Company car drivers ignoring 'rest' advice

Carmaker Skoda quizzed over 500 company drivers about fatigue behind the wheel. It found that only one is seven drivers followed advice from the Department for Transport (DfT), while every sixth driver never took a break at all due to time pressures.

While 40% of company car drivers surveyed spent less than 10 hours a week behind the wheel, a third were on the roads for over 20 hours, and one in 10 drove for more than 30 hours per week. Over half (56%) accepted high mileage was an "integral part of their job".

Respondents were divided on alternatives to business car usage, such as video conferencing and working from home. Slightly less than half (46%) expressed a keen interest in adopting alternatives, while 45% said they would rather get behind the wheel.

As well as planning to include a 15-minute break every two hours, the DfT recommends the following to avoid the potential deadly consequences of "driving tired":

• Find a safe place to stop if you feel drowsy - not the hard shoulder.

• Drink two cups of coffee or a high-caffeine drink and have a rest for 10-15 minutes to allow time for the caffeine to kick in.

• Remember the risks if you have to get up unusually early to start a long drive.

• Try to avoid long trips between midnight and 6am when you're likely to feel sleepy anyway.

Wrong choice!

The results of a separate survey out this week from car supermarket group Motorpoint showed that a third of drivers have felt so tired behind the wheel they could have "easily" fallen asleep.

More than a quarter added that under such circumstances they would not stop for a break, preferring to drive on and to try to stay awake instead.

Motorpoint managing director David Shelton said: "All the indications are that this is an even more common issue than has been previously recognised. Drivers know when they are feeling sleepy, so making the decision to stay on the road is a real choice.

"There is a lot of very good advice out there on how to deal with tiredness at the wheel. The question is whether the people who drive on are underestimating the risks or simply ignoring them."

According to DfT estimates, six people are killed in accidents caused by tired drivers every week in the UK.