AS we come to the end of Road Safety Week (16-22 November 2020), which has been organised by the road safety charity Brake, it’s important that any messages about fleet safety do not dissipate into the hazy past as we come up to facing some of the more challenging road conditions over winter.
This year’s focus by Brake is on speed, and the need for business owners to instill a speed reduction culture within their enterprises.
Brake is clear about its message. The charity says:
The formula is simple: the higher the speed, the longer the stopping distance, the harder the crash and the greater the risk of death and injury. ‘No Need to Speed’ is a reminder to everyone of how the speed they travel affects other people.
Using appropriate speed for the conditions – whether it is close to schools or on the motorway – is the key message from Brake.
Of course, it’s easy to leave slightly later than intended and try to make up time, but directors of SMEs can ask staff to call ahead to communicate they will be arriving behind time, for example. Taking the pressure off the need to speed is what Brake wants business fleets to consider.
Hopefully such behaviours spread into personal lives, too, so the safety influence can be wider than simply the business environment.
Rob Marshall is the Operations Director at Gateway2Lease, a personal and business leasing provider. Rob’s leasing company has been supporting Road Safety Week, highlighting it in the company’s blog Putting safety at the centre of your fleet.
Rob says:
If drivers think safety before they even get into the car, it not only has the potential to save human suffering but a lessening of even minor accidents reduces fleet costs and vehicles spent unproductively off road while they are repaired.
And that is one of the key points managing a small fleet. An accident, followed by a car off road and perhaps an employee sick for several weeks, has a disproportionate impact on a smaller business.
For a fleet of, say, 10 cars, a 10% reduction in sales personnel on the road is a significant loss of efficiency, a potential sales dip, and additional costs that need to be allocated to the company car fleet along with higher insurance costs, not to mention the well-being of staff.
RoSPA, the occupational safety charity, writing about the costing of accidents, says that the outlay to business is often greater than perceived by directors:
Accident and ill-health costs can be likened to an iceberg: costs that are recoverable are visible but those that are unrecoverable are hidden below the waterline and are many times greater.
Road Safety In Numbers
20% – the increase in road traffic collisions following the clocks turning back an hour in autumn
1,752 – the number of people killed on Great Britain’s roads in 2019 (just a 2% drop on the previous year)
60 – if you are over this age, then you are increasingly likely to be involved in a fatality (up by 9% since 2018)
20 – the number of people likely to die in work related road crashes each week
25, 000 – the annual mileage that puts you on a risk level with high hazard sectors such as construction or quarrying
67% – rural roads have the greatest percentage of fatal accidents
25,662 – the number of traffic accidents that happened in London in 2018, the highest in any UK region
So What Should Small Fleets Action On Road Safety?
Simon Turner is the Campaign Manager for the Driving for Better Business campaign, a Highways England programme to raise awareness of the significant benefits achievable by companies that effectively manage work-related driving.
In a conversation with car maker Volvo Cars about fleet safety, he gives this advice:
First of all, don’t think of it as red tape! The business benefits can be really significant, so think of it as investing time in reducing business risk and improving efficiency and performance.
After that, the focus should be on creating and communicating a comprehensive driving for work policy – this identifies the risks and sets out the rules and standards you want your drivers to follow.
If this sounds a little daunting, Simon advises that often the best place to start is with your own staff. He says, ask them:
If you’re not sure what risks your drivers face, then ask them. They might tell you their work schedules are too heavy so they end up speeding or become fatigued after a long day. Try to include your drivers and communicate well with them, so they’re more likely to follow whatever policies you want to implement.
In the end, your staff are the lifeblood of any SME firm. Not ensuring a safety-first attitude in the fleet vehicles they drive for work is simply not investing in their future, and potentially the livelihood of your business.
The final word should go to Rob Marshall:
Don’t let the prospect of improving safety in your business be daunting. It can be done. It will help protect your staff and reduce the running costs of your fleet. And place safety right at its centre.
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