Corporate Driver Training Idea: The Consequences of Speed

Perusing industry news in preparation for writing this blog post, we ran across an interesting commentary written by a local resident in Nottinghamshire detailing a speeding incident that landed him in a speed awareness course. The driver’s commentary could provide the basis for a very effective corporate driver training course on the consequences of speed – in terms of both crashes and penalty points for infractions.

The driver, who shall remain nameless for this post, wrote of how his decades-old record of incident-free driving was marred when he was caught speeding one day in November (2015). When he was offered the opportunity to take a speed awareness course rather than pay his fine, he jumped at it in order to keep his insurance rates from going up commensurate with penalty points being added to his licence. Yet what the man thought would be a few hours of lecturing and pontificating turned out to be very informative. He learned how speed plays a role in stopping a vehicle and, in cases of emergencies, its influence in crashes, injuries, and deaths.

It turns out that speed in and of itself is not necessarily a problem. It is speed in relation to one’s environment. For example, the driver related how much more distance one needs to stop going at 30 mph as opposed to 20 mph. He learned that the lower speed limits in congested residential and commercial areas are designed to give drivers enough time to stop should other cars or pedestrians suddenly appear in front of them. He learned how important it is to obey speed limits that are put in place not to slow drivers down, but to protect everyone involved.

Corporate Driver Responsibility

Without going into all the details of the commentary published by the Mansfield & Ashfield Chad, we will say we wholeheartedly agree with the writer’s understanding of speed and its consequences. We will go one step further by saying that professional drivers have an added responsibility due to the amount of time they spend on the road and the tendency for their vehicles to be larger and heavier than passenger cars.

We believe corporate driver training focusing on speed is beneficial to every fleet, regardless of its size or the vehicles used. The simple fact of the matter is that when speed is a factor in a crash, the guilty driver or drivers were going too fast for conditions. All of our roads have established limits for safety purposes; those limits should not be exceeded even under the best conditions. And when conditions deteriorate due to weather or traffic congestion, speeds should be reduced accordingly.

The HGV Training Centre is currently expanding our fleet training opportunities for corporate customers. We would love to be able to talk to you about designing a corporate driver training programme dealing with the issue of speed. Our corporate training can make your drivers safer without any detrimental effects on efficiency or productivity.

Sources:

Mansfield & Ashfield Chad – https://www.chad.co.uk/news/comment-speed-doesn-t-kill-it-s-the-idiots-behind-the-wheel-1-7655227