New figures that show road deaths are at the lowest level ever recorded
should not cause fleets to treat the issue of safety with complacency - but
are instead are probable sign that their risk policies are working.
Department for Transport statistics show that the number of people killed in
road deaths in 2010 fell to 1,857 - a reduction of 16 per cent on the
previous year and the lowest since figures were first compiled in 1926.
Other figures for the same period were similarly encouraging. A total of
22,660 people were reported killed or seriously injured, a fall of eight per
cent, while there were 208,655 casualties - including slight injuries,
serious injuries and fatalities - which means a reduction of six per cent.
Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC, said: "These are excellent figures
but should not be seen as a sign that fleets can start to relax when it
comes to the issue of safety. Instead, there is a strong possibility that
the risk management policies that have been adopted in recent years have
made a contribution to these results."
Briggs said that many of the companies that CFC dealt with as users of its
Licence Link licence checking software and other fleet management products
had created a genuine safety culture during the last few years.
He explained: "There are, of course, fleets for whom risk management remains
a box ticking exercise but there are many others that have generated a high
level of interest in the subject of safety at all levels from management to
drivers.
"It is now eight years since the ground breaking 'Driving at Work' fleet
risk guidance was released by the Health and Safety Executive and during
that time fleet treatment of the issue of safety has changed beyond all
recognition. The challenge now is to play a part in driving the figures for
death and injury on the roads lower still."