Vehicle Tracking Specialists Help Calm Whiplash Epidemic
The UK’s premier GPS vehicle tracking providers CMS SupaTrak have commented on the recent media coverage surrounding whiplash insurance claims.
The Swindon based vehicle tracking specialists welcome the report and its educational message for fleet managers, claiming that “vehicle tracking devices can be a valuable tool for gathering information surrounding driver behaviour and for monitoring speed and distances whilst on the road.”
According to the new report released by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) the ‘number of whiplash injury claims has risen by 25% over the last 5 years with whiplash compensation claims now costing UK insurers nearly £2 billion.’
The ABI joined forces with motoring and road safety groups to produce the ‘Tackling Whiplash: Prevention, Care, Compensation’ report which was released in November last year. The report highlights the growing trend in whiplash compensation claims across the UK and identifies the UK as the ‘Whiplash capital of Europe’.
Importantly, the report highlighted the need for driver education and for fleet managers to be more involved with educating their employees about the dangers of poor driving habits such as driving to close to other vehicles, a bad habit that is commonly referred to as tailgating.
The report by the ABI found that ‘over 60% of drivers at-work were said to tailgate compared to just 40% of drivers who were not at work’, a statistic that demonstrates the need for better training and education for full time drivers.
GPS tracking devices have in many ways allowed office based staff the opportunity to monitor drivers whilst they are on the road by tracking the vehicles speed, braking, idleness and fuel consumption. Using this information, managers can then advise their staff on ways to improve their driving skills and prevent accidents that can lead to whiplash injuries.
Jason Airey, Managing Director of CMS SupaTrak commented on the issue further;
“Losing a driver to a whiplash injury can be expensive for any company so like always prevention is better than cure. Our vehicle tracking systems can be used to gather information on driving styles and then can be used in driver training policies.”
The report also highlighted that 75% of drivers were not aware that a correctly positioned head restraints could reduce the risk of whiplash by around 24% so it seems that education and management vigilance could be the key to reducing the number of whiplash related injuries for drivers at work.
