TRAFFIC information technology is highly valued by fleet drivers, who rate it as the most useful in-car device, according to the 1998 Lex Vehicle Leasing Report on Company Motoring. They would pay up to £166 per year for a system which alerts them to congestion and weather conditions, and up to £245 for a 'wakefulness' monitoring system which sounds an alarm if they start to doze.

According to the report drivers were also enthusiastic about 'intelligent' road signs as a means of combating congestion, but were less supportive of intelligent in-car systems which governed their speed and distance from the car in front. Within five years, more than half of company car drivers expect to have a mobile phone in their car, a route planning system, and a weather/congestion alert.

'Expectations are high that technology will come to our rescue to solve the congestion and pollution problems that blight our everyday lives,' says the report.