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Fleet decision-makers’ priorities for 2004 are once more health and safety and duty of care, to cut accidents and make drivers safer on the road. This is encouraging news for all road users and pedestrians, who will benefit from reduced accident rates. The Health and Safety Executive estimates that up to a third of all road traffic accidents involve somebody who is at work at the time which may account for over 20 fatalities, 250 serious injuries and 2,000 injuries every week. Under existing Health and Safety legislation, all employers and the self-employed have a legal obligation to manage occupational road risk (MORR) for all employees who drive at work, not just drivers in company-owned vehicles. Every driver has a duty of care to other people. This requires stringent checks on vehicle condition, vehicle maintenance, driving licences and drivers’ insurance. It also requires adherence to the law governing road traffic, including speed limits. However:
Business drivers do considerably more miles annually than the private motorist – 21,900 compared with 8,600. Does this mean that a company car driver is two-and-a-half times more likely to be caught speeding than a private motorist? If so, the rate of increase in prosecutions in 2004 confirms that almost one in four company car drivers will be prosecuted for speeding this year. More than a third of the accidents on UK roads involve an “at work” driver, despite company car drivers making up only one-tenth of all motorists. A typical fleet manager can expect 28% of his or her vehicles to be involved in an accident in any year. The question is, are these figures morally or economically defensible? Just what is the human price and financial cost of doing business? Controlling speed reduces the number of accidents, reduces the severity of accidents, and gives more thinking time and more opportunity to avoid accidents. Lower speed also means reduced fuel consumption, reduced wear on engines, gearboxes, brakes and tyres and reduced emissions, thereby helping to curtail costs and environmental damage. Yet, overall, MIRA found that keeping to the speed limits only increased journey times by one-and-a-half minutes every hour. The reduction in wear that limiting speed and engine revs gives goes to increasing the residual value of the vehicle, buyers having confidence that the vehicle has not been “thrashed” and comes from a responsible owner. Two vehicle disposal organisations estimate that £300 would be added to the value of a 36-month-old car/van which had a Speed Limiter fitted from new and that such a vehicle would tend to sell more readily. Limiting top speed and thereby reducing fuel consumption by just three miles per gallon can save £250 per year on each average light commercial vehicle’s fuel costs. Other significant benefits from managing work-related road safety include:
The effects of speeding on drivers, third parties and on vehicle costs are substantial. These costs can be minimised by the effective use of speed management systems, which assist drivers, fleet operators and employers to ensure compliance with, rather than avoidance of, speed limits. Most drivers – private and commercial, feel at risk from speed cameras – many accepting how easy it is to exceed speed limits in comfortable, quiet, cocooned modern vehicles, be they cars or vans; 54% not realising they were speeding when caught.
RoadSafe has declared that it aims to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drink driving. RoadSafe’s aim supports government and EU policy, with government targets for a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads and an EU target of a 50% reduction in road deaths, both by 2010. It is unrealistic to think that the clampdown on speeding is going to abate – the public and local government support for the reduction in road carnage is too great. While top-speed limitation has its place within a speed management policy, particularly in delivering financial savings, it is not a panacea. The statistics suggest that many drivers are “accidental” speeders. A simple driver aid may be all that is required to advise them when they are exceeding the relevant speed limit. Such devices can still deliver the fuel economies and reduced wear and tear of top-speed limiters, arguably across the full range of speed limits not just at top speed. A speed alert also maximises the driver’s “eyes on the road” time, giving increased probability of anticipating potential hazards. The empirical evidence suggests that the majority of speeding incidents occur in urban areas, where the vehicle is unlikely to have triggered any top-speed limiter. In establishing a speed management policy it is, therefore, essential to consider the relevance and importance of all speed limits, temporary and permanent, not just top speed. For vehicles covering high mileages across a range of speed limits, a speed management system which incorporates the flexibility to adjust to any statutory speed limit at the press of a button would deliver maximum benefit to drivers and employers alike. This would deliver tangible financial benefits and liability reduction to the employer and the driver. Statistically, most drivers speed. Are you going to wait until something happens to YOU?
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