January 2025

Each month we will be sharing our monthly Fleet Safety Focus Update with you so that as part of your partner commitment you can raise awareness among your colleagues, members, and supply chains in your internal and external communications, blogs, social posts, emails and newsletters.

You can signpost this month’s resources by sharing this link: Fleet Safety Focus – Speed

If you’d like to use our wording for your communications, please feel free to copy and paste the text below:

Copy and paste the text below and use in your emails and newsletters – please ensure the links in the copy are live and signposting to: https://www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/fleet-safety-focus-monthly-update/speed

Driving for Better Business – new fleet safety focus update

Let’s Talk About Speed 

When we talk about speed, the conversation often shifts to stopping distances. People tend to boast about their vehicle’s big brakes or their Formula One driver reflexes. But let’s take a step back and think about the laws of physics for a moment.

Imagine you’re up in a helicopter, looking down at a stretch of motorway. You see two vehicles: one vehicle in lane one travelling at 70 miles per hour, and another in lane two travelling at 100 miles per hour (mph).

Suddenly, a massive hole appears in front of them; doesn’t matter how far ahead it is – everything in this scenario is the same, other than the initial vehicle speeds. Both drivers hit the brakes at the same time. The vehicle going at 70 mph manages to stop just before the edge, but the one travelling at 100 mph plummets over into the hole.

Here’s the question: how fast was the second vehicle going when it went over the edge?

Watch the video to find out here.

Most people don’t get anywhere near the right answer – or why it matters.

Driving for Better Business in collaboration with the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team are providing free to access resources to help those who manage and employ drivers. Their Fleet Safety Focus Updates cover an important area every month. This month’s update focuses on Speed.

It includes a link to a file of useful resources for you to download and share with your drivers, including:

• An article to share with your drivers on speed
• Short safety messages on speed to send to your drivers on their devices
• A ‘Know Your Limits’ poster for your staff noticeboards
• Information sheets from our Van Driver Toolkit on Speed Limits.

Access this month’s Fleet Safety Focus and watch the video here.