Lex Autolease reports rise in business motoring offences
Dec 21 2010 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
BUSINESS drivers are committing more driving offences year on year, according to a report by Lex Autolease.
A study performed on a sample of 130,000 vehicles, by the UK's largest company car provider, shows that the total number of driving-related fines has surged by 10% over the last year with an average of 110 offences reported to Lex Autolease every day.
Almost a third of company car and vans drivers have committed a driving offence in the last 12 months – with a third (32%) of those being hit with a speeding fine.
Four out of 10 offenders have committed a parking offence, while the biggest individual increase was for unpaid congestion charges. Some 7% of drivers fail to pre-pay before entering London city centre.
Steve Osborne, head of fleet management at Lex Autolease, said: “We manage the largest fleet in the UK on behalf of businesses all over the country, so we capture a huge amount of data on motoring offences.”
Lex Autolease argues that the main increase in offences is driver-related, yet it is the business community that often counts the cost either by not passing on the fines or suffering from downtime incurred by the employee and the vehicle.
Said Mr Osborne: "It's hard to quantify how large that total cost may be, but clearly it's significant and unnecessary at a time when business are looking to pare back on expenses.
"These are costs that British businesses should really be getting under control and tackling through better employee and fleet management.
“Driver education is crucial and companies need to invest in these areas to minimise costs, accident rates and downtime.”
Lex Autolease has compiled a list of “high risk” driver characteristics to identify and prioritise for training.
They include high business mileage, long working hours and shift working, employees using private vehicles for business, drivers using high-performance cars or sports cars, drivers under 21 years of age and drivers who have held a full driving licence for less than two years.
Others include foreign nationals with little experience of driving in the UK and employees with poor accident and claims histories.
