Reducing work-related road accidents

14 July

The BVRLA has urged the Department for Transport to be more ambitious in its attempts to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads.

Responding to a DfT consultation on improving road safety beyond 2010, the association has asked the government to increase its goal of cutting the number of deaths on British roads by one-third by 2020.

“Given the immense progress already made by all sectors of the road-user community, we believe that a reduction of 40% is achievable by 2020,” said John Lewis, chief executive of the BVRLA and chairman of the work-related road safety group Driving for Better Business.

In its response, the BVRLA has highlighted the use of more road safety technology and standards for driver training as areas where the DfT can make significant progress.

“Manufacturers have produced plenty of technology like anti-lock brakes (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) that promises to get motorists out of trouble, but they can actually encourage people to drive faster,” said John Lewis.

“Speed is recorded as a contributory factor in 25% of all road deaths. The Department should commit to producing a national digital speed map and encourage the development of non-mandatory intelligent speed adaptation systems, which monitor vehicle speeds and help drivers adhere to local limits.”

In the area of driver training, the BVRLA believes that the government should consider extending the range vocational qualifications available for people who drive cars and vans as part of their job. This should be combined with setting standards for those offering professional driver training.

Elsewhere in its response, the BVRLA calls on the government to conduct a review of the way work-related road accidents are reported.

“Government data and industry estimates suggest that between 25 and 30% of road death incidents in the UK involve at least one person driving for work. It is essential that we get a more effective way of reporting at-work road accidents so that we can understand how and why they are occurring,” said John Lewis.

“Using this information, we could come up with some tightly-focussed road safety campaigns that really hit home with employers and employees.”

The BVRLA’s full consultation response and its recently published Driving at Work Guide can be downloaded from the Quick Links section on our homepage.

About the BVRLA:
The BVRLA is the trade body for companies engaged in the leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles. Its members provide short-term rental, contract hire and fleet management services to corporate users and consumers. They operate a combined fleet of 2.6 million cars, vans and trucks, buying 44% of all new vehicles sold in the UK. Through its members and their customers, the BVRLA represents the interests of more than two million business car drivers and the 10 million people who use a rental vehicle each year. As well as lobbying the government on key issues affecting the sector, the BVRLA regulates the industry through a mandatory code of conduct.

For more information:
Toby Poston – head of communications
toby@bvrla.co.uk
tel: 01494 545700
mob: 07979 756533