Training firm slates van drivers for ‘speeding epidemic’

Recent Department for Transport (DfT) figures show that van drivers are the most likely group of drivers to speed in built-up areas and on motorways. DFT statistics showed that in free-flowing traffic in 30mph zones 45% of vans drivers were speeding, with 5% reaching speeds over 40mph.

On motorways, 47% of van drivers exceeded the 70mph limit with 10% breaking 80mph. With around 4.5 light million commercial vehicles on UK roads, it means around two million of them could have been speeding on densely populated roads and motorways.

RED Corporate Driver Training’s head of corporate, Greg Ford said:

The instances of speeding in vans are remarkably worryingly, consistent across all road types that were measured. Extrapolate that across the millions of van drivers at work in the UK and it illustrates that drivers at work in commercial vehicles are breaking the law far too often.

Not only does this provide a safety risk, but costs more too because the faster a van goes, the more fuel it uses, while also carrying inherent reputational damage for the company as well.

But these figures fail to reveal the elephant in the room: speeding commercial vehicles on National Speed Limit roads. In its report, the DfT states: ‘The speed limit applicable to different types of van on this road type depends on the maximum laden weight and construction of the vehicle, which cannot be determined by our data source.

In our work with fleets, the speed limits for different commercial vehicle types and weights are the biggest area of confusion. So often when drivers come to us, they don’t know whether their commercial vehicle should be 56, 60 or 70mph on a dual carriageway, or 50, 56 or 60mph on a single.

RED has produced a series of interactive e-learner videos, one of which explains the rules around commercial vehicle speed limits, and Ford says it is an area fleets need to address.

Advertisement