ESP research reveals fleet safety concerns

Reliability, safety and duty of care are the three prime concerns of fleet buyers when it comes to choosing vehicles for their company.

That’s according to new research by components manufacturer Bosch that has also found that these safety concerns do not always readily translate into initiatives to improve the work-relating driving safety.

In fact a third of the fleet managing companies questioned in the study have not taken actions to improve road safety.

Meanwhile half of all respondents said that the requirement for vehicles to be fitted with certain safety equipment was not part of their road safety prevention plan.

According to Bosch, research by the Department of Transport has revealed that cars fitted with crash avoidance technology such as the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) are 25% less likely to be involved in a fatal accident.

The system detects the risk of a skid at an early stage even before the driver vehicle’s brakes to steer the vehicle safely back on track.

The study by Bosch goes on to reveal that although 66% of fleet decision makers confirmed to have heard of ESP though only 31% could describe its safety benefits and just 19% of respondents currently mandate the system as part of their company vehicle policy.

Commenting on the research, David Fulker, head of UK marketing for Bosch Chassis Systems Control said the benefits of ESP in avoiding accidents has a direct impact on reducing a company’s accident costs – which according to one industry source accounts for 13% of a fleet’s total cost of ownership.