Harsh Braking

A harsh braking event is recorded when deceleration exceeds a configured threshold, measured by the telematics unit's accelerometer or from the vehicle bus. Alongside harsh acceleration and harsh cornering it forms the standard trio of behavioural events in fleet scoring.

The event itself is rarely the problem. Braking hard is the correct response to a hazard; the underlying issue is usually that the driver was following too closely or scanning too far ahead to react earlier. That is why harsh braking correlates with collision risk even though each individual event is a safe outcome.

Context is essential to scoring it fairly. Dense city traffic produces far more harsh braking than an open highway, a loaded vehicle decelerates differently from an empty one, and a gradient changes the reading. Comparing raw event counts between a city distribution driver and a long-haul driver is meaningless, and drivers know it — which is why uncontextualised scores get rejected.