Insurance companies guilty of taking young drivers for a ride? Employers letting their drivers down and MoT dodgers. This and more in the fleet news round-up…
Good day to you all and welcome to this week’s edition of the fleet news round-up, where we’ll be looking at the fairness of insurance premiums for young drivers and what more employers could be doing to protect their fleet drivers. We also have top safety tips for drivers and motorcyclists plus shocking statistics relating to MoT’s and those who choose to drive without one.
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First to road safety charity IAM who have accused insurance companies of pricing young drivers off the road. Using a well known price comparison site a search was made for a fictional 17 year old driver who had held a full licence for one month and wanted only social use cover for a 2007 1.1 Kia Picanto with no previous claims or convictions. Other details included in the search were the vehicle would be parked on the road, the driver was in full-time education with a part time job and resided in the London Borough of Richmond. The results revealed the lowest annual quote to be £7,091.38 and the highest at just over £9,700.
“Young drivers can only learn safer driving by practising it, but huge insurance premiums risk pricing them off the road. The challenge for the government, the insurance industry and road safety experts is how to balance the need for experience with the very real risk that young drivers pose to themselves and other road users," commented IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig.
What are your views on this story? Do you feel it is fair that inexperienced drivers should pay more than those who have driven longer and have paid their dues? Or do you feel these premiums are unnecessarily excessive and have nothing to do with promoting safer driving or reducing risks for other drivers? Please leave a comment below.
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Staying with IAM, their Drive and Survive head of specialist driver training Simon Elstow gives his top tips on how motorcyclists and drivers should share the road safely and IAM’s top advanced driver Peter Roger gives his advice on approaching road signs.
“Motorcyclists are at much more risk than other road users and awareness of the risks they face need to be understood – especially at junctions in towns. Motorcycling is a fun and convenient way of travelling, so it is important riders appreciate how to protect themselves, and car drivers learn to take a bit more care when looking out for them," commented Elstow on the issue of road sharing etiquette.
Simon Elstow’s top tips:
Car drivers:
- Keep an eye out for motorcyclists. The biggest cause of accidents is failing to look properly, and this problem is exaggerated in the case of motorcycle collisions, as motorbikes are smaller, and less common than cars;
- Give them space. Don’t follow too close, or drive on their nearside – they may be avoiding potholes and other surface problems which aren’t an issue to a car driver;
- Use your mirrors so you see bikes approaching from behind. In particular check your mirrors before changing direction, especially in traffic queues;
- If a motorcyclist is trying to get past in heavy traffic, let them. Don’t try and impede their progress because you are stuck;
- Give clear and early signals to allow motorcyclists and other road users time to react;
- In bad weather allow motorcyclists even more space to deal with bad surface conditions.
Motorcyclists:
- Always assume that other road users may not have seen you;
- When travelling in a straight line position yourself where a car driver would be sitting. This is where other road users will be looking;
- Give drivers time to realise you are there – don’t arrive so fast you startle the driver;
- Always leave plenty of space between yourself and other traffic;
- Look well ahead to avoid needing to make sudden changes in direction for potholes etc.;
- Be seen. Big blocks of bright colour are better than broken up or patterned clothing, which effectively camouflages you. And always make sure you have your headlight on.
“Good traffic signs make driving safer, less stressful and save fuel. In a recent poll less than 20 per cent of respondents felt foliage clearance was being done well, so be prepared to slow down and deal with unexpected hazards,” commented Peter Roger on the issue of road signage and possible problems.
His top tips are:
- Look well ahead to see road signs – the more time you give yourself to see them the better. They give important information and guidance on hazards, road layouts and directions – don’t ignore them;
- Be especially careful where there are temporary signs – they are there for a specific reason;
- If a sign is unclear because of wear or leaves and branches, slow down to give yourself time to react to unexpected hazards;
- Five minutes spent with the Highway Code can make understanding of signs much clearer;
- If you notice a sign that is misspelt, is misleading, overcrowded or hidden by dirt and foliage, report it to the council. The message has to be clear so that drivers can act on them immediately.
- Read the road signs to double check your route – don’t rely too heavily on your sat-nav in case things have changed;
- Never make a last minute manoeuvre that could be dangerous, such as a sharp turn, sudden braking or a u-turn. Drive on until you find a safe place to turn around.
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Next we look at The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the research it recently commissioned with TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) on the effectiveness of road safety strategy planning and training undertaken by many companies to reduce the risk of road traffic accidents (RTA’s).
The worrying results revealed that some companies may be unintentionally paying mere lip service to the issue as many neglected to follow up these strategies to confirm whether they actually improve safety results.
