THE company for driver risk management

CLOCK WATCHING

A reminder to all our readers that the clocks spring forward on Sunday March 25th, so the journey to and from work on the following Monday will have a very different feel to it.

The lighter evenings mean that drivers are likely to have a few more hazards to look out for than usual, particularly joggers, cyclists and horse riders, so make a special point, particularly on rural roads, of thinking well ahead and using the road space available for optimising vision on blind corners.

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SMOKING BAN

Although there has been a lot of publicity about the forthcoming ban on smoking in public places from July 1st, we thought it would be helpful to remind readers that this ban applies from April 1st in Wales and this has implications for company cars.

Nobody must smoke in any vehicle that is made available to more than one employee, unless it is a convertible with the hood down, and it is a mandatory requirement to have ‘No Smoking’ decals placed prominently in the vehicle.

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SIGN UP FOR ROADSAFE

We hope that all our readers will take this opportunity to sign up for the free ROADSAFE e-newsletter, which is packed with interesting and relevant news items relating to driver safety.

RoadSafe magazine is published three times a year - spring, summer and autumn - and is the indispensable guide to best practice management of occupational road risk.

Sign-up today for your FREE copy: YOU can’t afford not to read it.

RoadSafe is an automotive industry-led registered charity that works with the Department for Transport, the motor industry and others concerned with the design and production and use of motor vehicles and of the UK’s roads to encourage and promote improved education, innovation, and new thinking to reduce death and injury.

Each issue of the magazine highlights:

Please click here to ensure you’re registered to receive RoadSafe magazine for free. Furthermore, please feel free to encourage your colleagues to subscribe as well.

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POTHOLES GALORE

Recent research confirms that one in five vehicle mechanical failures can be attributed to the rapidly deteriorating state of Britain’s roads. In the past decade there has been a 65% rise in road defects but there is currently a national funding shortfall of £1.6 billion, so there is clearly not going to be a quick fix.

As always, potholes are the biggest problem. They’re bad news for tyre sidewalls and often the damage is not immediately apparent. They can also put the front wheel alignment (or tracking) out and this in turn wears tyres out more rapidly. Again the resulting damage is often hard to spot and, when it is, the tyre is well on its way to being illegal.

As we’ve said before, if it’s safe to do so, it’s good driving practice to avoid all potentially damaging road defects in the first place but now you can do something else to help ALL road users. If you spot a pothole, and can somehow record its location safely, you can go onto a new website www.potholes.co.uk and report it easily to the appropriate local authority.

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ROAD RAGE ON THE INCREASE

It seems that our new course, announced in the last e-newsletter (“Ground breaking new course”) couldn’t have come at a better time for the business driver populace.

A recent survey reveals that 60% of motorists in Britain experience heightened stress and anger levels whilst driving, usually as a result of the actions of other road users.

For more information about our new ‘Driving Synergy’ course please see www.drivesurvive.co.uk and click on ‘Products/Hands On Training/Driving Synergy’.

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MOBILE MADNESS

According to recent government estimates some 10 million motorists still regularly use a hand held mobile whilst driving and a staggering three million admit to texting whilst behind the wheel. This comes against the backdrop of latest research from TRL which indicates that being on a mobile phone whilst driving makes the driver four times more likely to have a crash….even if using a legal hands free kit.

As has been widely reported in the press (and in our last newsletter) the law gets tougher on February 27th, when those caught will automatically receive three points on their licence and a £60 fine.

Although we know that the majority of our customers have robust mobile phone policies in place to prevent their staff from falling foul of the law, it is worth emphasising that office-based staff calling their colleagues on the move also have a responsibility to prevent unsafe practice.

If you have to call a co-worker in their vehicle, please consider if the call is really essential in the first place. If the call is vital and it is answered immediately, ask if it is safe for your colleague to take the call. Even if they have a legal hands free kit please cut the call short and encourage them to find a safe place to stop and return the call to you.

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MOT CHANGES

There are plans afoot to change the MOT test from an annual check to an inspection every two years.

We would seriously suggest that fleet managers who have a high proportion of cash for car drivers should:

1. make sure they are aware of those employees who own cars that are in excess of three years old
2. make sure that six monthly spot checks are carried out on those cars on major safety items such as tyres, brakes, windscreens, steering and lights.

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IN THE THICK OF IT

Josephine Byrne from Shell UK had an on-road experience she’ll never forget:

“When I was in my early twenties and relatively inexperienced I had quite a serious road crash which has haunted me ever since.

With my baby safely in a child seat in the back, I was following another car on a derestricted road but we were well within the speed limit. Coming towards us on the other side of the road I could see another car which appeared to be out of control. It was quickly apparent that it wasn’t going to make the corner but for a split second looked as if it was going to hit the car in front of me.

But it didn’t…. it hit me head on instead, which caused the car behind me to slam into the back of us as well. What I thought was smoke (it turned out to be steam from the broken radiator) was pouring from the front of the car and the doors were jammed, so I couldn’t get out.

Looking back I suppose I panicked but I really didn’t know what to do. I was terrified for my baby of course, who was crying but seemed undamaged. In the end a passer-by got us out.

And what caused all this to happen? The woman in the car that hit us was trying to put on her make up whilst driving!!

So my message out there to lady drivers is ‘You might think you look bad without your face on but how will you look without your face at all?’”

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SAFETY TECHNOLOGY

Electrical giant Philips has come up with an ingenious system to project live traffic information onto the road surface from roadside transmitters, allowing drivers to receive safety-related information without having to divert their eyes away from their normal field of view. It’s a few years away yet from becoming reality in the UK but could be a huge benefit to driver safety.

Listeners to Classic FM, Capital Radio and 37 other radio stations in the Gcap Media Group network are now able to receive TrafficMaster’s excellent traffic monitoring information on the regular travel bulletins. Although the traditional aeroplane based ‘spy in the sky’ reports are useful they are often hindered by the inclement British weather and the new system should give far more reliable coverage.

An ingenious new device for measuring tread depth is about to hit the market. Known as ‘Tyrecheck’ it comprises a sensor buried within a mat, which the vehicle drives over. As the tyre passes over the sensor, it registers changes in the magnetic field and compares this to the data for a new tyre, resulting in a highly accurate tread depth reading.

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SAFED OUTCOME

The latest figures from the Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) programme show that MPG improvements of around 22%, gear reductions of 33% and fault reductions of 62% are being achieved nationally.

To date the total amount of money that could be saved annually for those trained on fuel alone is in the region of £2.3 million, averaging at around £560 per driver per year. There are additional savings to be had too, from less bent metal, fewer lost days through avoided accidents, reductions in vehicle maintenance etc.

Unfortunately DfT funding for the programme finishes at the end of March but Drive & Survive will still be able to deliver the course, albeit at a cost. For further information please contact Emily Nafzger on 01295 724285 or via email at emily.nafzger@drivesurvive.co.uk

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CRASH PROTECTION

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it seems that 4x4s have been granted a bit of a reprieve as the nation’s favourite ‘bete noire’. It turns out that they are quite safe after all, despite a spate of roll over incidents in the nineties.

According to the respected TRL organisation, drivers of the 3 million 4x4s currently on Britain’s roads are five times less likely to hit a crash barrier and occupants are 50% less likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash.

Clearly many of them are anti social gas-guzzlers but when it comes to the safety stakes they seem to merit inclusion on the company car choice list.

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