New research released last week from Bank of Scotland Vehicle Finance has found that Britons often spend more time driving than at their desks. In the survey, Company Cars – The Drivers’ Perspective, over 30 percent of drivers reported they spent between 20 and 30 hours a week behind the wheel. The survey of over 1,600 British company drivers covers a range of topics including driving times, attitudes toward speed limits and safety initiatives. Other survey question results revealed that: · Six percent of drivers admitted to spending over 30 hours a week driving on company business. · 18 percent of drivers spend over 15 hours a week commuting, while 20 percent say that the time they spend commuting had increased over the last 12 months. · Average total miles driven over the last year (including private mileage) is 25,905 miles. · 61 percent of British business drivers regularly break the 70 mph speed limit on the motorway. · 80 percent think that pressures of work, or being late for appointments make them drive faster or less safely. · 58 percent admit to not taking a break every two hours on long journeys as recommended in the British highway code. · More women than men (83 percent compared to 62 percent) think the legal speed limit on motorways should be over 70 mph. Over 28 percent of women believe it should be over 90 mph and 5 percent stated there should be no speed restrictions at all. · Over 60 percent admitted to taking or making a call on a hand held mobile phone over the last 12 months and 36 percent thought that doing so had no effect on their driving compared to just 4 percent this time last year. · Compared with last year’s survey, only 41 percent of all drivers believe using a hand held phone puts their driving in danger, compared to 93 percent in 2004. Last year’s high figure may have been because of legislation making the use of hand held mobile phones while driving illegal. · 42 percent of drivers have between 1 and 10+ points on their license. · 68 percent of employers have never checked their employees’ drivers license, or if they did it was only when they first joined the company. · 84 percent have not given employees a driver training policy despite 49 percent of drivers saying they would find it beneficial. · 51 percent of companies do not penalize drivers who cause accidents. · There has been another rise in the numbers of diesel cars, 58 percent this year compared to 50 percent in 2004 and 41 percent in 2003. For the full report, courtesy of Bank of Scotland Corporate, email Chris.Brown@bobit.com.