Four out of ten fleet managers believe their drivers would not be willing to take part in safety training.
The findings, from the Arval-backed Corporate Vehicle Observatory (CVO), demonstrate that significant numbers of business drivers are resisting the opportunity to mitigate their road risk.
The research found that 11% of respondents felt that their drivers would "certainly not" be open to road safety training, while a further 30% said they were "probably not" open to it.
Only 23% felt that their drivers would definitely be willing to take part in road safety training, a concern given that in 2007 alone, 890 people were killed and nearly 7,000 seriously injured in crashes involving someone who was on the road for work.
The figures also show that the UK is falling behind the other European countries surveyed as 40% of UK fleet managers responded negatively compared to 34% in Europe.
The results of the survey show that no kind of driver training is particularly well received. In the UK, 60% of fleet managers thought that drivers would respond negatively to eco training as opposed to 43% in Europe.
Mike Waters, director – market insight at Arval, said: “This research reinforces the message that businesses can’t afford to take their eye off the ball when it comes to driver safety. Driving is the most dangerous work activity that most people do and so it is essential that employees receive all of the tools available to reduce their road risk.
“From a commercial viewpoint driver training doesn’t just save lives, it saves money. In 2000 the Health and Safety Executive estimated the cost to employees arising from at-work road traffic crashes was around £2.7 billion per year so businesses must continue to drive home the road safety message amongst their fleet of drivers and make training readily available.”
The CVO research was carried out across 12 countries, including the UK.
