Firms asked to help in young drivers’ safety study
EMPLOYERS are being asked to take part in a major research study aimed at helping young drivers to stay safe when they are on the road as part of their job...
A research study is aimed at helping young drivers to stay safe when they are on the road
And among the questions being asked is whether employers would recognise and make use of a ‘driving for work qualification’ when recruiting or managing young staff who drive as part of their job.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ ‘Young Drivers at Work’ project wants the views of managers who employ 17- 24-year-old drivers.
The investigation has been launched with the Government looking at reforming driver training and testing and developing vocational qualifications for at-work drivers (RoadSafe: summer 2008). A questionnaire for employers can be accessed at www.rospa.com/RoadSafety/youngdriversatwork/index/htm with views being asked for on the qualification idea and what should be included in such a qualification or training programme. RoSPA also wants to know how well the present system of driver training and testing prepares young people for the sort of driving they do for work. The study is being supported by the Government’s ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme, which is managed by RoadSafe, as well as the Driving Standards Agency, Buckinghamshire County Council and Lancashire County Council. A report on the findings will be published in March next year and will feed into the Government’s own lifelong driver development consultation programme. Road crashes are the single biggest killer of young people in the UK with almost 1,200 killed or seriously injured on the roads every year. Young drivers, especially those under 20, are nearly 12 times more likely than those aged 35-65 to have caused a fatal crash than to have been innocently involved in one.
With young drivers and workrelated driving being two of today’s biggest road safety challenges, hopes are high that the study will lead to a better understanding of the safety issues involved in these employees getting behind the wheel for tasks such as making deliveries, going to meetings or travelling between sites.
In the questionnaire, employers are being asked to compare the driving styles of young and more experienced drivers, including how they assess risks, route planning, fuel-efficiency and awareness of the danger of fatigue.
They are also being questioned about: any policies they have in place, such as a minimum age limit for drivers; how well the present system of learner driver training and testing prepares people to drive for work; and whether post-test driver training would be useful in the workplace.
Duncan Vernon, RoSPA road safety manager for England, said: “A range of factors put young drivers at particular risk, including their lack of experience, their weakness in identifying potential hazards and some attitudes, such as overconfidence.
“Deadline pressures, unfamiliar routes and making frequent delivery stops can make driving for work very different to driving at other times and issues such as these are not covered during learner training.”