Two-thirds of motorists are less inclined to do business with companies whose drivers are unsafe or discourteous, according to research from TomTom Telematics.
The survey, which addressed more than 1,000 British consumers, found that van drivers were the least likely to be considered the safest or most careful road users, with only three per cent of respondents selecting them in this category.
High performance and sports car drivers (4%), taxi drivers (8%) and truck drivers (8%) were also in the bottom four.
TomTom Telematics suggests that it has a huge opportunity to support British businesses by helping them improve standards and create better public perceptions.
“I think business owners may be surprised by the results of this survey and the extent to which poor driving standards can impact on their companies,” said Taco van der Leij, VP marketing at TomTom Telematics. “But help is at hand.
“Telematics technology can play a key role in helping companies tackle issues around driving standards by providing employees with access to the appropriate training, guidance and technological aids.”
Van der Leij continued: “While telematics has traditionally been the focus of fleet managers and operations directors, this survey clearly shows that it should also be on the radar of the marketing department. By improving how they are perceived on the road, businesses can establish themselves as responsible brands worthy of consumer trust.”
When it came to the most polite and courteous road users, van drivers were again bottom of the list, tied with drivers of high-performance and sports cars (both 3%). They were closely followed by SUV drivers (4%) and truck drivers (5%).
At the other end of the scale drivers of small and compact cars are considered the safest on the road (27%), closely followed by drivers of saloon cars (23%), while bus and coach drivers came in third with 17%. Small and compact car drivers also finished top when it came to the most polite and courteous drivers on the road, taking 26% of the vote.
Driver tables
Which types of vehicle do you associate as having the safest or most careful drivers?
1. Small/compact cars 27%
2. Saloon cars 23%
3. Bus/coach 17%
4. Luxury car 10%
5. SUV/4x4 9%
6. HGV/trucks 8%
7. Taxi 8%
8. High performance/sports car 4%
9. LCV/vans 3%
Which types of vehicle do you associate as having the most polite or courteous drivers?
1. Small/compact cars 26%
2. Saloon cars 18%
3. Bus/coach 13%
4. Luxury car 8%
5. Taxi 6%
6. HGV/trucks 5%
7. SUV/4x4 4%
8. High performance/sports car 3%
9. LCV/vans 3%
prandall - 03/03/2016 14:50
An interesting survey! And I totally agree that 'By improving how they are perceived on the road, businesses can establish themselves as responsible brands worthy of consumer trust.' However, telematics alone can only give you part of the story. It may enable fleet managers to identify that they have issues with driving performance, through the data generated, but it cannot, unless integrated with other systems such as video based technology, give you the true picture of what has been the cause of an incident, or how the driver is behaving on the open road, in terms of abusive gestures, language, etc. All of which are likely to have contributed significantly to the scores of the van and HGV drivers in the survey.