Aggressive driving habits cost drivers £500 a year
Drivers could save more than £500 a year on fuel and tyre costs while cutting CO2 emissions by 14% by changing their driving habits.
Meanwhile, the savings for large fleets could run into the hundreds of thousands.
This is according to new analysis of data compiled from 4,500 drivers in road safety charity IAM RoadSmart’s ‘Driving for Work’ training courses.
It found that driving behaviours such as excessive speed, accelerating sharply and braking suddenly put extra strain on the vehicle’s engine, tyres and brake pads, while increasing fuel consumption and emissions.
However, drivers could save £539 on fuel and £144 on tyres every year by adopting a new ‘eco-driving’ style focused on efficiency.
Meanwhile, drivers would also emit 0.69 fewer tonnes of CO2, which is almost equivalent to driving a lap of Britain’s coast.
Better driving habits
IAM RoadSmart director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes said: “While it’s understandable that some traders or couriers will spend lengthy periods of the day on the road leading to inevitable frustrations, this can lead to unsafe driving and increased costs. When the statistics show that work journeys account for nearly one in three deaths on UK roads, it is unsurprising that driving for work is one of the most dangerous activities workers can do.
“Driving aggressively is one of the most pointless things someone can do. It’s dangerous, stresses out the person doing it, angers other road users, costs you more money and will not get you where you want be any more quickly. In a nutshell, you are burning money, creating more emissions and risking a crash for absolutely no benefit.
“The data from our Driving for Work course shows that those companies not taking fleet training seriously are essentially pouring money down the drain by letting negative driver behaviours go unaddressed. By investing in driving efficiency training, businesses can take impactful steps towards eliminating poor driver habits and begin unlocking the big savings that come in doing so. They’ll also be helping to keep their colleagues safer on the road.”
