Despite the stress given to the importance of driving safely and the increased sensitization campaigns about the dangers of speeding and distracted driving, the year 2014 has seen a significantly higher number of fleet driver fines, of drivers committing road traffic offenses.
According to a survey carried out by Lex Autolease, shared by Fleet Point in February, fleet drivers were fined 145,000 times during 2014; company drivers committed 20,525 more driving offences than in the previous year—2013.
The offenses do include parking fines, but there has been a considerable rise in number related to safety, such as speeding, dangerous driving or mobile phone misuse behind the wheel. The latter increased from 34,495 incidents in 2013 to 40,001 in 2014.
The statistics are quite worrying for companies (as well as for road users), because the survey only accounts for the drivers who were actually spotted and fined for flouting the rules, so there is more than likely a sizeable percentage of drivers who aren’t observing basic standards of safe driving and haven’t, as yet, been “caught in the act”.
Speeding, distracted driving, risky manoeuvring and unsafe driving behaviour may not only result in dangerous collisions leading to serious injury, trauma or even death, but, of course, there are also the fines, penalty points, downtime and the consequences of failing to comply with “the duty of care” to consider.
Companies must try to be aware of this unwelcome increase in work-related driving offenses and just how their employees’ style of driving can impact on both their drivers' safety and their company's image and costs.
