THE company for driver risk management

LATEST CRASH STATS

The 2006 UK road casualty statistics have just been released. The headline figures are:

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INSURANCE SQUEEZE

According to Andy Keane of insurers Norwich Union, the £1.8 billion fleet insurance market is likely to crack under pressure. “Fleet insurance is in danger of being treated as a commodity where the focus remains on price. In the wider context of a continuing appetite for compensation, the number of claims involving a third party bodily injury element is increasing, with the proportion of the total claims spend mushrooming to 45%, up from 25% five years ago.

“If we cannot control the propensity to claim, we need to focus on reducing the number of accidents through risk management.

“So what are the priorities in the fleet market when it comes to risk management? As an industry we are generally getting the message across about risk management, with an increasing number of fleets addressing the critical issues to some degree. Yet more fleets need to implement at least basic fleet risk management, including driver vetting, induction, licence checking, and implementing robust accident procedures.

“Even for those who are equipping themselves with a health and safety policy there is a tendency not to re-assess or update it. Like any process it has to be reviewed and monitored, especially in line with business changes.”

As we’ve pointed out many times before, a properly deployed driver risk management programme should open up a wide range of insurance options to a fleet customer.

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TABACCO ROAD

With the ban on smoking in public places now in force, there is mounting pressure to ban smoking whilst driving, on the grounds of the potential distraction and impairment issues that come with it.

The latest study from Brunel University suggests that smokers are at increased risk whilst at the wheel. Dr Mark Young commented: “The study clearly shows that smokers do have a tendency to drive faster and more inconsistently than non smokers, in effect confirming theories that smokers tend to have more risk-taking attitude to life. It’s also clear that smoking is an activity that diverts a driver’s attention away from the task of driving, especially for those drivers who choose to start smoking in their car following the ban.”

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RENTAL RISK

We’ve mentioned the latest insurance fraud – braking suddenly and violently in front of unsuspecting drivers with a view to making an inflated insurance claim – in these pages before but it appears the problem is growing.

The scam is particularly prevalent amongst the hire car community, where the perpetrator will take all the insurance cover available, give only a mobile number and then go hunting for a vulnerable victim. National Car Rental has been particularly badly affected and is currently defending a number of cases worth over £1.5 million.

It is always good to be wary of hire cars anyway because they are often being driven by tourists unfamiliar with the vehicle, the law and the driving culture in the UK. Now there is even greater reason to give them a wide berth.

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COPING WITH TRAUMA

Up to eight million British drivers could be suffering from a post vehicle collision condition known as ‘crashback’, which can lead to loss of confidence, nightmares about the incident and panic attacks even when they are not driving. Research suggests that around 170.000 people take six months or more to drive again after a crash.

This emphasises the point that it is important for fleet managers to conduct a post crash interview with any driver who has been involved in a collision, in order to assess any on-going after affects that might affect their working or driving performance. Ideally this should be done with consideration and support, and certainly without the requirement to apportion blame.

In nearly all cases drivers can be returned to their former confidence and performance level very quickly if they undertake a Drive & Survive Post Incident training course, details of which can be obtained from Sales Support on 0870 1218339 or via enquiries@drivesurvive.co.uk.

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HIGH RISK HIGHWAYS

A report has been published for the European Road Assessment Programme, highlighting Britain’s most dangerous roads. One road was notable for being in the highest risk category – the A682 between junction 13 of the M65 in Lancashire and Long Preston, North Yorkshire. Head researcher Dr Joanne Hill said that the road “fails on every collision type”.

You can check the risk rating for individual roads in the UK by going to the website http://217.174.251.13/.

Although not always possible, it would be good practice to avoid high-risk roads during the journey planning process.

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LICENCE TO KILL?

Driving licence acquisition fraud is rife in the UK it appears. The DSA has admitted that the problem is now far bigger than originally estimated. Andy Rice, head of the DSA’s fraud team said: “It is quite common for fraudsters to do over 100, sometimes over 200, tests on behalf of somebody else before we’re in a position to arrest them”.  The DSA believe that there could be tens of thousands of drivers who have acquired a licence without passing the test or even having any formal driving lessons.

Whilst the type of licence checking scheme that Drive & Survive offers will still not necessarily be able to spot a fraudulently acquired licence, it is very likely that such a driver will start to accrue penalty points and minor damage within a short space of time. If you have robust systems in place to monitor such incidents you will be in a position to investigate further. If you haven’t, the first you are likely to know about it is when the police come knocking on the door.

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USEFUL WEBSITE

Readers might like to have a look at a new general information website which uses video to get the message across and has a specific motoring section. Go to http://www.howto.tv/ and click on the ‘Motoring’ section. It’s early days and there are only a few items available currently but they are adding to the list on a weekly basis. So far there is advice on:

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SAFETY TECHNOLOGY

Ford has invented a clever system of support struts which raise the front of a smaller vehicle in the event of a collision with a larger one, leading to far fewer passenger injuries normally associated with ‘submarining’ under the vehicle they hit. The struts, deployed by an airbag style explosive charge, are fitted with small wheels which are designed to bring the vehicle to a halt gradually.

TRL have estimated that fitting such a device to every car sold in the UK could save 225 lives a year and Ford reckons that it could be retro fitted to models currently on the road.

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WORDS OF WISDOM FROM OUR TRAINING MANAGER

Vehicles are at their most stable (in dynamic terms) when travelling in a straight line at a constant speed. Braking, accelerating and cornering all reduce stability to some extent (depending upon how much of each is applied by the driver). Combining these ‘destabilising’ forces (such as cornering and braking) has the potential to unsettle the vehicle and, even with the help of modern stability-aiding devices, the normal laws of physics still apply!

When braking, the ‘reaction time’ part of the overall stopping distance roughly equates to the same distance in feet as the vehicle was travelling in miles per hour, so at 40 mph you will travel about 40 feet in the time between seeing the need to brake and actually applying the brakes.

To improve your braking technique try this experiment - count how long (in seconds) you usually brake for on your approach, for example, to roundabouts. Try doubling this time (let’s say from 4 seconds to 8 seconds) and see the effect it has on creating more space between you and drivers following you.

This technique works well in other road scenarios. Sometimes you can encourage traffic lights to turn in your favour by braking early and approaching the red light very slowly. The induction loops that control the phasing of the lights can be fooled into thinking there are more vehicles waiting and will consequently change sooner.

On most Pelican-type pedestrian crossings, the red light stays against vehicles for an average of only eight seconds so, after a bit of practice, you can use this fact and your new-found expertise to keep rolling and reduce your chances of being hit by other road users.

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