OFFENDERS UP

The Ministry of Justice has released the latest figures on motoring offences and it makes alarming reading.

Although the 13 million motoring offences figure recorded was actually 3% down on last year, 27% of all ‘death by dangerous driving’ offences are now caused by under 21 year olds.  In fact male drivers in the 17 to 20 year old bracket were responsible for 32% of all motoring-related convictions, despite representing only 3% of the driving population.

Also between 2004 and 2005 ‘careless driving’ offences across the board rose by a staggering 35%.

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CREAM OF THE CROP

The next time you go in the supermarket, have a look at how uniform and blemish free the fresh fruit and vegetables are.  The quality of modern produce is largely down to companies like Syngenta, a leading supplier of innovative and highly effective crop protection products.

Although any employee required to drive for Syngenta automatically goes through an assessment programme, IAM Fleet is helping their consultants stay safe on the highways and byways of this land by providing a series of driver awareness training days that include 4x4 off road, trailer towing and Confined Space Manoeuvring elements.

“Most of the drivers will probably never have to tow anything”, said IAM Fleet Business Manager Malcolm Thorne, “but it’s amazing how enjoyable such exercises can be and how they help raise people’s awareness and understanding of the machines in their control.”

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CARRYING ON TO THE BITTER END

94 employees of the haulier and logistics company Kuehne & Nagel were put through their paces by IAM Fleet recently, as they fought it out to be ‘Driver of the Year’. The drivers, all of whom normally drive trucks bearing the famous John Smiths or Fosters beer brand logos, were assessed on a variety of driving exercises, which taxed their skill, judgement and knowledge.

But it took a lot of bottle to cope with the less serious side of the competition – a session around a tight tarmac rally course and a thrash around in a twin-engined buggy. Even less serious was the evening gala dinner with cabaret and prize presentations at Stoneleigh Park, the site of the annual Royal Show.

Driver of the Year competitions are a great way of communicating the virtues of a driver risk management programme in the workplace and IAM Fleet can organise these throughout the UK, as long as a suitable off road venue is available. Please contact us for more details.

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SEASONAL TIP

Because of the unseasonably mild temperatures it is easy to forget that winter is around the corner. In fact we often get a sprinkling of snow in November out of the blue.

It is perhaps because we are not geared up for snow that it always seems to catch us out.

Respect the weather: if snow is forecast, before you set off, ask yourself if your journey is really necessary.

If it is, ensure that you have plenty of fuel, and if you can, put a shovel and some matting in the boot. You may not need them, but together with a vacuum flask and a warm coat, they can make all the difference if you do get stuck.

A mobile phone and membership of a breakdown service are both godsends in bad weather conditions. If your journey has been delayed due to the snow, do not try to make up time by driving faster; find somewhere safe to pull over, ring ahead and then concentrate on driving safely.

Except in extreme cases, motorways are kept free of snow and ice by gritter lorries. The same is not always true of slip roads and hard shoulders, while bridges are particularly susceptible to re-freezing after the initial snow has melted.

Drive on snow as if you are trying to walk on eggs without breaking them. Stay in as high a gear as possible as it will reduce the chances of accelerator movement leading to loss of traction.

Pay close attention to the road surface. If you keep to the left hand lane when snow starts to settle, the weight of traffic will tend to clear the surface. Likewise avoid the right hand lane, which will always be the first to become impassable.

When snow or slush accumulates in ridges between lanes, avoid putting your wheels on these unless you absolutely have to.

As a general rule, drop your speed and allow a greater stopping distance when the weather conditions are deteriorating. Aim to use your controls with extra smoothness when the road surface is slippery.

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BACK TO THE CLASSROOM

A group of graduates working for Shell in Aberdeen had no qualms about returning to the classroom…..because they knew the outcome would give them an edge out on the open road.

60 of the enterprising youngsters arranged their own bespoke driver training programme and called the IAM in to help. The result was a series of classroom based seminars, followed by practical on-road training over a ten day period.

