12% of drivers say work stress responsible for accidents

Some 12% of drivers have reported work-related stress as the cause of road traffic accidents, according to a new survey by driver technology firm Lightfoot.

Of those surveyed, 52% of motorists said they had been in an accident, with half of those drivers saying it had happened while commuting or during a work-related journey.

A further 12% said phone calls made during journeys was the cause of their accident. Meanwhile, 4% blamed urgent work emails.

Work-related causes of road accidents

According to Lightfoot, the findings show that there’s still a long way to go before work-related causes of road accidents are eliminated. This, the company said, highlights employers’ duty of care to their employees.

Mark Roberts, founder and CEO of Lightfoot, explained: “Work-related stress resulting in road accidents should be a red flag for all businesses operating company cars and fleet vehicles.

“Policies need to be in place to reduce unreasonable pressure on drivers as businesses have a duty of care to their staff. If they fail in this respect, there could be serious consequences for both employees and businesses.”

Business must protect staff when driving

Roberts went on to say that his firm’s survey has revealed that too often, workers are under pressure “to get to a client, customer or meeting in unrealistic time-frames”. This then results in stress and speeding, which then “unsurprisingly” leads to car accidents.

He added that drivers will only feel less pressure when businesses actively commit to protecting staff by making speeding or risky driving unacceptable. If this is not done, he said that employees are in danger of “feeling pressured to drive in a manner that has the potential to put them, their passengers and other motorists on the road at risk”.

According to Roberts, as one in three road deaths involve a vehicle driven for work, this is an issue that businesses need to take seriously.

Car occupants at risk

In the UK, there were 1,782 reported road deaths in 2018. There was a total of 160,597 casualties of all severities in reported road traffic accidents.

The majority of fatalities occurred to car occupants, with 777 people losing their lives. Meanwhile, there were a total of 93,979 casualties of all severities in car occupants. This serves to highlight the importance of making this mode of transport safer for drivers.

If you’ve been injured in a road accident that wasn’t your fault in the last three years, you could be able to make a claim for compensation. Just get in touch with First4Lawyers for a free initial discussion with our friendly advisors, who will help you work out what to do next. Simply start your claim online and our advisors will get back to you.