Arval commits to ESC in drive to reduce accidents

Billed by European safety leaders as “the biggest lifesaver since seatbelts”

2008-09-30, Arval

Posted by search200 63 days ago (1)
Category: Automotive

With the potential to cut accident rates by 40%, Arval is making crash prevention system Electronic Stability Control (ESC) standard on all vehicles within its company car choice list and believes that all fleets should follow suit.

ESC works by stabilising the vehicle in critical situations, preventing skidding by monitoring the position of the steering wheel and comparing it with the direction that the car is heading. Sensors around the car can detect if a vehicle is straying from the intended line of travel and help to bring it back on track by braking individual wheels.

With campaigners claiming that 4,000 road traffic deaths and 3,000 serious injuries could be saved in the UK if all new vehicles were equipped with ESC, pressure is mounting on legislators to make the life-saving technology mandatory on all new vehicles. The technology has been around for a while but there are still many drivers who don’t have ESC on their vehicles, or worse still, do but don’t know what it does so disable it.

Tracey Young, Fleet Manager at Arval comments, “Around 40% of fatal road accidents are a result of skidding and studies show that ESC could dramatically reduce this. Obviously there is no substitute for careful driving, but this is a really valuable safety feature that will help reduce the risk of death or serious injury for our drivers.”

She adds, “The benefits are broad as ESC does not just make drivers safer, it also helps fleets to meet their ongoing duty of care responsibilities and reduce their accident costs. With this in mind we believe that fleets should be making the technology a standard requirement when selecting vehicles.”

This commitment to ESC falls within a wide-ranging and ongoing programme that Arval delivers to ensure the safety of its drivers. This combines a clear policy on vehicle choice and specification with driver training and education, comprehensive information and regular vehicle checks.

David Fulker, Head of UK & Ireland Marketing at Bosch Automotive believes that every company car should be fitted with the technology: “If more fleets ensured that car choice is restricted to vehicles with ESC, we would see an immediate improvement to the safety of company car drivers and other road users and our roads would be less dangerous. Arval ought to be congratulated for taking this step.”

About Arval
Part of BNP Paribas, Arval (http://online.arval.co.uk/) is the leading fleet and fuel management company in the UK with over 30 years of experience in the industry. We manage over 145,000 vehicles and have over 1.2 million drivers using our fuel cards. We provide services to both small business and large corporations including internationally managed contracts.

Graham Nichols
PR Manager
ARVAL UK Ltd
ARVAL Centre
Windmill Hill
Swindon
SN5 6PE
Tel: 01793 884453
Email: graham.nichols@arval.co.uk