| With its CD ROM-based Fleet Driver Assessment
programme, BSM is giving smaller fleets a cost-effective chance
to improve their road safety records |
Paul Atkinson
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| “It is very difficult for fleet
managers to understand where their responsibilities absolutely
lie in relation to their statutory obligations and best practice” |
BSM has launched a new state-of-the-art computer-based fleet driver
assessment tool that, uniquely, includes a mental skills programme
designed to improve an employee’s ability to react to road
hazards.
The four-stage CD ROM-based Fleet Driver Assessment programme
takes an occupational driver 60 minutes to complete and is designed
to give a fleet decision-maker an informed starting point on the
road to ensuring the business complies with ever-toughening at-work
driving health and safety and duty of care legislation. Apart from
assessing a driver’s cognitive skills through 12 mental tasks
that relate directly to driving, including visual scanning and speed
estimation to predict an employee’s performance, the programme
also includes assessment of hazard perception skills with drivers
being asked to identify potential road risks using video clips.
In addition, the assessment includes a psychometric test to identify
a driver’s attitude to risk and multiple-choice questions
to clarify knowledge of driving theory and the Highway Code. Once
completed, the results of each employee’s performance are
fed back via the internet to a constantly-updated BSM database of
5,000 drivers. Each employee receives immediate individual feedback
and a detailed report on all drivers is sent to the fleet controller,
which shows the relative performance of all employees and makes
recommendations for further training where appropriate.
BSM Managing Director Paul Atkinson says: “By using four
quite different assessment tools within the overall package, our
new programme is unparalleled in the UK. It is the most comprehensive
tool on the marketplace.” While rival fleet risk management
and driver-training companies offer CD ROM and web-based packages,
Mr Atkinson says the inclusion of the 25-minute cognitive skills
section makes it an industry first.
Adapted from the company’s 2003 Prince Michael International
Road Safety Award-winning Mind Alertness Programme (MAP) for learner
drivers, the new technology is aimed at answering fleet manager
research requests. Aimed particularly at small fleets, which typically
do not have a dedicated full-time fleet manager, Mr Atkinson says:
“There is a willingness among fleet managers and those in
charge in smaller fleets to undertake driver training, but they
are unsure how to identify the exact requirements in relation to
the on-road risk associated with individual members of staff. “It
was, therefore, clear that if we could give an independent valid
assessment of an employee’s driving skills using MAP and extend
the package into other related areas those in charge of fleets would
have an insight into an individual’s risk performance.”
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| “Speed is a considerably more significant
factor in young-driver accidents than it is in accidents involving
older drivers” |
The completed assessment benchmarks drivers against the 5,000-strong
database and which quartile employees appear in will determine what
happens next. Thus giving an idea to the fleet manager as to where
available driver-training money should be targeted. Mr Atkinson
says: “We would recommend that a company start at the bottom
with those employees who have scored least effectively on the assessment
tool. The organisation is then reducing the risk factor associated
with those drivers most likely to be involved in an incident.”
Drivers who score highly in the assessment, and are thus deemed
least at risk, are unlikely to require follow-up training. Meanwhile
tuition for employees could range from additional PC-based training
to vehicle familiarisation, particularly aimed at staff new to the
UK or taking delivery of a new vehicle, or on-road driver training
under the watchful eye of a qualified trainer. The CD ROM assessment
costs £25-£40 per driver, depending on the size of the
fleet. The cost of follow-up training ranges from £40 for
a one-hour session to £130 for a four-hour on-the-road session.
While there is a raft of marketplace advice on what fleet chiefs
should do to ensure they meet their legal obligations, Mr Atkinson
says: “I think it is very difficult for fleet managers to
understand where their responsibilities absolutely lie in relation
to their statutory obligations and best practice. “The new
BSM Fleet Driver Assessment tool is a cost-effective starting point
for all fleets, but particularly small fleets from a major recognised
driver training brand.”
| Keeping young drivers
in mind
BSM’s unique Mind Alertness Programme (MAP) could
be the difference between passing and failing your driving
test, it is claimed. Research shows that those learner drivers
who have used the interactive training package had a 16% higher
driving test pass rate than those who didn’t. By training
a learner’s mental skills, key abilities like judging
distance and speed, as well as the ability to identify and
react to road hazards, can be considerably enhanced.
Last year’s launch of the innovative programme, designed
to address the perceived mental weakness in learner drivers
and thus helping them to improve their chances of passing
the hazard perception test within the theory part of the driving
test, won BSM a third Prince Michael International Road Safety
Award last December. The hazard perception test became a new
element within the theory test at the end of 2002 and consists
of a computer-based test of moving video clips, which involves
candidates clicking whenever they spot a developing hazard
that may result in the driver having to take some action,
such as changing speed or direction. The hazard perception
test consists of 14 video clips, each lasting about one minute.
The earlier the developing hazard is spotted, and a response
made, the higher the score.
The test was introduced because statistics reveal that young
drivers between 17 and 25 years of age are more likely to
be involved in a road traffic accident than any other age
group.
Specifically, within the first two years of passing the
driving test, new drivers are more vulnerable than any other
drivers:
- One in five new drivers has an accident in their first
year on the road
- Although 17-21-year-olds represent only about 7% of all
licence holders, they make up 13% of drivers involved in
injury accidents
- Young drivers – both male and female – have
more accidents in the evenings and early mornings than older
drivers and a higher proportion of these are single-vehicle
accidents
- Speed is a considerably more significant factor in young-driver
accidents than it is in accidents involving older drivers
- Alcohol, fatigue and peer pressure from friends also contributes
to accidents
The reasons for their higher risk include poor physical control
of the vehicle, as well as poor attitudes and behaviour. Generally,
it takes one year before the accident rate of young drivers
starts to tail off and two years before the accident rate
of young drivers equals that of experienced drivers. In other
words, it takes two years to acquire the experience necessary
to keep you alive.
However, research has shown that three hours of hazard perception
training can reduce the accident rate of the inexperienced
driver so that they are less at risk within the first two
years of passing the driving test. Following an initial 30-minute
assessment MAP generates a feedback form that allows the BSM
instructor to fine-tune a driver’s in-car training to
focus on their weaker areas.
MAP then gives learner drivers a programme of 36 exercises
designed to improve the 12 mental abilities that have a direct
affect on driving and should be completed alongside on-road
training. Each training session takes about 20 minutes.
The MAP CD ROM, for use on home PCs, takes each user through
a series of tests of various cognitive skills – each
one crucial to driving – including perception of speed
and distance, focus of attention and speed of decision-making.
By measuring a driver’s ability and putting them through
the MAP training programme it is hoped to maximise their mental
ability to pass the driving test and make them a safer driver.
On average, MAP users recorded:
- A 30.2% improvement in breadth of visual search
- A 16% improvement in reaction time
- An 11.5% improvement in correct time estimation
Former DSA chief driving examiner Keith Cameron says: “MAP
will change the way we learn to drive in the UK, by giving
instructors profiles of their learners’ abilities and
by developing essential driving skills in areas such as risk
taking, focus and divided attention. It should improve their
chances of passing the practical driving test – as well
as making them safer drivers.”
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