Van Driving Courses

Most vans can be driven on a normal car licence so many drivers just jump behind the wheel without a second though. But driving a van is very different from driving a normal road car and drivers, and their employers, will benefit enormously from having defensive van driver training, especially if, as in the case of the courses on offer from Driving Risk Management, they are tailored to the needs of the ‘at work’ van driver.

Van drivers are at high risk out on British roads and driver training really can help them stay out of trouble.

Analysis of more than 1.3 million police crash reports between 2008 and 2012 has shown that van drivers face an increased risk in a number of areas, when compared to all other motorists. Vans are involved in 10% of all cycle fatality incidents and a van driver is one and a half times more likely to be involved in a serious injury collision than a car driver.

Although changing lanes and motorway driving were found to be key danger points for vans, van drivers are a massive 142% more likely to crash during a reversing manoeuvre than other vehicles. Even parked up, vans appear to be more of a crash target, by a factor of more than 40%.

Van driver training courses can also help dramatically reduce wear and tear on vans, and improve fuel consumption too. For most employers these are key expenditure areas which can heavily influence profitability, particularly if the van is used for multi drop deliveries.