ROAD SAFETY WEEK 2022: UK’s leading video telematics provider launches fleet risk reduction campaign, calling on fleet operators to prioritise safety.
The road transport sector needs to unite in taking a zero-tolerance approach to the main causes of road deaths and injuries according to Simon Marsh, CEO of VisionTrack. Speaking at the start of Road Safety Week and the launch of VisionTrack’s own fleet risk reduction campaign, he encouraged commercial vehicle operators to do more to improve work-related road safety that accounts for a third of all traffic collisions each year.
“Government figures estimate that work-related driving could be responsible for over 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries every week, which is simply unacceptable when vehicles have never been safer,” explains Marsh. “As a co-headline sponsor of Brake’s Road Safety Week, we are using this opportunity to make an urgent call to action to eliminate fleet risk that is costing lives and causing unnecessary suffering. As part of this, we are launching our own initiative, so we can work with customers and the wider road transport community to tackle some of the biggest threats facing their drivers and other road users.”
The campaign is designed to educate and engage with drivers and companies, with the aim of mitigating the impact of fleet risk on the road network. The initiative will call on vehicle operators to target five key pillars of commercial fleet safety, which can contribute to a dramatic reduction in road collisions and ultimately save lives:
- Slow Down – exceeding the speed limit and travelling too fast for the driving conditions, contributed to 27% of fatal collisions in 2020, as well as 16% of collisions in which a serious injury occurred and 13% of total collisions (UK police statistics).
- Belt Up – not wearing a seatbelt contributed to 30% of road deaths in 2021, a figure that increased to 47% at night. Despite this, over 5% of drivers still do not use a seatbelt (Department for Transport).
- Take a Break – fatigue contributes to about 4% of fatal road crashes and 2% of all collisions in the UK, but the true figure is likely to be far higher as tiredness is difficult to spot and test for (UK police statistics).
- Just Drive – using a mobile phone behind the wheel makes motorists four times more likely to be in a crash, while reaction times when using a hands-free phone are 30% slower than if a driver is at the drink-drive limit (Brake).
- Stay Focused – between 10% and 30% of road collisions are caused by driver distraction (European Commission), with 51 fatalities and 2,023 recorded in UK resulting from in-vehicle distraction in 2020 (Department of Transport).
“Working with our key partners in the UK and internationally – including Brake, Together for Safer Roads and Driving for Better Business – our objective is to champion road safety. Road Safety Week is crucial to raising awareness and promoting important messages, but we wanted to introduce our own initiative that maintains VisionTrack’s focus throughout the year. Our fleet risk reduction campaign will be a key part of our commitment to making the roads a safer place for all and we look forward to announcing further details shortly,” adds Marsh.
