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Survey Supports Need
for Enforcement
An ongoing survey of vehicles
driven on company business has shown that company drivers are flaunting
basic health & safety guidelines – and companies are failing to penalise
them.
The latest results from the Total Motion Vehicle Monitor Survey (Jul 2005
-Sep 2006), which has inspected 4,768 company and privately owned
vehicles, show that almost a quarter (23%) of vehicles used for business
purposes are unroadworthy and 39% are not properly maintained.
Only 11% of company drivers carry out regular safety checks on items such
as tyres, lights, fluids and glass, and more than half admit they would
lie to say they had done them if asked. However, 84% said they would take
better care of their company vehicles if they were penalised for damage
and unnecessary wear in some way.
“This is the third set of results we have published, and the trend just
keeps getting worse,” says Simon Hill, managing director of Total Motion.
“It appears that the only way to change drivers’ attitudes and behaviour
is through enforcement and penalties, yet few companies are doing anything
about it.”
Mr Hill blames the problem on a lack of effective fleet management and on
the failure of the authorities to prosecute companies under
driving-related health & safety legislation.
“The tendency to put the fleet in the hands of the HR or finance
department rather than a dedicated, professional fleet manager has led to
a fall in standards,” he says. “Over half the drivers questioned (57%)
felt the people responsible for their fleet did not really know what they
were doing.
“Even where there are fleet managers, boards are not giving them the funds
to invest in policies and monitoring systems, or the power to impose
penalties, because they don’t see the need. I believe initially we need to
see some high profile prosecutions to force companies to take the law
seriously and help raise road safety standards.
His views are supported by a comparison of the results from fleets managed
internally or by a leasing company, with those using Total Motion driver
support services (including ongoing vehicle and driver monitoring,
maintenance, road tax and insurance reminders and monthly fleet management
reports). Of the 392 company and 418 private vehicles supported by Total
Motion, just 3.5% of vehicles were found to be unroadworthy and 6% were
not properly maintained.
“We see this as a clear demonstration that more proactive fleet management
and monitoring can significantly reduce the problem,” says Mr Hill. “But
it’s a process that needs to be maintained and enforced in order to reduce
these figures even further.”
Mr Hill also questions companies’ perception that introducing such
policies and systems will increase costs. “By having an effective policy a
business can easily cover its increased costs through the significant
savings that can be made on maintenance, repair and running costs,” he
says.
>> Download the latest vehicle monitoring survey Q3 2006
For further information,
please contact:
Simon Hill, tel: 0116 251 1122
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