New AA ‘yellow’ paper aims to make business journeys safer

AA Business Services is aiming to help businesses make journeys safer for their employees and the wider public with the launch of a new ‘yellow’ paper.

Our Driving Future: Making Human Factors More Predictable explores the critical role human behaviour has to play in ensuring driving safety, both now and in the future.

It looks at the role that confidence, wellbeing, technology, training and education have to play as the driving experience evolves at its fastest ever rate.

There are also a raft of recommendations providing fleets with a guide to what they can do to make human behaviour safer and more predictable and why it is so important.

In the UK, a person is killed or seriously injured on the roads every 16 minutes, with a third of these incidents involving someone driving for work.

Human error contributes to approximately 95% of all road incidents, while road traffic incidents claim approximately 1.19 million lives annually and are projected to become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

James Starling, director at AA Business Services, said: “The AA represents more than 14 million members in the UK, including those who use their vehicles to get to and from work.

“We’re very quick to enthuse about the future of driving when it comes to the deployment of new technologies, but we can’t afford to forget in the meantime the one critical factor that has the greatest impact on the safety of our roads – the human element. Nor should we discount the role this has to play in the future of our roads.”

Starling believes a combined approach of technology, training, education and supporting driver wellbeing is essential to ensuring future road safety.

“Humans are complex, with a diverse and shifting range of needs that impact our driving behaviour,” he explained.

“As we enter this incredibly exciting period of change, we believe a combined approach that takes all these needs into account is essential to ensuring road safety as we move forward.”

In terms of casualty reduction, Stuart Thomas (pictured), director business services for fleet banking and insurance services at the AA, said: “Technology will only take you so far. I think the human element is the critical one. If you look at accidents only a very tiny proportion of them are without the human element.”

He explained: “A fleet manager understands wholelife costs, however, if you then factor in the human element in fuel use, accidents, downtime, SMR costs, which have increased, the human element has a bottom line impact.

“If you've got people you look after, train properly, you’ll get better productivity and in the long-term you'll save money.”

The yellow paper follows the release of the AA’s motoring manifesto, ‘Creating Confidence for Drivers’ – a summary of the needs and perspectives of the UK’s driving community and the moves motorists most want to see brought about in the months ahead. These include reducing road deaths via clearer targets and increased policing.

To download a free copy of Our Driving Future: Making Human Factors More Predictable, click here.