If you are worried about driver behaviour and are afraid somebody from your team might engage in unsafe driving style habits, you should not only contact us as soon as possible to seek help, but also, meanwhile, make sure to continue reading this post, as Fleet News recently revealed Britain’s worst drivers and it might interest you - although we seriously hope your fleet is not involved!

Vantage Leasing, an associate of Lex Autolease, recently shared data on the worst drivers in Britain, which sees Halifax having the most motorists with penalty points on their licence (9.62% of the local driving licence holders), followed by Bradford, with the 9.46% of its driving population being the second highest points holders in the UK. Third place has been conquered by Huddersfield, with 9.04% of drivers having penalty points on their driving licence, while in terms of best practices, Canterbury seems to host the safest drivers: only 3.72% of the drivers of the town do have penalty points.

We are still not aware of a similar rank being made public for Ireland, though we can remember two related pieces of news about "worst drivers". In year 2009 Ireland was hunting a mysterious offender who repeatedly collected speeding tickets and parking fines throughout the different Irish counties. Apparently, every time the offender was stopped he was able to bypass justice by giving a different address. The enigma of the unknown transgressor was then solved once Garda officers realised that "Prawo Jadzy" was not actually the driver they were looking for, but the Polish translation of "driving licence". No secret motorist then, just a consistent error in copying the first name and surname of the driver, which had led to the creation of a "Mr Prawo Jadzy" with over 50 identities.

Learning from making mistakes brings benefits, they say. But some people might never learn the lesson - and Ray Hefferman is probably one of them, at least until his next try. This Cork man has been defined the worst driver in Ireland and failed his driving test for the 20th time on the last week of August. Hefferman has even taken the Department of Transport to court eight times to challenge the results of his tests, but lost every time and his car still displays an "L" plate...

Kidding aside, there is definitely room for significant improvements and plenty to learn if you start monitoring driver behaviour - you will be surprised how many savings can be achieved and how easy it can be to run a safe fleet. Talk to us if you wish to learn more!

 

 

 

 

 

If we all think about driver training for a couple of minutes, chances are that we are reminded—at least for those of us who have a licence—of our own driving lessons. This is probably why, when we think about fleet driver training, it puts us in mind of our driving instructor teaching us how to use the features of a vehicle.

 

Chances are, we could probably share stories regarding our experiences with our own instructor that would share similarities with some of the fleet training methods. But this is apparently going to change somewhat as new techniques have been considered lately, that could be introduced into driver training. It is in fact necessary, especially for professional drivers, for driver training to be on-going and for a range of skills to be included in fleet driver training; the kind of skills that are needed for the job which would survive beyond a driving test, to be refined with further experience.

 

This is commonly referred to, according to current trends, as driver coaching. But what are the skills that drivers—apart from the act of driving itself—need to master?

Drivers’ previous knowledge has a great impact on the training: most likely many drivers are quite proud and think they have had sufficient training on a vehicle and driving techniques. This is well and good, but you can also teach drivers to hone problem-solving skills. They will hopefully appreciate this, as it will make them much more independent and competent. Focus on observing certain situations and help them develop their ability to anticipate, improve their judgement, and manage risk assessment for the protection of themselves as well as to cultivate safe driving habits.

 
#2 - Reliability

If driving instructors focus more on creating a trustful relationship with drivers, they will instil within them the sense of responsibility they need in order to meet the challenges of their job. For this, trainers and companies need to know all the aspects of the job and understand them; as it is doesn't just simply come down to “driving from A to B”.

Drivers need to develop an awareness of what both they and other road users are doing, and this vigilance has to be maintained at all times—it has to become second nature. This could be achieved by encouraging drivers to reflect on their own experiences on the road and by that they will identify strategies to achieve their professional goals by driving safely.