Motorpoint launches pioneering customer safety info scheme
Customers of Motorpoint, the first retail motor group in the UK to become a supporter of RoadSafe, are to be advised of the safety features fitted to vehicles with windscreen stickers on each model listing equipment...
David Shelton: believes the majority of people are not aware of safety facts
Additionally, in the vehicle handover and collection area at each of the five Motorpoint sites - in Derby, Glasgow, Burnley, Newport and Peterborough - plasma screens will show videos highlighting safe driving techniques and the impact key safety-related features can have on saving lives.
Both initiatives are about to be launched with the windscreen stickers, which will be featured in every one of the almost 4,000 vehicles for sale at Motorpoint sites at any single time, listing safety features on each model such as electronic stability control, driver and passenger airbags, side airbags, curtain airbags, ABS brakes, traction control and whether a model has side impact protection.
Motorpoint is believed to be the first retailer to launch such an initiative and will also promote road safety through its call centre and its website.
This year Motorpoint will sell around 35,000 new and used cars and managing director David Shelton said: "We are in contact with a large percentage of the driving public and it is my belief that the majority of them are not aware of the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.
"More than 700 motorists a week buy their car from a Motorpoint centre so that is a lot of people we can influence in terms of their safety on the road. As a major seller of cars we have a responsibility to provide safety information to motorists."
Mr Shelton confessed to having 'no idea' that almost 3,000 people were killed and nearly 300,000 injured a year on the country's roads and, he added: "There is clearly a lack of knowledge about the danger of driving as shown through the road casualty figures. Having learned about the casualty rates it is clear that we must educate the public both in terms of their driving style and the type of vehicles they choose."
RoadSafe director Adrian Walsh said: "Motorpoint's initiative is a significant development for us and provides an important opportunity to be working, for the first time, with a retail operation to promote road safety messages at the point of sale directly to drivers."