“Disappointingly, our review has shown that we actually have very little evidence to suggest which of the strategies companies are using to reduce work-related RTAs are actually working, and by how much. Although there are some promising approaches, companies may be spending a lot of money stabbing in the dark, using a range of interventions that are as-yet unproven. We think that some companies are achieving results, but we want to encourage businesses across the UK to take a long, hard evaluative look at whether what they’re doing is simply ticking boxes, or actually yielding results. We need well controlled evaluation to show us what works, by how much, and why,” commented TRL principal road safety researcher Shaun Helman.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) have stated that as many as a third of all the UK’s road traffic accidents are work related. They also fully expect road accidents to rise from the ninth highest cause of of death (2004) to the fifth by the year 2030.
The statistics of work-related RTAs show us that currently, we haven’t hit on the golden formula that leaves company drivers better equipped to deal with driving risks. That is why we are calling for all work-related RTAs to be included in RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995) statistics. After all, the more information we have about the incidents, the more we will be able to find common causes of accidents, which will help to determine the best ways of dealing with work-related RTAs," added IOSH Food and Drink Group chair Neil Catton.
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Now to new research from Kwik Fit that has revealed that 34 per cent of drivers are in danger of being caught out when their MOT expires through simply not planning ahead.
In addition to those who then go on to forget about their MoT expiry date by not booking its renewal in advance there are a staggering 1.1 million car owners who are choosing not to get their car’s MoT renewed on the due date.
This is blamed on financial issues and allowing the date to lapse in order to get the best longevity from the new test. However, this practice leaves those drivers open to possible prosecution with Police records showing as many as 10 per cent of cars on UK roads may not be in possession of an MoT.
“If car owners are used to their car regularly passing the MoT with no problems, they may view an MoT simply as a piece of paper they need in order to get their car taxed. However, the statistics show that the test plays a vital role in identifying defects on a car that render it unroadworthy and unsafe to drive,“ commented David White, customer services director at Kwik Fit.
With a huge 40 per cent of all cars failing their annual MOT this certainly proves David White’s point with the the five most common reasons for failure being:
- Lighting and signalling defects;
- Suspension defects;
- Defective brakes;
- Illegal tyres;
- Impaired drivers view of the road.
With September the busiest month of the year for MOTs, Kwik Fit advise drivers not to leave booking their due MoT until the last minute.
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News now from two of the industries data providers. First to KeeResources, who are warning fleet managers and companies that – before buying or leasing any company vehicle – top of their list of priorities should be the issue of whole life costs, which can be affected by many areas such as company car policy, specification levels, residual values, SMR, disposal arrangements, fuel policy, fleet insurance and supply terms plus the impact of employers’ NI and BIK tax liabilities for drivers.
"With the peak in new car registrations this month, and company budgets being squeezed ever tighter, whole life costs should be the prime consideration before signing contracts," advised Mark Jowsey, commercial director at KeeResources.
A relevant white paper on Vehicle Whole Life Costs: Best Practice for Fleet Managers is available for free download at http://kwikcarcost.com/downloads/?action=signup
Next to MIB data solutions, who are feeling rebellious and are challenging the natural progression of technology with a radical return to ‘old school’ methods of marketing within the fleet sector.
Yes, good old post is the way forward as Nick Boddington, Managing Director of MIB, explains: "Over the last few years, companies marketing to fleets have switched in large numbers to e-mail. They do this because e-mail is cheap and fast, which are advantages that should not be underestimated. However, e-mail is also easy to ignore and delete without reading.
MIB’s records also suggests that more companies are requesting postal databases and some are investing time and money into creating marketing media to be sent purely through postal methods.
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ŠKODA UK has celebrated 10 years of the vRS model and have sold its 10,000 vehicle to fleet at the same time. In addition to this the company celebrated the vRS becoming the world’s fastest 2.0-litre supercharged production car in the world by achieving a speed of 227.080 mph on Utah’s legendary Bonneville Salt Flat.
“This is a truly stunning achievement. Our goal was to break 200 mph as a celebration of 10 years of vRS, and we have achieved that, and significantly more. To come at the same time as we celebrate reaching the 10,000 mark on our vRS fleet sales is certainly something to be proud of," enthused Martin Burke, Head of Fleet Sales at ŠKODA UK.
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And finally…
A huge well done to the five brave and possibly certifiable ladies of Fleet Alliance who’s death defying parachute jump from more than 10,000 feet has raised over £1350 for Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres and swelled the coffers the company has already raised this year for the charity to over £13,350.
The ‘Fleet Alliance Daredevils’ as they have been dubbed are Lauren Sallows, Hayley McGhie, Leigh Meldrum, Laura McKechnie and Jenny McRobb. This was also their very first sky-dive.
Ladies, we here at FleetDirectory.co.uk salute you!
Anyone wishing to support the Fleet Alliance fund-raising effort should call 0845 601 8407 or visit www.justgiving.com/fleet-alliance.
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And that’s it for another week! We hope you have enjoyed the various topics covered and hope you’ll share your views with us in the comments box below. Until next week…
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