ROAD safety campaigners are calling on the Government to officially reveal how many at-work drivers are killed or injured on the roads following new figures that show more than 150 company vehicles are involved in a crash every day.

The Department for Transport has issued detailed information on the number of road casualties in 2005 in an annual report.

It reveals that 3,201 people were killed on Britain’s roads, 1% fewer than in 2004, but does not include separate details of how many of those were at-work drivers. National road safety charity Brake is now urging the Government to release this information.

The figures now record the purpose of journeys and reveal that 54,935 at-work vehicles were involved in accidents during the year. One in seven (15%) vehicles involved in crashes was being driven for work and a further 9% to or from work.

Brake’s head of fleet safety Jools Townsend said: ‘Road safety campaigners have suspected for many years that a large proportion of road crashes involve people driving for work.

‘These figures demonstrate how important it is that, firstly, the Government takes corporate responsibility for at-work driving seriously and, secondly, all employers take the life-saving steps of educating employees on safe driving and effectively managing their road risk.’

Campaigning organisation Safety House said the Government’s figures, provided by UK police forces, highlight the need for better driver training.

Chief executive Eddie Barnaville said: ‘These new statistics reveal a bleak picture, as an unacceptable number of people are still losing their lives on Britain’s roads every year.’

The biggest cause of accidents is cited as ‘failing to look properly’, a contributory factor in 32% of all accidents. For fatal accidents, the most frequently reported factor was ‘loss of control’, involved in 35% of cases.

The report also questions the value of speed cameras, as only one in 20 collisions last year was caused by a driver breaking the speed limit.