They say you can never overestimate some folks’ ability to be astonishingly irresponsible. Being too vain to wear glasses when driving must surely come into that category…
Blind to danger
They say you can never overestimate some folks’ ability to be astonishingly irresponsible. Being too vain to wear glasses when driving must surely come into that category.
But we’ve just done a survey in which one out of every 15 drivers who needed glasses said that they’d risk getting behind the wheel without them rather than be seen wearing specs.
In other words, there could be well over a million motorists out there who would really, really mean it if they said “sorry mate, I didn’t see you” after causing an accident.
You’d expect company car drivers to be more responsible than most – after all; they’re supposed to be professionals. But no.
Male company car drivers evidently suffer from peacock syndrome: 8% of those we questioned admitted they regularly drive without specs for fear of being seen wearing glasses, making them the highest risk group when it comes to this amazingly selfish “can’t see, won’t see” behaviour.
To put that in context, up to five drivers in a 100-car fleet might literally have no clear focus on the job in hand when at the wheel.
I guess some of it comes down to competitiveness and fondness for risk. But I’ll bet that ‘fuzzy felt drivers’ are mainly ordinary motorists who are simply rubbish at estimating risks. They just have no idea of what they’re getting away with by the skin of their teeth every time they drive blind.
Which serves as a reminder that there just isn’t any room for hoping for the best when it comes to fleet risk. Assessing hazards, setting policies and communicating expectations and advice to drivers are absolutely vital for every business.
A little education usually goes a long way towards persuading people to see sense. In this case, that could be literally as well as figuratively.