All the key news in fleet…

Brake has extended the deadline to enter its 2017 Fleet Safety Awards

Brake extends deadline for 2017 Fleet Safety Awards

The deadline for entering Brake’s 2017 Fleet Safety Awards has been extended to Friday 9 June 2017.

The awards, which honour the achievements of fleet operators and suppliers working to help reduce the number of road crashes involving at-work drivers, will be presented during an evening ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, on Thursday 28 September 2017, and will cover 11 categories, including the company driver safety and eco fleet awards.

Visit the event website, www.fleetsafetyawards.com, to download the awards entry form, together with guidance notes for entrants, and to book tickets for the awards ceremony.

Rolling annual motor vehicle traffic has now increased each quarter in succession for four years.

Road traffic reaches new record for latest quarter

Motor vehicle traffic set a new record for the year ending March 2017, latest figures from the DfT show.

The provisional data shows car and taxi traffic reached a new high of 252.9 billion vehicle miles, 1.9% above the pre-recession peak for the year ending September 2007.

Car traffic has grown for the last four years by an average of 1.5% per year.

Van traffic increased by 4.5% to a record high of 49.6 billion vehicle miles. For the last four years, van traffic has increased on average by 4.8% per year, and has been the fastest growing traffic type (in percentage terms) over this period.

Lorry traffic fell by 0.8% to 16.6 billion vehicle miles. Despite this, HGV traffic is 7.5% higher than four years ago, making it the second fastest growing traffic type in this period, but below the peak of 18.2 billion vehicle miles observed in the year ending June 2008.

Nominations are now open for the 2017 LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards.

Call for nominations for Low Carbon Champions Awards 2017 

Fleets can now enter the 2017 LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards, which are open for entries until Friday 16 June.

The awards will once again recognise businesses that have made a significant contribution to accelerating the shift to lower carbon vehicles. Businesses don’t have to be a LowCVP member to be nominated and there is no cost to enter.

The entry process has been revised for the 2017 Awards and entrants now need to submit an expression of interest, with suitable applicants then being asked to submit their full nominations electronically by Friday 16 June 2017.

For full details, click here.

eDriving Fleet has devised ten points of action for 2017, aimed at creating safer drivers, safer roads and reduced TCO.

Free guide sets out best practices to reduce fleet risk 

eDriving has published a new brief on 10 best practices to help fleets better manage risk.

Available to download free, the guide is designed to help fleets refresh their knowledge of essential risk management practices and discover additional opportunities to enhance existing road safety policies.

The dynamic charging demonstrations took place at the 100-metre test track, built by Vedecom at Satory, Versailles, near Paris.

Renault puts wireless charging to the test

Renault has demonstrated wireless electric vehicle charging on two Kangoo Z.E. vehicles.

Carried out in partnership with Qualcomm Technologies and Vedecom at a test-track near Paris, the demo showed how both vehicles can receive a charge of up to 20 kilowatts at speeds up to, and in excess of, 62mph (100kmh).

The VisionTrack footage shows the cyclist being hit by the van driver’s door.

Dashcam footage shows lucky escape by cyclist

New dashcam footage captures the moment a cyclist is knocked to the ground after being ‘doored’ by a van driver.

The cyclist also narrowly avoided being crushed by the vehicle, a VW Jetta, behind him which filmed the incident.

The footage has been released by vehicle CCTV firm VisionTrack to highlight the dangers cyclists face from motorists who open their car doors without looking and to also show the benefits of dashcam footage, which would have exonerated the Jetta driver if they had hit the cyclist.

Trakm8’s business unit director for leasing & finance (centre) collects the National Technology Award from presenter Holly Walsh.

Trakm8 scoops transport technology accolade

Trakm8 has taken the Transport Technology accolade at the 2017 National Technology Awards.

The Dorset-based company was recognised for its end-to-end fleet solution which combines driver behaviour, intuitive vehicle health reporting, route optimisation and scheduling, and in-vehicle camera technology.