07 March 2003
Leading UK insurer, Zurich, is urging companies to start taking drowsiness at the wheel seriously or face alarming consequences.
Falling asleep at the wheel is every driver's nightmare - but drivers who cause death by falling asleep at the wheel could now face harsher sentencing and companies that let exhausted drivers behind the wheel are being fined.
A driver for a delivery company, allegedly suffering from exhaustion, was killed in an accident, which resulted in a £2,500 fine for the owner of the delivery company even though he wasn't working on the day of the accident!
It is said he had fallen asleep as a result of working a series of shifts lasting more than 16-and-a-half hours. A director of the employee's company was prosecuted after admitting failure to ensure the health and safety of employees by letting him drive excessive hours without appropriate rest breaks.
The independent Sentence Advisory Panel is urging judges to consider jailing any motorist who causes death by dangerous driving. Until now, falling asleep at the wheel has been considered a mitigating factor for the defence. However, in the future, this may be considered an aggravating factor and may lead to more severe sentencing.
Mark Bacon Head of Motor for Zurich London commented, "In light of recent cases and pronouncements by the Sentence Advisory Panel, we are urging companies and individuals alike to take driver drowsiness more seriously than ever before. Our own research has revealed that 30% of serious motor accident claims we received in the past five years were caused by driver fatigue showing that this is a serious problem."
Zurich's research on motor accident claims has also revealed that while less than 1% of claims arise from serious injury or death, over the last ten years this relatively small number of claims accounted for 10% of the total paid out by Zurich to third parties. The leading UK insurer has also found that over the last two years, the total cost of single claims expected to exceed £500,000 has almost doubled.
An estimated 300 people are killed every year on Britain's roads, and many more injured, where the driver has fallen asleep behind the wheel. Put simply, nearly as many people die or are seriously injured where fatigue was a contributory factor as they do in accidents involving drink driving.
Driver fatigue has been described as the "silent killer" and the situation is getting worse with increasing pressures thrown at us by the combination of life and work. In addition, while the driver of a Heavy Goods Vehicle is restricted to driving a maximum of four and a half-hours without a break, there is no such legal limitation on the drivers of company cars in general.
Zurich is working with its brokers and customers to remind drivers of ways in which they can reduce the chance of tiredness affecting them.
DO
- Plan to stop at least every two hours on a long journey.
- Stop in a safe place when you feel tired - never on the hard shoulder of a motorway.
- Drink two cups of coffee or a high-energy drink if you do stop - and if you need a nap, sleep for no more than 15 or 20 minutes.
- Share the driving if at all possible.
- Get a good night's sleep the night before you have a long journey planned.
DON'T
- Think that opening your window or putting the radio on will help if you're tired - the Department of Transport research shows this is largely ineffectual.
- Drive long distances after a full day's work.
- Drive after you have been drinking.
- Drive if you are taking medication that makes you feel drowsy. Always read the instructions carefully.
- Make long trips between midnight and 6am when natural alertness levels are low.
- Start a long trip if you are already tired.
Bacon concluded "As the recent case proves, employers have no choice but to be aware of their Health & Safety responsibilities. Our Zurich Risk Services business specialises in advising companies on motor fleet risk management and we strongly urge employers and drivers to act now to ensure they enforce safer driving."
More information can be obtained from Zurich London's motor team on 020 76174348 or by logging on to www.zurichlondon.com and following the links to the motor page.
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For further information, please contact:
Lucy Adams, Zurich London 020 7617 4178
Notes to the editors
Casualty Costs
In Lancashire, there were 61 deaths on the road. It is estimated that the true cost of these (court costs, investigation times, compensation, insurance increases, costs to health service etc etc) was £83m. That's £1.36m per road death. All injuries and deaths in Lancashire alone are estimated to have a true cost of £317 million.
Uninsured Losses
There are many uninsured costs, such as downtime, lost orders etc. The HSE, in their guidance document HSG96, anticipate that for every £1 of an insurance claim, there is between £8 and £36 of uninsured losses. The British School of Motoring confirmed this in a report following an investigation, which revealed that for every £1 of a Motor insurance claim, there was between £6 and £53 of uninsured losses.
Fatigue Deaths = Drink Driving Deaths
Government statistics reveal that 400 people die a year as a result of drink driving. Both the Dept. of Transport and the Road Safety Group estimate that between 300 and 350 people die each year from road accidents attributed to fatigue (either wholly or partially). Therefore, the correlation is that nearly as many people die from fatigue induced road accidents as do from drink induced road deaths.
About Zurich
All figures provided by Department of Transport and internal research at Zurich Risk Services.
Zurich London Limited (www.zurichlondon.com) is a leading provider of specialty insurance products and tailored solutions to corporate customers accessing the London market. All business received by Zurich London is underwritten by companies within the Zurich Financial Services Group. The company manages a premium income in excess of USD 1 billion.
Zurich Risk Services (www.zurich.co.uk/riskservices) is part of the Zurich Financial Services Group and is a leading provider of risk management solutions. It enables its customers to operate a safer, more effective workplace, and ultimately reduce the total cost of risk.
Its technical and operational risk management products and services sit in family groups; they include safety inspections, health & safety, property, motor fleet, business continuity, liability, and training. Zurich Risk Services combines expertise with experience with 80 years in the safety inspection industry and 25 years of risk management.
Zurich Risk Services main office is in Birmingham and there are five customer risk centres located nationally; Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Sutton, and Leeds. It employs over 870 people, of which there are 615 field workers; comprising of safety inspection and risk management specialists.
The Zurich Financial Services Group (www.zurich.com) is an insurance-based financial services provider that focuses its activities on its key markets of North America, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Founded in 1872, Zurich is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It has offices in approximately 60 countries and employs well over 70,000 people.
