TRANSPORT AND FLEET
Play safe to pay less later
Choose carefully and company cars don’t have to be a headache, either for the employer or the employee, says Selwyn Cooper, national corporate operations manager at Volvo Car UK. Cutting costs has to include protecting fl eet drivers and other road users, alongside the mpg and CO2
. A
ccording to a recent industry report from a campaign to improve work-related road
safety, ‘Driving for Better Business’, every day more than 150 vehicles being driven on business are involved in accidents and every year people at work are involved in nearly 50,000 road injuries and deaths.
Transport industry injuries are three times the rate of other industry sectors, and it is claimed that drivers doing over 25,000 miles per year have the same risk of being killed at work as coal miners! For many people, the most dangerous thing they do each day at work is drive – and yet many of the deaths and injuries are preventable. HSE research quotes the cost to UK employers relating to insurance and states that for every £1 recovered through insurance, a further £8 to £36 is not.
Road safety experts indicate several factors: drivers need to be taught the dangers of mistakes and they need to learn how to drive their own vehicle safely. Companies like Volvo want to ensure that all road users are protected and active safety equipment encourages people to consider their behaviour and pay attention to road safety, rather than rely solely on the systems. There are three parties who all have a role to play in achieving safe roads for all: employers, employees and the car makers.
Many organisations have seen the strength in the business case to improve safety, for corporate social responsibility reasons, legislative reasons (including fi nes, prison and negative publicity) along with the fi nancial reasons in terms of car repairs, lost productivity, and replacement costs.
And many organisations for those reasons have taken steps to put good practice, checking, monitoring and assessment in place.
Employees are asked to play their part by supplying copies of licences, ensuring their cars are roadworthy and taking part in training.
But is it enough? There are always more things that can be achieved and this is where the right choice of car can come into play.
64 | public sector executive Sep/Oct 13
Euro NCAP is well-known for its crash test results, which provide motorists with an
independent assessment of the safety performance of cars sold in Europe. Recently Volvo saw its V40 awarded the accolade of the highest score ever, making it the safest car ever tested to date. Thatcham in the UK has provided signifi cant research to Euro NCAP on the effectiveness of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems, which will now be applied to all the tests in 2014.
Volvo was the fi rst to introduce this as standard, starting with its XC60 model in 2008. Volvo also won a global innovation accolade from NCAP this year for its pedestrian protection systems, including the world’s fi rst pedestrian airbag.
However, awards are great for the display cabinet but what do they mean to the driver in the street? Often not a great deal. The perception can be that thinking about safety is great, “it won’t happen to me”, and it must be expensive to buy, and I need to save money. But how much is a smokescreen?
Tristar Worldwide, the UK’s largest chauffeur service, has demonstrated through its Volvo fl eet of V70 and S80 how the accident prevention systems save both lives and money.
Following the introduction of cars with City Safety technology, there was a 27% reduction in accidents and a 65% reduction in associated costs. The introduction of blind spot assistance created a further 5% reduction in accidents and 33% in costs, and rear park assist led to 31% fewer collisions, with costs down by 52%. 2012 annual costs were compared to the previous four years to calculate the data.
Most fl eet managers would love to improve their accident costs to this degree, and all it takes is a consideration at the outset of the technology available on cars to help achieve it.
As an employee much is made of the cost savings to be made by ensuring you choose the lowest CO2
band payments, plus the highest mpg, to get the
maximum miles per pound; but what about the money and time saved by avoiding accidents?
What about asking the question – ‘has my employer done their utmost to ensure I am in the safest car possible when driving at work, along with ensuring I know how to behave while driving and both myself and the car are fi t for purpose?’
Volvo can show how one does not compromise the other. V40 D2 emits 88g/km, in the 13% BIK tax band, and publishes a combined mpg of 83.1, while having many of the above- mentioned safety systems as
standard,
alongside many more available as extras, and maintaining a good whole life cost for the cycle as a company car.
Safety should never be compromised in order to save money, creating a false economy.
For the fl eet, it’s about delivering clear cost advantages and helping to keep the workforce out of harm’s way. They have the right to be as safe in a vehicle as in an offi ce.
model to achieve the lowest tax
Selwyn Cooper
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.volvocars.co.uk
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