Drivers are fleet managers’ biggest asset and biggest risk, according to road risk consultant Britta Lang.

Working in TRL’s road safety behaviour and attitudes group, she claims that while psychological profiling sounds extreme, it can provide a valuable picture of risk levels among drivers.

“On the one hand not all accident types are necessarily predictable by the driver or by variables that relate to the driver or the organisation,” said Mrs Lang.

“The accidents you are most likely to be able to predict are head on collisions, losing control of a vehicle – things your driver has an influence on.”

While one of the best predictors of behaviour is past behaviour, explained Mrs Lang, a statistical model can best identify predictions

“Driver profilers are composite tools that aim to improve safety by identifying employees who may be at more risk of having an accident because of their age, gender, attitudes and behaviour, knowledge or perception,” added Mrs Lang.