Nobody can say that they drive impeccably 100% of the time, but do we ever really stop to consider the potential consequences of our actions?

If you regularly drive on the roads around the UK for work, you will have more than likely witnessed examples of bad behaviour from other drivers. You may even be guilty of one or two misdemeanours yourself! Due to the increasing time pressures of modern business, multi-tasking is common and often takes place behind the wheel of a car. However, when we are trying to control a vehicle travelling at speed, should we really be concentrating on anything else? Very few of us take the time to consider the consequences of being caught by the police or if something went horribly wrong.

Clear Car Leasing hopes that by highlighting some of the most ‘popular’ negative activities that happen whilst driving and the potential consequences, fewer people’s careers will be impacted through driving bans and that the roads around the UK will become that little bit safer.

Speeding

Of all of the behaviours explored in this article, speeding is the one that most of us are probably guilty of. With mounting pressures to meet targets and deadlines, it is easy to slip into a routine of leaving just enough time to travel to meetings and appointments. However, as soon as a slight delay occurs the temptation to speed is there. A new study by Fixster suggests that almost three-quarters of British drivers regularly break the speed limit. The survey also revealed that 27% of people speed whenever they can get away with it.

This suggests that fines and penalty points aren’t enough of a deterrent, or that drivers don’t think or consider that they might get caught. However, 60% of participants feel that current punishments are sufficient and only 20% thought that consequences of being caught should be more severe.

This implies a more educational approach is required i.e. informing drivers of the frequency of accidents that occur whilst speeding and the potential consequences of these actions. For example, according to brake.org.uk, a pedestrian hit at 30mph has a 1 in 5 chance of being killed, but this rises to a 1 in 3 if they are hit at 35mph. From a business perspective, it is highlighting the potential impact a driving ban could potentially have on an organisation and an individual’s career.

Mobiles and other distractions

A recent survey from Go Compare Car Insurance revealed that 34% of drivers use their mobile phone whilst driving, despite a fine increase to £60 and automatic 3 penalty points being introduced in 2017. This increases to 58% of motorists when focussing on 18-24 year olds. The reasons for mobile use behind the wheel, other than telephone calls or texting, include checking emails & social media, changing music and reprogramming sat-nav apps.

In a separate study by The Floow of more than 2000 motorists, over 80% admitted that they get distracted whilst driving by everything, from changing the radio station and eating to arguing with a passenger and singing along to a good tune! Also, in a survey of 1 million users from whocanfixmycar.com, 56% of drivers in Britain believe in-car tech is just as distracting as mobile phones.

Technology and services, such as mobiles and drive through take-a-ways, allow us to live our life on the go, but with more tasks being carried out whilst driving, less time is being spent concentrating on the road. Similar to speeding, it doesn’t seem that current penalties are a big enough deterrent to reduce this behaviour, so educating drivers to a great extent may be more successful. For instance, how many drivers know that reactions times whilst texting are double those of drink drivers, or that a third of fatal car crashes in the UK are caused by distracted drivers?

Driving whilst drowsy

New research from the AA Charitable Trust has revealed that 30% of drivers have driven when feeling very tired on a long motorway journey and 25% on a late finish drive from work. According to the AA Charitable Trust, it is estimated that up to 25% of fatal accidents are caused by drivers who have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Drivers must take responsibility and stop for a rest if they are feeling sleepy behind the wheel as they are not only endangering their own life, but also the life of passengers and everyone else on the road. The possibility of death or prison should be enough of a deterrent for people to stop driving if they are feeling tired.

A final thought

All of the bad behaviours highlighted in this article are symptoms of the increasing time pressures in our busy lives to achieve more in the limited time we have available.

Companies must take responsibility to ease some of these pressures by ensuring employees, when driving is part of their role, do so safely. They can do this by encouraging company drivers to leave adequate time to travel, to take regular breaks whilst driving and to leave all other tasks aside, such as making calls or dictating, until they are no longer behind the wheel of a car.

This should go some way to making roads safer and reduce the impact on businesses where employees are banned from driving as a result from bad habits.