Employers must take action to change driver behaviour by providing additional education and training, after it was revealed that businesses faced a sharp rise in motoring fines in 2016.
The number of penalties incurred by company car and van drivers rose 21% year-on-year to 238,833 – 40,647 more offences than in 2015 – according to annual figures from Lex Autolease, the UK’s largest vehicle leasing company.
The research, compiled from 353,000 company vehicles in operation across the UK, revealed drivers racked up a £14 million bill last year, an increase of more than a quarter (26%) on 2015. The figure also represents a doubling from the £7 million accrued in 2012.
Lex Autolease said a clampdown on bus lane infringements (up 26.65%) and illegal parking by local government (up 34.14%) was largely behind the rise, which also included fines for speeding (up 4.86%), non-payment of the London congestion charge (up 12.81%), non-payment of Dart Charge (up 2.32%) and ‘other’ motoring offences including all non-endorsable ‘traffic’ offences such as driving in a box junction or stopping on a red route (up 37.25%).
Tim Porter, managing director at Lex Autolease, said: “There is now a greater need to take action to change driver behaviours, such as providing additional education and training.
Organisations can better understand how the increase in fines and penalties impacts their business by benchmarking their data against similar fleets. Businesses can also look to put in place straight-forward driver policies and procedures to help reduce the risk and bring down the bill.”