4 out of 10 business drivers receive penalty points when driving for work
Almost 4 in 10 business drivers (that's nearly 40%!) have been given points on their licence from work-related driving offences, according to research from Masternaut, reported this week in Fleet News.
In total, 39% of business drivers said that they had received points on their licence for work-related driving misdemeanours. Almost two-thirds (62%) of those with points on their licence were from speeding offences.
Other offences committed by business drivers include driving without reasonable consideration for other road users (15%), driving without due care or attention (14%), traffic light-related offences (14%) and dangerous driving (10%).
Masternaut surveyed 2,000 UK employees who drive as part of their job, to examine the effect of employee penalty points amassed when driving for work. Business drivers with points on their licence, on average, have accrued seven points from work-related offences.
This follows UK accident data released in June 2015 by the Department of Transport, reporting an overall increase of 6% in road casualties in 2014, the first increase since 1997. HGVs, LCVs and vans saw an increase of 10% in casualties.
Despite more than a third of business drivers getting penalty points on their licence from work offences, almost three quarters say that they are confident they would pass their driving test again. Meanwhile, seven in 10 business drivers are confident that they know all the laws of the road.
However, this confidence might be misplaced as more than half (50%) of business drivers said that driving training would make them better and safer drivers. Previous research from Masternaut revealed that 70% of business drivers aren’t offered driver training by their employers.
Telematics is shown to improve driver behaviour and safety, providing businesses with the technology and tool kits for keeping staff safe on the road.
Steve Towe, chief commercial officer and UK managing director, said: “There’s a worrying number of business drivers on our roads who are driving in a manner that is serious enough for them to have points put on their licence. Telematics provides broader social benefits beyond simple vehicle tracking and can help towards reducing the number of points accrued by drivers on the job."
