Are you spending too much time behind the wheel of your van? If so it could prove a fatal mistake
Telematics firm lifts the lid on problems caused by spending too long at the wheel The UK’s van drivers are spending too much time behind the wheel without a break, putting themselves and other road users at risk, according to figures from Airmax Remote.
There are 3 main ways that employers can help make our roads safer – managing drivers, managing vehicles and managing journeys
The telematics provider analysed data collected from 18,000 company vehicles (cars and vans) over a 12-month period, revealing the lengths of journeys undertaken without a break.
It showed that there were 83,504 journeys of more than three hours, with 2% of drivers doing 30 or more uninterrupted journeys of more than three hours per year.
Fatigue kills
According to official police-recorded accident data, fatigue is a factor in 2% of all injury accidents, but some studies have suggested that 20% of accidents on major roads can be attributed to tiredness.
Furthermore, road safety charity Brake says at least one in three (31%) fatal crashes and one in four (26%) serious injury crashes in Britain involve someone driving for work.
Dan Faulkner, sales director at Airmax Remote, said: “There are three main ways that employers can help make our roads safer – managing drivers, managing vehicles and managing journeys. “At Airmax Remote, our technology supports all of these activities, delivering effective exception-based reporting to deliver calls to action for fleet operators.
“This visibility forms an important foundation for any company developing or improving a road risk management programme and policies as it gives actionable insight to make a difference in reducing road risk, not to mention cost.”
The AA recommends that you don’t drive for more than eight hours in a day, you should take regular 15-minute breaks in journeys over three hours and you should aim to stop every two hours or so, especially if you’re not used to driving long distances.
