Letters to Fleet News’ editor Martyn Moore.

Time to take action over staged accidents

I am concerned about the level of staged accidents aimed at fleet drivers.

One of my drivers was recently targeted and I’ve been told, anecdotally, that this is reaching epidemic levels.

Fraudsters are hiring a car, finding a lone driver – usually a woman – getting in front and slamming on their brakes causing an accident. 

They try to get cash off their victim for any damage to their hire car.

Injury claims start arriving the very next day, often from more passengers than in the car at the time of the “accident”. 

Fleet policies are directly affected by the insurance claims experience and so will face higher renewal costs as a result of any injury claims. 

Rental companies are having their vehicles damaged.

There is a danger that someone will really get injured and it’s very distressing for the driver victim.

The most galling thing about all this is that even if an insurance company can prove fraud, the police are not interested in prosecuting the fraudsters. 

Until the police start to take action the practice will continue getting more and more prevalent. 

We all know it’s going on but how are we going to stop it? 

Rental companies should blacklist renters who are involved in suspect accidents and share the information around their industry.

Somehow the police need to be made to take notice – why isn’t there a specific law against this type of fraud?

PETER BONNEY
Fleet manager

Green driving can mean big savings for fleets

It is welcome news that new motorists are being advised on how to drive in a way that saves money, saves fuel and cuts emissions as part of their practical driving test.

Earlier this year BP launched the green driving test, a challenge to drive as many miles as possible on exactly one litre of BP unleaded fuel.

The test has so far shown that the average driver could save up to £600 off their annual fuel bill by altering their driving style.
For the average fleet that’s a big saving and when coupled with the significant CO2 savings of up to two tonnes per annum, learning to drive in a more green fashion is something every company car driver should be doing.

Products such as BP’s Fuel Management Solutions allow fleet managers to reinforce this message with their drivers by enabling them to monitor driving styles through reports that detail miles per gallon and CO2 emissions. 

After all, if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it and when it comes to increasing a company’s competitiveness and fuel efficiency, we know that every transaction counts.

RANJEEV BAINES
UK fuel cards manager, BP

FleetNews comment

It’s a shame that public sector fleet managers are finding it so hard to improve their fleet operations (p3). 

The problems seem to lie with organisations’ structures and old-fashioned senior managers.

Parts of the public sector show great progress.

Our Fleet News Award-winners are evidence of that, along with great initiatives like the Office of Government Commerce collaborative fuel card deal (Fleet News, July 31).

But there are areas that still need to improve.

We need to hear from fleet managers in the public sector – success stories as well as struggles – and we guarantee anonymity.

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