Driver safety must remain top priority despite survey findings

Whilst concern over the illegal use of mobile phones by company vehicle drivers was the most important issue 12 months ago, it is marginally less significant now, with other issues such as environmental concerns, fuel economy and road tolls almost doubling in importance since the last quarter.

And, although duty of care remains a firm priority for the survey’s participants, year on year its importance has declined by around six percent, the sharpest decline of all the influencing factors measured. Driver and vehicle safety showed the second and third most significant annual falls respectively, both around four percent: disturbing in light of the huge volume of existing research demonstrating company car drivers are around 50% more likely to be involved in road accidents causing over 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries every week.

Interestingly, Company Car Trends shows a reduction in the number of hours company car and van drivers spend on the roads, perhaps reflecting improved travelling times thanks to better congestion management efforts or the increased adoption of electronic meeting technology, like video conferencing, which may be curtailing the need for individuals to travel on business.

However, as most road safety campaigners believe road traffic accidents result from drivers taking risks rather than mileage travelled, this is of little comfort to the public.

The results are based upon the views of around 700 decision makers, who exert a major influence on their businesses’ company car policies including fleet, finance, operations, HR and purchasing professionals. 75% of the responses, gathered electronically by independent researchers, represent the opinions of companies with turnovers exceeding £5 million.

Produced as a quarterly monitor of trends, attitudes and opinions in a wide variety of areas including business confidence, vehicle demand, fleet acquisition methods, policy influences and business mileage, the latest statistics from Company Car Trends also demonstrate that:

• When constructing fleet policies, reliability of product (87%) and whole life cost planning (80%) have jumped up the priority lists in the last three months by some 17% and 18% respectively. Driver choice and taxation issues have also grown in importance.
• Non-traditional respondents, from functions like finance and HR, have become more influential when it comes to making fleet decisions whilst the traditional fleet manager’s role is evolving into a more consultative function.
  
• Decision makers are more confident about their organisations’ and the economy’s prospects for growth with an overall rise in optimism of almost 10% compared with this time last year

Rich Green concludes:” Despite the prominence of duty of care issues in the public arena, the fact that safety concerns have declined amongst professionals is worrying. The push to reduce costs must not distract businesses from their responsibility to protect their drivers and their reputations. 

About Company Car Trends

Company Car Trends is produced every quarter for GE Commercial Finance, Fleet Services, by an independent research agency, and, this quarter, is based on responses from a sample of 674 companies who replied to an online survey. Key points from this report are made available to the media to show indications of the latest developments in the fleet market.

GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services, with more than 1.2 million vehicles worldwide is a leading global car leasing and fleet management company, with operations in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. GE Fleet Services' European businesses with 250.000 cars are located in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

With over US$220 billion in assets, GE Commercial Finance, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, offers businesses around the globe an array of financial services and products.

GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming, and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.

In the UK, GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services has a fleet of 54,000 vehicles and is based at head offices in Sale, near Manchester, where 250 people are employed.

www.gefleetservices.com

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Simon Wells

Paperchase Public Relations

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Inge Declercq

GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services

Brand & Communications Manager Europe



 
 
 



 
 
 



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