Erratic driving in London lower than expected
New analysis of vehicle data has found that there are fewer instances of erratic driving in London than the city’s high congestion levels would suggest.
Connected vehicle data solutions provider Geotab rated London just 29 out of 100 for road efficiency in its European Urban Freight Efficiency Index.
But while congestion and erratic driving behaviours are linked in many other European cities, the rate of harsh driving events in London is lower than would be expected with just 462 per 1,000 trips, which equates to roughly one every two journeys.
However, Geotab also reported that London logged the second highest number of harsh events out of the seven major European cities measures, with 31.4 million last year. It attributes this to the number of cars and car journeys in the city.
The data has been produced to provide fleets with greater insights into driving habits and to encourage safer driving practices.
Edward Kulperger, senior vice president, EMEA at Geotab, said: “A harsh event rate only means something when you know which city the driver is working in. The same number can be an average day in London and a warning sign in Berlin.
“Where the pattern is sudden acceleration, coaching and in-cab feedback can make a real difference. Where it is sharp cornering at a particular junction, a change of route will often do more. Fleets that can see which of the two they are dealing with are in a much better position to act.
“That is what data and benchmarking make possible: they turn a city-level pattern into something a fleet can act on. Video telematics can also add the context behind an individual event, so a coaching conversation can start from what actually happened on the road.”
