Transport & Travel Research Ltd (TTR) and parent company TRL have secured funding for a pilot scheme to reduce tailgating by business drivers from the Road Safety Trust, a charity that funds research to support its objective of reducing road casualties.
Tailgating, or close following, is a widespread concern on UK roads. It makes drivers feel intimidated, aggravates congestion and is a contributory factor in 7 per cent of collisions. According to the road safety charity Brake, 44 per cent of drivers are concerned about close-following most times that they drive on motorways; however, nearly 60 per cent of drivers admit to leaving less than the recommended two-second gap between themselves and the vehicle in front. The project will focus on business drivers because on average they undertake high annual driving mileages and are involved in a quarter of road traffic collisions.
Robert Gifford, chief executive of the Road Safety Trust said: “This project tackles two important issues: close following which is of concern to many road users and driving for work which poses increased risk to all drivers. I hope that the Trust’s support will help to develop a useful tool for employers as they take their role in managing this issue seriously.â€
Practical interventions may focus on education, engineering or enforcement approaches or a combination of these.
The TTR and TRL team is looking for local authority partners to help recruit employers within the pilot area and develop a package of behaviour change techniques to measure and influence attitudes towards close-following.
Marcus Jones, senior expert, Sustainable Mobility at TTR added: “The project provides an excellent opportunity for road safety departments to not only help tackle tailgating on their road networks, but develop new tools they can use in the future.â€
Local authorities that are interested in taking part in the pilot should contact Marcus Jones on 01344 770552 or Marcus.Jones@ttr-ltd.com
