PSYCHOLOGY-based driver training is being offered to fleets as a radical solution to high accident rates.

The Advanced Driving School has enlisted the service of behavioural expert George Smith and his company Minding Driving to offer a new range of fleet driver training courses.

The new schemes are aimed at helping drivers understand their strengths and weaknesses behind the wheel. The courses suggest ways of staying cool in the driving seat and managing stress.

The Government is already calling on fleets to reduce accident rates after research by the Work-related Road Safety Task Group revealed that more than 1,000 deaths could be caused by at-work road accidents each year.

Jody Oliver, managing director of the Advanced Driving School, said: 'The psychological aspect of advanced driving is becoming more important as attitudes change. We forget we are fallible as we criticise other drivers for their indecision and general incompetence.'