Despite 86% of fleets experiencing collisions in the past 12-months, an alarming number of drivers are still driving without consideration for their safety

One in six (16%) business drivers feel invincible when driving, claiming that they never consider their safety to be at risk, according to research from Masternaut, a pan-European provider of fleet telematics solutions.

Van and LCV drivers are the least likely to feel invincible, with only 10% saying that they don’t consider their safety while driving. This contrasts to 26% of public transport drivers, who feel invincible on the road at all times. 17% of business fleet car drivers and HGV and lorry drivers never think about their personal safety on the road.

In contrast, 15% of business drivers said that they feel vulnerable all of the time when they are on the road. HGV and lorry drivers feel the most unsafe, with 21% of drivers feeling vulnerable all of the time when they are driving.

As part of a focus on helping fleets improve safety on the road, Masternaut surveyed 2,000 UK employees that drive as part of their job to highlight the progress in road safety education and the work that is still required for further improvement.

Steve Towe, Chief Commercial Officer and UK Managing Director, commented, “Our research shows that a high percentage of business drivers don’t consider their safety to be at risk – despite driving being amongst the most dangerous profession. Research from The Institute of Advanced Motorists’ Drive & Survive shows that 86% of fleets have experienced an accident in the past 12 months, so it’s alarming to see so many drivers still not considering their safety when driving.”

Motorways were cited as the most unsafe type of road to drive on with 27% of drivers concerned about their safety. This is despite just 3.9% of all 2013 UK road accidents* taking place on motorways, showing that motorways are comparatively the safest type of road to drive on.

Drivers also felt unsafe on rural roads, with a quarter (25%) saying they feel vulnerable. This rises to 42% amongst HGV and lorry drivers and 36% of LCV and van drivers.

“The tools and technology exist to help educate drivers on safe driving practises, which can be driven by the intelligent application of telematics,” continues Towe. “Telematics has broader social benefits that it can offer to protect our drivers, not just in terms of notifying us of a collision, but in preventive and proactive driver-centric applications designed to improve behaviour”.

“Driver training programmes should be one of the critical tools for fleets to ensure that their drivers feel safe when driving and most importantly, avoid causing unnecessary risks to other road users. We, as an industry, are great at articulating fuel savings but we also want to see the debate widen to include safety. We believe we can do so much more” added Towe.

Telematics technology from Masternaut has evolved so that driver centric training programmes using data and insight from an intelligent telematics system can be delivered without the traditional map-based services protecting driver privacy. This in the past has been the limiting factor in the uptake of driver services, but has now been solved with Masternaut’s next generation telematics platform, Masternaut Connect.

Masternaut Connect is proven to improve driver behaviour, reducing instances of speeding and harsh braking, acceleration and cornering. UK businesses and fleet managers can easily implement a driver training programme using data and insight gained from Masternaut Connect. By collating information on driver behaviour, Connect can give an in-depth look at how businesses can improve safety and driving standards within their workforce, helping to reduce the amount of invincible and vulnerable drivers on the roads.

For more information on Masternaut please visit www.masternaut.com.

*Department for Transport statistics; RAS40002; Reported accidents, vehicles and casualties by severity, road class, built-up and non built-up roads. Available to download via: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/357420/ras40002.xls