ROAD safety campaigner Brake has asked fleet managers to join in its bid to stamp out speeding by educating drivers about time management and vehicle and road awareness.

In a report carried out by Brake and Direct Line Insurance called 'Slow Down: excuses drivers give for speeding and how to slow them down', a quarter of all drivers stopped for speeding blamed 'running late', while nearly half claimed they didn't realise they were breaking the limit. One in 10 drivers had no idea at all what the limit was when they were pulled over.

Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake said: 'The report highlights the point that fleet managers need to be implementing measures to ensure that their drivers are under no pressure to rush and consequently speed to complete a delivery or make it to a meeting.

'Schedules need to be realistic and journeys carefully planned to prevent rushing and speeding. The fact is, speed kills. And the faster you go, the harder you hit.'

The problems of driving for work and being on time are well documented. Congestion adds 40% to commuter journey times, and 30% of drivers say hold-ups consistently make them late or miss appointments, according to the RAC.

In previous research carried out by Brake and Green Flag, high mileage drivers were also found to be more likely to take risks than other motorists.

More than 80% of high mileage drivers would break the speed limit to overtake, compared to 66% of all drivers, with 40% admitting to overtaking when they couldn't see what was coming.

Williams continued: 'Fleet operators need to ensure that they have a 'safety culture' within their fleet. This should include ensuring that drivers are trained to understand the dangers of speed and keep within the speed limits. It should be stressed that it is better to get to a meeting late than not get there at all.'