The report includes the results of a recent Brake survey of fleet managers, sponsored by the Licence Bureau, which found that more than a quarter (26%) of survey respondents admitted to not knowing what proportion of their collisions involved one of their vehicles breaking the speed limit. On-board monitoring technology can help fleet managers to collect this information, and it is being widely adopted. Almost three quarters (61%) of managers operating a large fleet (more than 50 vehicles) said they monitored driver speed.

Encouragingly, two-thirds (65%) of fleet managers surveyed said they educated their drivers on looking out for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians or cyclists, who are put at particularly high risk by speeding drivers.

Les Owen from Licence Bureau said: ‘We cannot deny that many of those who drive at work exceed the speed limit – many surveys support this. Speeding is a serious issue, not only in terms of collision frequency but correspondingly in terms of collision severity. Brake is addressing a real issue which can be managed. To reduce such risks, organisations should: have a clear policy that all employees adhere to speed limits; use realistic journey planning, taking account of congestion etc.; monitor compliance, for example through telematics; and challenge then address unsafe behaviour at both individual and organisational level.’

The report is available for free to subscribers to the Fleet Safety Forum – Brake’s low cost, not-for-profit subscription – or can be purchased for £5 by non-subscribers. Special offer: the first 25 non-subscribers to request the speed report will get a copy for FREE. Please email [email protected] or call +44 (0)1484 559909 to order.

In addition, Brake is hosting its Speed Congress on Wednesday 7th May 2014. The event will bring together leading academics from around the world, as well as practitioners who have implemented effective initiatives, to discuss this essential road safety topic. Early bird offers are available. For more information, go to www.speedcongress.com.