“As it was the youngsters’ own initiative they were very keen on every aspect of the project”, said Derek Camp, IAM Fleet’s National Business Manager, “and eager to learn all they could from the opportunity. If there was a way of providing all new drivers with this type of experience, I’ve no doubt that accident rates for this category would drop significantly.”

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GRECIAN 1,000,000

A survey carried out by fleet management specialist Arval claims that 83% of companies have no system in place to manage and monitor drivers that are using their own cars for business purposes. It is estimated that the so-called ‘grey fleet’ – an expression coined because so little appears to be known about them – comprises 1,000,000 vehicles.

Employers imagine that, just because they are not directly responsible for the provision of the vehicle, they no longer have a duty of care towards that driver. In the event of a serious incident they may be liable, particularly as 53% appear not to check that insurance cover includes business use and 35% of employers don’t even check if employees have valid licences. Even more worryingly only 24% of businesses carried out any form of driving risk assessment, something that is a legal requirement.

IAM Fleet can of course offer guidance and advice on a whole host of risk management issues, and supply the solutions where necessary.

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FIRING UP ENTHUSIASM

Station Officer Dave Hewston of Coleshill Fire Station in Warwickshire is the winner of the 2007 Dominic Fox Award from the IAM. The Dominic Fox Award acknowledges and celebrates outstanding road safety work, particularly that which is aimed at young drivers and riders.

With input from the IAM and Warwickshire Police, Station Officer Hewston and his team had introduced a course for young drivers called “Driving Down The Risk”, in response to the excessively high rate of road fatalities and injuries in the county.

“People are 190 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a road collision in North Warwickshire than they are to die in a fire in the same area,” said Mr Hewston. “Although it is uncertain why young drivers should appear in disproportionate numbers in the statistics, lack of driving experience and poor judgement are key factors.”

Some 90 youngsters attended and benefited from the course, which culminated in passing the IAM test.

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PACKING A PUNCH

In promoting a new load securing system recently, carmaker Chevrolet missed a vital safety message opportunity.

Apparently we British waste £350 million a year by badly packing our groceries in our cars and then damaging them so badly between the supermarket and home that they have to be thrown away. One of the reasons this happens is that two-thirds of drivers elect to use the back seat for the items, as opposed to stacking them tightly in the boot.

Whilst highlighting this wastage is very laudable, Chevrolet seem to have glossed over the fact that having loose, and very often heavy, items on the back seat of a vehicle is highly dangerous and could cause serious injury to the occupants in the event of a collision.

Given that 29% of all damaged shopping comprises wine bottles, the potential risk for head injuries, or worse, is frightening. Food for thought certainly.

Our advice is to use the boot every time and start by packing the heaviest items up against the rear seat bulkhead. Try to fill a whole width of shopping at a time, avoiding side-to-side contact of glass items if you can. Use coats, scarves or umbrellas to wedge the contents in and always insert the rear seat belts in their buckles to reduce the likelihood of the rear seat squab falling forward under braking.

Then drive smoothly and consistently all the way to your destination.

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DRIVING AND SMOKING DON’T MIX

A lorry driver has been fined a total of £260 for smoking in the cab of his vehicle, despite it displaying the ‘No Smoking’ signs now required by law. Driver Leonard King was parked up whilst puffing away but made the mistake of throwing his cigarette out of the cab window in front of a Council Dog Warden who promptly reported him.

The court fined him £75 for the initial offence and then added £75 for littering, £30 for investigative costs, £65 for legal costs and £15 for a ‘victim surcharge’, bringing the total to £260.

Whilst this proves that what was thought to be a virtually unenforceable ruling in fact has teeth, it does serve to raise the profile of the potentially negative effect that smoking can have whilst driving. Aside from the obvious distractions associated with finding the cigarette, lighting it, being able to see properly through the fog and then safely disposing of it, the mere holding of said item can compromise control whilst at the wheel.

