MORE than four in five company car and van drivers have received no driver training according to new research from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. The statistics reinforce earlier survey findings and coincide with RoSPA's publication of a new set of guidelines designed to help fleet operators slash their accident rates - principally through driver training.

Last year, RoSPA estimated a 25,000-mile a year company car driver faced similar risks as a coal miner. The new booklet, 'Managing Occupational Road Risk' aims to reduce drivers' exposure to a 1 in 8,000 chance of being killed at the wheel in the line of work.

The guide is being mailed to thousands of fleet operators nationwide and being supplemented by hands-on driving courses round the country. Support has come from Roads Minister Baroness Hayman, the Confederation of British Industry, Trades Union Congress and Association of Chief Police Officers.