Print VersionWINTER BLUNDERLAND CAUSED BY FREAKY FEBRUARY
Accident statistics show drivers weren’t listening while the ice was glistening, but are reducing overall risk and cost, says MasterleaseMarch 2009 Freaky February’s intense snow fall saw a spike in reported fleet accidents, but overall, the credit crunch has not resulted in more car crunches, according to Masterlease’s winter figures published this week.
Although companies may want to cut costs, there is no corner cutting on risk, according to the sophisticated data produced by PROACT, Masterlease’s accident management software.
February saw the coldest winter in 20 years with council’s across the UK running out of salt and grit as snowfalls reached record levels. There were hundreds of stranded drivers across the country as they faced perilous and untreated roads and highways.
But, according to Masterlease’s figures, if February’s freak weather conditions had not occurred, reported accidents would have been significantly down on those for 2007 and 2008. In February, 2009 there was 367 per cent increase in accidents on the previous February, according to the PROACT data.
Overall winter figures for December 2007 and January and February of 2008 revealed that accidents were in single digits compared to those so far recorded for 2009. In other words, in the absence of February’s spike, the general trend would have shown an average decrease of around 20 per cent.
For example, as a direct contrast, January’s accident log for this year was more than 100 accidents down on last year.
“February’s figures look dramatic, but so was the weather,” says Gavin Jones, accident and rental services manager for Masterlease.
“However, if you take the figures as whole, without factoring in February’s extreme weather the accident figures were significantly lower than last year, which indicates that drivers are listening to messages about risk and going out of their way to reduce their costs. Our evidence suggests that they have already started to reduce their speed to conserve fuel and save themselves money during the credit crunch.”
“There is also anecdotal evidence that companies are telling their staff to reduce their mileage, which could mean they are doing more audio or tele-conferencing, or just less face-to-face meetings.” He adds.
“New regulations may also be having an impact as April 6 is the first anniversary of the introduction of Corporate Manslaughter legislation,” says Jones.
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