One in three road crashes are work related according to the TTC
In response to the news that 20 professional drivers die every seven days on UK roads, the TTC Group has put its backing behind National Road Safety Week.
The organisation has revealed that it is not just bus, coach and truck drivers but the motorists going to or from a meeting who are most at risk during the working day.
“With the current financial climate, many companies are still failing in their duty of care and opting to gamble the risk of prosecution rather than invest in training for those employees that drive on company business. Introducing a risk management strategy which includes targeted driver training is the answer to help cut these devastating statistics.” said Simon Protano, head of the Corporate Risk Management & Driver Development Division for the TTC Group.
Organisations which introduce driver training for their fleet soon start to have real results with fewer accidents, reduced fuel costs and lower insurance.
Despite UK road deaths falling to their lowest level, a total of 1,713 were killed last year on our roads, 21,657 seriously injured and there were almost 200,000 total road casualties last year.
The UK road safety education organisation is launching a national campaign as part of UK road safety week urging everyone to work together to cut the tragic toll.
With one in three road crashes work related, the TTC are urging motorists to adopt the COAST road safety principle – a checklist of measures which can save lives and reduce casualties on our roads:
- Concentrate – focus on the driving task and avoid distractions such as mobile phones
- Observe – Read the road actively and scan for vulnerable road users
- Anticipate – Expect the worst and be prepared, it’s a win, win situation. Always think – what if?
- Space – always leave at least a two second gap between you and the vehicle in front on a dry road. In the wet this needs to be at least doubled
- Time – Don’t rush – plan your journey and allow yourself plenty of time to think, plan and act – rushing can lead to poor decisions and a possible collision.
“National Road Safety Week is coming up and should encourage us all to concentrate and improve our driving skills. If we can learn to adopt the COAST strategy, it may save some lives. Virtually all road crashes involve human error and are avoidable,”
Speed, drink and drugs, not wearing seat belts and distractions are some of the main causes of deaths and serious injuries on the roads.
National Road Safety Week runs from November 10 to 16 and is organised by the national road safety charity, Brake.
