Road safety charity Brake is calling on fleet operators to crack down on mobile phone use at the wheel, as fewer than half (38 percent) of respondents in its annual Fleet Safety Survey have an organisation-wide policy banning all employees from using hands-free phones at the wheel.
The Fleet Safety Survey covered the six key areas of the Brake Pledge:
· Slow – within speed limits
· Sober – free from alcohol or drugs
· Sharp – not tired, ill or with poor eyesight
· Silent – phone off and out of reach
· Secure – belted up in a safe vehicle
· Sustainable – only when you must.
Driving is a highly unpredictable and risky activity, which requires full attention always as drivers who perform a secondary task at the wheel are two to three times more likely to crash.
Whilst the number of respondents who have an organisation-wide policy banning all mobile phone use, including hands free, has increased from three in 10 respondents to four in 10 since Brake’s last survey on this topic in 2013, Brake is urging all companies to adopt such policies, given research shows that the call itself is the main distraction.
Technological innovation means an increasing amount of in-vehicle systems for drivers to interact with, such as satnav or GPS, Bluetooth and touch-screen displays, yet just 44 percent of respondents have a policy that drivers should not adjust, or communicate using, any of their in-vehicle technology while driving.
Many drivers allow themselves to be distracted because they believe they are in control, and do not believe distraction poses a significant risk.
However, 98 percent are not able to divide their attention without significant deterioration in driving performance. It is essential that organisations have policies in place that ban drivers from using mobile phones at the wheel.
More than 200 fleet operators completed this survey; the majority from the UK with responses also coming from fleets based in Australasia, Asia, Africa, North America, and mainland Europe.
Respondents manage a total of more than 190,000 vehicles including mopeds, cars, vans, trucks, and buses, and more than 170,000 employees driving for work. The size of the fleets varied: the smallest were single-vehicle operators, the largest had over 80,000 vehicles.
Other key survey findings include:
· fewer than one in 10 respondents (8 percent) prioritise environmental concerns when making vehicle purchasing and leasing decisions
· only three in 10 (33 percent) require a full eyesight test for all new staff who drive for work, or proof they had one recently
· only one in 10 (12 percent) have vehicle safety ratings as their top priority when making purchasing and leasing decisions
· only five in 10 respondents (53 percent) strongly agree that their organisation sees licence checking as a priority
· Three in 10 respondents (31 percent) don’t provide any training, even at a remedial level, on staying within legal speed limits.
Brake NZ’s director Caroline Perry says distraction is a factor in many crashes, and drivers who divide their attention are significantly increasing their risk of being involved in a crash.
“All organisations with staff who drive for work should include distraction in their fleet safety policy and put measures in place to discourage drivers from putting themselves and others at risk,” she maintains.
Perry adds that the Brake Pledge covers key areas of managing occupational road risk, including distraction, so this year’s fleet safety survey gives a great snapshot of the policies and procedures that fleets have in place to manage these areas of risk.
“I urge fleet operators to see how their company measures up compared to our survey respondents, and to identify the areas of road risk management where you can improve your practices.”
Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.
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