detection quality
FAQ
Does Eating Detection impact the Safety Score?
Eating Detection itself does not directly change Safety Score calculations unless included in future scoring models. Currently, it is used for visibility, coaching, and safety monitoring.
Why am I not seeing Eating events for my drivers?
Eating events are only generated when all detection conditions are met, including minimum speed, duration, and visibility of the behavior. Additionally, the feature must be enabled in settings.
Can I adjust the sensitivity of Eating Detection?
No. Detection thresholds such as speed and duration are not configurable from the dashboard at this time. Any changes must be requested through Motive Support.
Why is an Eating event recorded instead of a Distraction event?
When Eating and another distraction behavior are detected at the same time, the system prioritizes Eating and suppresses duplicate distraction events to provide the most specific classification.
Will drivers always receive an in-cab alert for Eating?
No. In-cab alerts are only triggered if they are enabled in settings. Additionally, alert frequency is controlled to prevent repeated or excessive notifications.
Why are some Eating events missing or limited?
Event generation may be limited to maintain detection accuracy and reduce false positives. Additionally, certain behaviors may not be detected if visibility conditions are not met.
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