The roads and highways in the United Kingdom are blighted by unnecessary accidents with over 1500 road fatalities in 2020 alone. Watch even a little accident footage from Highways England and you’ll see a litany of examples of drivers hurtling towards road work sites at frightening speeds.
A lack of attention by any driver on the road creates a hazardous environment for everyone and with reports of some 6,500 vehicles having driven through roadwork cones in the last three years – that’s 175 every month – it’s a matter that needs addressing and the national HGV driver training provider HGVC are making moves to do just that.
HGVC In Partnership with DriveTech
In a move designed to improve care and attention on the road, HGVC has announced a new partnership with DriveTech – the driver risk management arm of the AA. This means that they are now able to offer online driver risk assessments and refresher training that seeks to identify and reduce high-risk driver exposure.
An HGVC spokesperson said of the partnership “We saw that something had to be done to improve driver concentration, hazard identification and all-round more conscious driving from everyone to hopefully reduce so many unnecessary accidents and fatalities on Britain’s roads. If we can save even just one life – it will all have been worth the effort”.
Convenient Online Driver Risk Assessment
Thanks to the digital technologies that exist in the modern era, HGVC’s Online Driver Risk Assessments offer a convenient, efficient and affordable way to evaluate elements like driver concentration, attention and knowledge of the Highway Code. Also, with the assessments being conducted online, it means there’s no risk of them being cancelled or postponed due to lockdowns or social distancing restrictions.
The assessments themselves cover 24 topics and the results are able to be instantly viewed online by managers, drivers and instructors. Any problem areas can then be addressed with e-learning modules to help improve any shortcomings.
Bitesize Training Modules
Studies have shown that people learn more quickly when learning is offered in bite-size chunks, so HGVC e-learning follows this model with each module lasting just 10 minutes. These modules can be tailored to individual needs, based on the answers given during the online assessment.
The 29 modules cover a variety of topics;
- Fitness to drive
- Vehicle safety checks
- Winter driving
- Dealing with collisions
- Loading your vehicle safely
- Mobile phone use
- Reducing driver anxiety
- Managing motorway risk
- Managing tiredness & fatigue
- Driving at night.
HGVC’s training style is accessible and modern and uses interactive gamification techniques for a
more creative and engaging learning experience, with real-life photography, video and 3D animation to ensure learning outcomes are more memorable.
They’re easily accessible too, being available 24/7 to match diverse shift patterns and can be completed on any device, from smartphones to PCs or Macs. The e-Learning programme can also be extended with 2-minute refresher micro-teaching modules for up to three years if necessary.
On-road Driving Courses
For those drivers that need a bit more attention, HGVC also offers on-road courses to improve safety and
performance. COVID-19 health and safety restrictions mean driver numbers are limited, but with appropriate safety procedures in place, these courses continue to run.
And run they must. They improve driver confidence and reinforce self-evaluation and they
consider the psychology of driving and its impact on driver attitude, behaviour and personal
risk. Designed to be informative, engaging and enjoyable for drivers, this e-learning offers
new skills and techniques with energy and mutual respect. This is the maximum impact course for drivers who have been identified as high risk.
Education Prevents Needless Accidents Every Day
HGVC is the leading provider of licence acquisition programmes in the UK that enables their clients to think less about training and more about growing their business. What they offer is a way to prevent your vehicles being featured on one of Highway England’s hall of shame videos and to avoid many of the needless accidents that happen on UK roads every day.
Any business wanting to learn more about how HGVC can help mitigate driver risk, should visit them at www.hgvc.co.uk and speak to their new business team.