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2 out
of 3 Private Cars Used for Business Found to be Unroadworthy
An ongoing vehicle
monitoring survey has found that two out of three privately owned vehicles
driven on company business were not safe to be on the road.
These frightening
statistics come from the latest Total Motion Vehicle Monitor Survey, which
inspected 5,734 company and privately owned vehicles used for business
between April and September 2007.
The survey also
revealed that almost 60 per cent of the private vehicles were not properly
maintained and around a third of their drivers were not correctly
insured.
71 per cent of the
maintenance problems identified were tyre-related and should have been
picked up by any driver who conducted basic safety checks. However, 91
percent of drivers admitted to not making these checks – and 98 per cent
said their companies did not verify whether or not they did so.
This latest survey
showed a marked deterioration from the previous issue, which covered
October 2006 to March 2007. By contrast, the condition of company-owned
vehicles continued to improve, with just 0.2 per cent of the vehicles
inspected found to be unroadworthy.
“It is clear that the
safety issues raised by private cars being used for business are not being
addressed,” says Simon Hill, managing director of Total Motion. “Even
where companies are introducing duty of care policies they are failing to
enforce them.”
But Mr Hill does not
believe that fleet managers and drivers should bear all the
responsibility.
“After looking more
closely into these results, we believe that leasing suppliers, garages and
manufacturers are also partly to blame,” he says.
According to Mr Hill,
his research indicates that brokers are encouraging drivers to spend their
full cash-for-car allowances on leasing prestige brands, such as Audi, BMW
and Mercedes, on a non-maintained basis. As the vehicle gets older and
maintenance costs escalate, a proportion of the drivers cannot afford to
have the work done – so creating a potential safety issue.
“If ‘inessential’
service and repair costs are not covered by the allowance, our evidence
shows that cars are neglected, especially when high interest rates are
already reducing the driver’s disposable income,” he says. “We estimate
that around a third of drivers surveyed were in this position.”
Mr Hill also thinks
that standards within dealerships, garages, tyre fitters and fast fit
companies are inadequate. “Many of the faults found by Total Motion
inspectors had been previously missed, misdiagnosed or passed as safe by
qualified technicians”, he explains.
“The whole industry
needs to look at its processes and procedures and refocus on safety rather
than profits.”
The full Vehicle
Monitor Survey can be downloaded by
clicking here.
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