It may seem like an obvious question at first – of course safe driving is important right? However, if you look at what safe driving actually is and means you may find that it is something you’re not doing all the time. Not only that but there are benefits to safe driving that go beyond ensuring your own safety, especially if driving is your job.
The most recent provisional statistics for road fatalities in the UK, covering 2023, show a decline in road deaths. In 2023, there were an estimated 1,645 road fatalities, a 4% reduction compared to 2022. However, pedestrian fatalities increased by 6%, raising concerns about pedestrian safety despite recent changes to the Highway Code aimed at protecting vulnerable road users.
With statistics showing that fatal accidents in the UK every year have remained relatively static since 2012, staying around 1700 mark it’s clear that more needs to be done to reduce the risk of road traffic accidents.
Aside from the obvious reduction in risk of accidents, safe driving has many other benefits.
First of all, safe driving offers significant benefits the driver. Driving can be a stressful job, and even more specifically a long and enduring job. However, driving safely is far more relaxing than risky behaviour, and it helps reduce any additional stress on the road.
A report by the Transport Research Laboratory found that stress levels in drivers rise with risky behaviour and unexpected incidents, while steady, safe driving lowers heart rates and reduces mental strain. Moreover, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) highlights that stress hormones, such as cortisol, spike during aggressive driving but are minimized when drivers adopt safer habits.
In addition to improving your mood on the road safe driving most importantly increases the likelihood you will return home safely at the end of your shift.
First of all, safe driving offers significant benefits the driver. Driving can be a stressful job, and even more specifically a long and enduring job. However, driving safely is far more relaxing than risky behaviour, and it helps reduce any additional stress on the road.
Safe driving, whilst important for people, is also important for vehicles. Smooth and safe driving not only minimises accidents but also over time reduces wear and tear, improves fuel economy and reduces overall running costs.
There is a lot of time that goes into dealing with the follow up of an accident as well hefty costs in terms of repairs and potentially driver time-off work. Not only that but there is a lot of reputational risk which comes with driver accidents – which can sometimes take a long time to heal.
As mentioned, there are a high number of fatal accidents which take place each year in the UK – Department for Transport provisional figures for 2019 show that 1748 fatal accidents were reported in the UK. In addition to this, there are many thousands of other accidents which cause both serious and minor injuries to a range of road users.
It is important to remember, it is not only those physically involved in the accident who are affected – collisions and accidents can also affect witnesses as well as the families and friends of anyone involved.
Even those who consider themselves the best of drivers will start to develop bad habits over time, these may be minor but can make all the difference. There is a legal requirement for LGV drivers to do Driver CPC – by choosing a safety focused course from Driver Hire Training you can ensure you or your drivers are driving as safe as possible and reducing their risk of accidents. We have a range of popular courses available, including:
Take advantage of the requirement today and make the world a safer place for everyone by enrolling yourself or your drivers onto a safety module today. All of our CPC courses are available online which means you can complete them from the comfort of your own home.
For those looking to become qualified, our Transport Manager CPC course also contains a number of safety modules.
