A marathon passed our house on Sunday, and I stepped outside our front gate to cheer the runners on – mainly to have a break from the gardening I’d promised to do!
We live directly opposite a junction which meant two race officials in hi-vis jackets were stopping the traffic each time a group of runners came through.
It was interesting to observe the various types of drivers who arrived at the scene. Some clearly spotted early on that an event was taking place and had slowed down well before they reached us.
Others gave the runners plenty of time and space, were smiling and enjoying the event.
But then we had the moaners, the hooters and even those who took it upon themselves to decide when they would drive through the race.
One chap was shouted at by the officials and yelled back through his window as he swerved around three joggers who leapt to the side as he screeched away in anger.
A motorcyclist tore up the outside of the traffic queue and then gestured at the runners and officials – and it wasn’t a sign of encouragement he was offering!
None of this surprised me because over the years I have seen through our driver profiling systems how different drivers have differing attitudes.
The statistics show that it’s inevitable that in every company there will always be approximately eight to 10% of drivers who are high risk and that, in part, is down to bad attitude.
But here, before my very eyes, was one of the best case studies of how bad attitude can lead to accidents and near misses – and in many respects I wished I’d filmed it for training purposes.
Because those drivers who decided to flout the rules, gamble on other people’s safety and who did not have the patience to sit back just for one or two minutes were, without doubt, also the ones who came closest to causing an incident that day.
If you are a fleet manager poring over your accident costs, and looking at the numbers of rear shunts, damage caused reversing into parking spaces, and scrapes as a result of drivers trying to squeeze through gaps rather than wait their turn, I would urge you to think carefully about attitude.
It’s not always a lack of ability that causes accidents in the corporate sector. It’s often poor driver behaviour, complacency, impatience and a poor mind-set.
Solve these issues, and change the culture of your business to one that deems aggressive driving unacceptable, and over time you will find a long-term reduction in vehicle damage.
And if you find this a difficult concept to sell into your board of directors – don’t present to them in the office. Take them to any junction, set of traffic lights or area where traffic build up and they can watch for themselves, just as I did on Sunday.
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