THE company for driver risk management

THE MOST DANGEROUS THING YOU DO AT WORK

Back in December we had official confirmation from the DfT of what we already knew to be the case – a high percentage of the road deaths in the UK involve somebody who was driving for work purposes at the time. Officially the figure is 25% but we suspect that, due to the discrepancies between these figures and the number of NHS road casualty-related cases reported, the figure is nearer to the 30% calculated by the Work Related Road Safety Task Group back in 1999.

Whichever figure is correct, there are still many hundreds of at-work drivers being killed or seriously injured on our roads, but something CAN be done about it.

Given the fact that 2007 sees the introduction of the new Road Safety Bill and the revised Corporate Manslaughter Bill, is this not the time for any organisations not running a driver risk management programme to take some positive action?

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HEADBANGERS

The recently established Insurance Fraud Bureau has identified a new scam, which could definitely affect business drivers.

The organised gangs at work pick out unsuspecting drivers and then brake sharply at the entry to roundabouts or junctions, causing the innocent motorist to run into the back of them. They then make fraudulent claims for whiplash injuries and excessive vehicle damage.

The IFB predict that there may be up to 20,000 such incidents of this type in the next 18 months, with some 400 separate gangs working hand-in-hand with doctors and mechanics to achieve their lucrative scam. The problem is so severe that nearly all of the IFB’s £8 million budget has been allocated to attempt to stamp it out.

As we’ve said time and time again, drivers need to keep lots of space around them at all times, pay attention and try to anticipate the actions of others.

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LANGUAGE BARRIER

A spate of on-road incidents has led to some embarrassing, high profile publicity for UK North and GM Buses Ltd., culminating in the suspension of its operating licence by the regional Traffic Commissioner. Although this in itself is not uncommon, what is of concern to all road users is that the common factor in all the incidents was not only a lack of suitable training but also lack of understanding of both the English language and UK road regulations by the drivers employed by the company.

This is a salutary lesson for all road users. For instance, that driver approaching the roundabout junction as you pass it may not understand the signs, the road markings, the speed limit or the priority rule. As drivers we have no way of knowing how competent the other road users around us are. They could be sick, tired, stressed, lost, drunk, drugged, mentally preoccupied or just plain ignorant!

Sadly we have to accept that we all have to take responsibility and compensate for the inadequacies of other road users for the sake of the common good.

Incidentally, for any of our customers with employees who have a licence but limited UK driving experience, please don’t forget that we have a very effective UK Familiarisation course, more details of which can be obtained from the website at www.drivesurvive.co.uk by clicking on ‘Products’, ‘Hands On Training’ and then ‘UK familiarisation’.

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CRASH COST

The latest research about the true cost of car crashes suggests that they are costing the UK economy £1 billion a year just in lost working hours. It transpires that motorists spend on average three and a half days, mostly in work time, dealing with the aftermath of a crash.

In incidents involving disputed liability, personal injury or a vehicle write off, the time spent leaps up to a staggering six days!

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TAKE NOTE

Another scam spreading across the UK is the ‘post-it note pounce’. This is a new variation on the car-jacking theme and involves sticking a post-it note or similar piece of paper in your field of view, most commonly on the rear screen, whilst you’re away from the vehicle.

You get in your vehicle, start the engine, check your mirrors and find the paper obscuring your vision, so you get out to remove it……..which is when the car-jackers appear from nowhere and drive off in your prized possession, probably along with your handbag, mobile phone, laptop and anything else you would normally carry with you.

Don’t forget we have specific advice available to help reduce the chances of this happening – just go to www.drivesurvive.co.uk  and click on ‘Information’, then ‘Downloads’ and ‘Avoiding Car Jacking’.

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CPS GETS TOUGH

Irrespective of the increased penalties for the use of handheld mobile phones whilst driving contained in the soon-to-become-law Road Safety Bill, the Crown Prosecution Service is set to re-classify some motoring offences, to the point where motorists who cause death on the roads could face prosecution for manslaughter and maybe even face life imprisonment.

Ken Macdonald QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, stated just before Christmas: “We have strong feelings that public views have moved along at a pace in recent years and we want to make sure our policies reflect public views.”

Watch this space.

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ROAD RISK RATING

Over 4,500 miles of main roads in the UK are currently being analysed against a number of set criteria, with a view to creating a safety rating to show drivers how potentially dangerous they are. A four star rated route would therefore present the lowest risk and a one star rating the highest. The star rating is expected to appear on road signs later this year, initially in just the pilot programme area.

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BEATEN ON PENALTIES

This means that something as simple as a parking ticket will end up on the doormat, probably before you’ve even retuned home. More importantly it means that serious transgressions could mean penalty points on a licence or, in serious circumstances, a ban that applies throughout the EU.

This is no idle threat either. Some French and Belgian local authorities have already employed British-based debt collection agencies to collect fines from UK residents who have failed to pay.

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GADGET SENSE

The latest generation of in-car gadgets – the iTrip – went on sale just before Christmas and looks set to become yet another source of potential distraction for drivers. The iTrip enables one’s iPod to work through the vehicle’s own FM radio system but of course it will require manual intervention from time to time.

According to the latest research from Privilege Insurance, 600,000 drivers have admitted having near misses as a result of distraction from accessories and other devices.  It is vital that drivers use these personal devices responsibly and only make adjustments when it is safe to do so.

If your drivers could benefit from guidance on the safest way to position and use these and other similar devices please visit www.drivesurvive.co.uk, click on ‘Information’, then ‘Downloads’ and select ‘Use of in-vehicle information devices’. You can then freely distribute the PDF document as you see fit.

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SAFETY TECHNOLOGY

Researchers in Germany and Luxembourg have devised a tyre sensor that can monitor real time tyre performance and inform the driver of reduced grip well before they get into a situation where a crash could occur as a result.  The sensor can not only detect reduced performance due to weather conditions but also as a result of wear or low inflation pressures.

We have reported on the increasing risk posed by left-hand-drive trucks in previous newsletters. The Highways Agency and VOSA have now got together to do something proactive to improve the situation – they are distributing 40,000 adhesive, wide angle ‘Fresnel’ lenses to the drivers of left-hand-drive vehicles entering the UK from three French ports. The lenses widen the field of view and virtually eliminate the traditional blind spot into which so many unfortunate UK drivers have entered prior to being sideswiped. There were 1,164 sideswipe incidents in the UK in 2005.

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MAKING THE GRADE

Our sincere thanks goes to Mark Rhodes of GlaxoSmithKline, who enabled Drive & Survive to become one of the first companies to have been nominated under the terms of the ‘Fleet News Suppliers Charter’.  The Charter was established to try to encourage supplier companies to deal with their customers in a positive, professional and efficient manner, and we are proud to have achieved this criteria.

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