Charlie Norman, MD at Drivetech, comments on the recently published 2021 GB road casualty statistics:
“As a business dedicated to promoting safe driving, we are devastated to learn that there were 1,558 fatalities on British roads, following the release of the Government’s latest road casualty statistics, which have sadly increased since 2020. Our goal is to keep more drivers safe through training and education, which is why we find the latest figures so alarming, particularly the rise in crashes involving e-scooters of 193% between 2021 and the previous year.
“E-scooters have become a much-touted example of a new, green form of transport across cities, and are an increasingly visible part of the urban mobility landscape. Employers are aware that employees use e-scooters recreationally to get around and that some may even use these to get to work and back, but they may not know that they have a duty of care to drivers in their employ, whatever mode of transport they use to get from A to B. Now is the time for businesses to make sure they fulfil this duty of care and manage the risks they present to employees and vulnerable road users.
“As the first UK safety organisation to have developed e-scooter training, Drivetech has worked closely with some of the leading e-scooter companies which have firmly put safety at the top of their agenda. Inexperienced riders present a road safety danger, and training should be considered a vital tool in minimising the risk for all road users. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, whatever the road safety issue.
“We also urge employers to make employees aware that personal e-scooter use is illegal on anything other than private property with permission from the landowner. Public use of e-scooters in the UK is only permissible using approved rental trial scooters, and private e-scooter misuse carries the potential for fines and penalty points.”
Drivetech has developed a micromobilty white paper, informing businesses on navigating new technologies and the safety and business risks involved, which can be downloaded here.
For more information about Drivetech, visit: www.drivetech.co.uk and for a range of free downloads including other topical whitepapers, case studies and more visit: https://www.drivetech.co.uk/downloads/
The full government publication of Road Casualty statistics are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/reported-road-accidents-vehicles-and-casualties-tables-for-great-britain#factors-contributing-to-collisions-and-casualties-ras07
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