November 2008 - NORTHGATE VEHICLE HIRE BRINGS A 'FRESH AIR' FOCUS TO NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK 2008
Safety and environmentally-focused Northgate Vehicle Hire is backing next month's National Road Safety Week with the distribution of thousands of in-vehicle air fresheners promoting eco-safety.
Northgate, Britain's largest vehicle hire company with a fleet of 68,500 vehicles available for rent from more than 80 rental locations, will distribute the 'Be An Eco-Safe Driver' air fresheners to all customers and their employees.
National Road Safety Week from November 10-16 is organised by road safety charity Brake and this year's theme is 'Family Safety: Stop. Imagine. Change' with the focus on three key issues: the vital need for parents to 'protect the ones they love'; the terrible devastation caused by death and injury on roads; and the need for drivers and parents to Stop. Imagine. Change.
Every day on UK roads, nine people are killed and nearly ten times as many are seriously injured. It is also estimated that 200 deaths or serious injuries a week in road crashes involve someone while driving a car, van or truck on business
The free air fresheners highlight the key eco-safety messages to drivers of:
- Always using the highest gear possible and not changing up or down through each gear
- Using the vehicle's rev counter as a guide for changing gear - 2,500 rpm on a diesel vehicle and 2,000 rpm on a petrol
- Driving smoothly to avoid harsh acceleration and braking
- Ensure tyre pressures are maintained at manufacturer recommended pressures
Other fleets and drivers across the UK and Ireland will also be able to claim their free air freshener through a specially designed page and data capture form at www.northgateonline.co.uk. Also available for download at the site is a copy of the 'Northgate Guide to Road Safety'.
Eco-safe driving is promoted by Northgate through its website - www.northgateonline.co.uk - and the concept has become one of the core business principles of the company as it encourages customers to improve vehicle fuel consumption, cut emissions and slash accident rates through the adoption of numerous best practice driving techniques.
As a result, companies will make significant cost savings in their fleet operations - essential with the economic recession firmly highlighting the importance of saving money.
Phil Moorhouse, Managing Director of Northgate Vehicle Hire, said: "Eco-safe driving is key to improving road safety and cleaning up the environment. Not only will drivers be involved in fewer road crashes, but also miles per gallon will improve and vehicle wear and tear will be reduced so trimming maintenance costs.
More people are killed and injured on Britain's roads in the winter, which makes it imperative that vehicles are maintained in tip-top condition. With the onset of freezing driving conditions, fog and wet roads, Northgate is opening its own workshops across the UK with the offer to service and maintain customers' own vehicles and is promoting a free 20-point winter health and safety check."
The Department for Transport's Safe and Fuel Efficient Drivers (SaFED) project suggests that a typical driver adopting eco-driving principles and clocking up 20,000 miles a year will:
- Save up to £500 of diesel per vehicle resulting in fuel consumption improvements of around 10%
- Reduce carbon emissions by over a quarter tonne
- Make 59% fewer gear changes
- Be involved in fewer accidents with the result that insurance premiums will reduce and running costs will be trimmed.
Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, said: "Most of us worry about a loved one being killed on the road, but we also think it will happen to somebody else and not our family. Road Safety Week 2008 is a wake up call that one in eight people who die on the UK's roads each day; children, young adults just starting out, mums and dads, and beloved grandparents. Each death sends out crippling shock waves in communities. We need to 'Stop. Imagine. Change'. We need to take a moment daily to think of the reality of road death and injury and take a hard, cold look at our behaviour on roads and improve it, whether by slowing down, switching off our mobiles, looking twice at junctions, holding our children's hands or checking they are belted up in cars, for the sake of our own loved ones and other people's families."
Visit the Brake website www.brake.org.uk or www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk for more information about road safety, how to educate your community or company.