And then there’s the inside of the windscreen, which needs regular cleaning to maintain a clear view. Smoking is not illegal whilst driving but it doesn’t make sense for the thinking driver. Indeed there is a trend for insurance companies to raise the premiums of smokers and even in some cases refuse to cover them.

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USEFUL WEBSITE

If you are responsible for a vehicle fleet and have no automated system in place to check on the insurance cover of a vehicle being driven for work purposes, you can now put your mind at rest by going onto www.askmid.com.

Just insert the vehicle registration number, click the check box that confirms you are authorised to enquire about the vehicle concerned and you will receive an on-screen message confirming the insurance cover status.

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THERE’S SNOW BUSINESS LIKE SLOW BUSINESS

For those of you with commercial vehicles that depend for their livelihood upon completing their delivery runs on a pre-planned schedule, the only thing worse than traffic hold-ups caused by crashes are the delays as a result of the vagaries of the British weather.

In reaction to the severe weather conditions that in January 2007 resulted in the overturning of 48 goods vehicles and the stranding of hundreds more, the Highways Agency, in partnership with the Freight Transport Association and Road Haulage Association, has launched the Severe Weather Alert service.

Information on the state of all motorways and A roads will be relayed through radio travel bulletins, the Highways Agency Traffic Radio service (DAB sets only), on www.travelradio.org.uk and through the FTA and RHA membership network.

An ‘amber alert’ will advise drivers that disruption is highly likely and a red alert will indicate that drivers should immediately leave the road network and find a safe place to park.

Having reliable information before you set out on a journey is vital and this would seem to be an important contribution to journey planning.

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THE SAFE ONES

The Ford Mondeo and VW Tiguan are the latest vehicles to be awarded five stars for Adult Occupant Protection by the Euro NCAP.

Any vehicle with a Euro NCAP five star rating will have a significant advantage for the occupants in a crash situation and should be an important factor in company vehicle choice lists. If you want to check the crash rating of the cars on your fleet go to www.euroncap.com.

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MOBILE ARMCHAIRS?

During our on-road training sessions we routinely warn drivers that it is easy to be lulled into a sense of false security in modern cars, given all the crash protection and driver aids with which they are equipped.

The experts at Brunel University have now given this view some academic credence by revealing that many motorists are now at risk because cars are almost too well designed.  Research proved that drivers are acutely sensitive to auditory and tactile feedback, from for example engine noise and steering feel, which can be used to monitor speed without constant reference to the speedometer.

Whilst such inputs are relatively easy to pick up in older cars, it isn’t as easy nowadays. Modern vehicles are so well insulated and refined that drivers have to rely more on instrumentation than the ‘seat of the pants’ feel of yesteryear.

So, an even better argument than ever then for retaining 100% concentration and honing those observation and anticipation skills.

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APPRECIATIVE CUSTOMERS

Feedback about IAM Fleet trainer Ian McGibbon from a BP participant:
“I thoroughly enjoyed my training. My instructor Ian McGibbon made me feel very relaxed and comfortable the whole way through. I found it very informative and am still trying to make the improvements suggested to me. I am now finding that I am more aware of what is going on around me.  I would recommend Ian as an instructor to all my colleagues.”

Feedback about IAM Fleet trainer Lawrence Ensor from a Halifax Bank participant:
“All the guys who have spent the day with him so far have come back buzzing with enthusiasm, having spent a great day on the road with him. His approach and style is proving to be a perfect fit for us and everyone has taken a huge amount from his coaching. I just wanted to make sure that the positive feedback was communicated back to the right person.”

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USEFUL LINKS

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THE IAM FLEET TEAM

Sales team and account management
Sue Pesch	Derek Camp	Iain Stuart	Malcolm Thorne	Andy Bolton	Richard Kitching
Sales Support
Rosie Flynn	Geraldine Morley	Barbara Dudley	Helen Edwards	Natasha Liverpool - Peters	Elliot Tucker
Julie Johnson	Stephanie Moran
Training
Lloyd Brown	Simon Elstow