It’s the fleet manager’s worst nightmare: getting a call near the end of a long day explaining that one of the company’s vehicles has been involved in a serious crash. Most fleet managers prepare for it in some way; all of them hope that day never comes. Fleet managers hope and pray that not a single lorry or coach driver they employ will be involved in a serious crash, let alone cause one, but hoping and praying is not enough. Things happen.
According to HGV UK, the data show that road crashes are still a big problem here. In 2014 (the last year for which data is available), road crashes resulted in:
- 1,658 fatalities
- 20,676 serious injuries
- 123,988 minor injuries.
HGV UK further reports that almost 21,000 of the reported crashes involved commercial vehicles. Approximately 45% of the incidents in which commercial vehicles were involved occurred at intersections while 25% of the accidents were attributed solely to commercial drivers. Was a lorry or coach driver employed by your company involved in one of the accidents?
How to Make Safer Drivers
There is no way to prevent every single accident from happening. We live in an imperfect world where people make mistakes. However, companies operating fleets can take steps to make their drivers as safe as possible. Furthermore, they have an obligation to do so.
The HGV Training Centre believes in a three-tiered strategy to make the average lorry or coach driver safer. The strategy is as follows:
- Regular Training – Every company operating a fleet of lorries or buses should have a regular training programme in place. Studies consistently show that regular training improves safety by making drivers more aware of potential hazards. Training can include time in the classroom as well as practice driving with an experienced instructor. For the record, improving driver safety is one of the goals of the Driver CPC mandate.
- Company Safety Policies – Companies that do not have existing safety policies are more likely to experience accidents within their ranks. The reason is simple: a lack of safety policies leaves drivers without the information they may need to make decisions that will affect their driving. For example, what is a company’s policy on continuing to drive during inclement weather events?
- Use of Technology – Training and policies are good starting points to increase safety among fleets. Both can be greatly enhanced by incorporating some of the great new technologies we now have available to us. For example, side cameras can be integrated with telematics to provide an early warning that might prevent a crash at a junction. We are seeing all sorts of new equipment that can be retrofitted to older vehicles and integrated into all new purchases.
Making a safer lorry or coach driver is the responsibility of today’s modern fleets. It is a responsibility shared by everyone within the fleet structure, not just the driver sitting behind the wheel every day.
Sources:
