Volvo Business Sales has joined forces with its driver risk consultancy partner, Fleet 21, to offer SMEs a risk management strategy that can help keep employees safe, help employers stay on the right side of the law, and make businesses more profitable.

Commenting on Volvo’s partnership with Fleet 21, Selwyn Cooper, head of corporate sales, said: ‘SMEs and the risks they face continue to be our focus – both in terms of cost, reductions in profitability, and indeed the risk to their reputation by not acknowledging driver risk or failing to do something about it.’

The hidden cost behind a crash

According to Volvo, businesses are haemorrhaging an estimated £1.2 billion every year through their vehicle fleets due to uninsured losses incurred from accidents involving company cars and drivers. Every day, more than 150 vehicles being driven on company business crash, with uninsured losses stacking up to an average of £22,000 per vehicle.

Uninsured costs include hire cars, absenteeism and loss of productivity, missed deadlines, legal and administration fees, and even damage to brand and reputation – not to mention the human cost. The wider knock-on effects are severe, too. Transport for London estimates that the delays and congestion caused by collisions in the capital alone result in £2bn in lost economic output every year.

The Co-Pilot scheme

Most big companies will have stringent risk management and driver policies in place, while SMEs tend to be less prepared due to ignorance of the regulations, or a lack of resources to implement a review. It is for this reason that Volvo Business and Fleet 21’s partnership program, Co-Pilot, is targeted specially at the SME sector.

Co-Pilot is an initiative to help local businesses meet the requirements of driver risk compliance, improve the safety of their business drivers and reduce the cost of crashes and low speed vehicle damage through driver training.

Volvo recognises that while superior vehicle technology can go a long way to achieving its 2020 mission that nobody will be killed or seriously injured in or by a new Volvo by 2020, driver education is also essential. Crashes are usually caused by driver error borne of a lack of understanding by the driver of the consequences of how they behave, which is where Fleet21 comes in.

When a business buys or leases its first new Volvo, the fleet will receive a “Business Driver Compliance Toolkit” through the Co-Pilot scheme (worth £495). The Toolkit includes a comprehensive driver policy written by fleet-specialist legal experts – an essential tool for setting out the standards of behaviour required of drivers.

Ensuring compliance

The Toolkit includes a printed policy handbook for each driver, personalised with the company logo and emergency contact details. It also includes essential facts and figures on important issues such as speed and braking, mobile phone distraction and the “morning after” effect of alcohol consumption to help educate drivers on some of the more common issues of high-risk driving.

The first driving licence check is included for each driver, directly against the DVLA database. Also included is an online driver risk profile tool which measures each driver’s exposure to risk while out on the road. Drivers and nominated administrators receive a driver profile report showing any areas where they are at risk, and are given guidance on how to keep that risk to a minimum.

How safety systems can help…

It is estimated that 90% of accidents can be attributed to human error, and active safety systems with automatic braking can mitigate risk by reducing the force of impact or, in the best-case scenario, even entirely avoiding an accident in the first place. Volvo prides itself as being at the forefront of accident-prevention research, and latest safety technology innovations include:

Blind Spot Information System (BLIS)

If sensors detect that a vehicle has moved into the car’s blind spot, a warning system is activated.

Cross Traffic Alert

Uses the same sensors as BLIS, but angles are changed to assist drivers reversing out of a parking space.

City Safety

Uses a radar at the top of the windscreen to scan out front of the vehicle and automatically brake if the driver does not respond to a perceived hazard. Standard on all Volvo’s currently in production.

Driver Alert

Cameras monitor where the road markings are compared to where the driver is positioning the car. A coffee cup symbol lights up on the dashboard if the driver is deemed to be inattentive.

Lane Keeping Aid

Adds steering wheel rumble and beeping if the driver drifts out of lane.

Park Assist Pilot

Uses front, rear and side sensors and cameras. The system scans for a space that is 1.2 times the car’s length, and registers if the space is large enough. The driver then takes their hands off the steering wheel and controls the speed of the manoeuvre as the vehicle parks itself, shunting backwards and forewords as necessary.