Britain is unlike most other European countries in that cars that are owned or financed by companies make up a significant proportion of the total vehicle fleet, with over half of the new cars sold each year in this country being registered in the name of an organisation. The drivers of company cars are an important sub-group of the driving population, and it has been suggested that they make a disproportionate contribution to the total numbers of road accidents. The aim of this report is to examine the evidence for such a `fleet driver effect', the factors contributing to it, and the measures that could be employed to reduce the effect. After defining and describing the area of study, the report reviews the literature on accident risk to compare `company' and `private' drivers, drawing upon the programme of accident liability studies carried out by TRL in the last decade. It then examines the various measures to improve safety that have been used in the past, with special reference to fleet driver training, and assesses the evidence for their effectiveness. Following this, the results are presented of some qualitative research carried out with fleet managers, trainers, drivers and fleet insurers. (A)
Abstract