Most who drive for work 'never offered training'

Most people (72 per cent) who drive for work in the UK have never been offered driver training, according to a survey by IAM Drive & Survive.

The results showed 44 per cent of those drivers would welcome the opportunity. Only three per cent of the respondents said that they had been offered driver training but had declined.

When participants were asked which aspects of their driving they felt could be improved by training, 29 per cent claimed they would benefit from having a refresher course on the Highway Code. Other areas of their driving participants felt could be improved by training included:

• Fuel efficient driving – 19 per cent
• Sticking to speed limits – 17 per cent
• Manoeuvring and parking – 14 per cent

While a high number of respondents welcomed the idea of training, just under half of those polled said they wouldn’t be interested. The two most common reasons were the time it would take and a belief that it was unnecessary.

People driving for work are involved in an estimated third of all fatal and serious accidents and employers are legally obliged to protect their employees. Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care. Driving for business sits firmly within this legislation.

IAM Drive & Survive chief executive Simon Best said: "These findings reflect poor management decisions as business leaders fail to act to adequately protect their employees and in doing so put them and other road users at risk.

"A third of accidents involve somebody driving for work and these results show that government initiatives to enforce driver safety are simply not working. It is clear that businesses such as ours must work even harder to get the message out on the importance of continuous development."