The problem with common sense is that it is all too easily forgotten or ignored. It ought to be obvious that setting off fireworks indoors is a really bad idea, for example, but some folks have been known to do it. More commonly, most of us have heard that a downpour is forecast and still set off without an umbrella.

Ah, the weather. We are famous for talking about it and should probably be equally renowned for not doing anything to counter its effects. It is an attitude that that can prove both dangerous and expensive. It should not be news to anyone that winter brings lower temperatures and higher precipitation, whether as rain, sleet or snow. It ought to be equally obvious that icy roads, rain, spray and other seasonal phenomena do not represent ideal driving conditions.

It is common sense that driving is more hazardous in winter. Accidents are more likely and consequences of those accidents are likely to be more severe. One might think that we all know this and take precautions accordingly. Some of us certainly ease off the accelerator, plan our braking better, keep a closer eye on what other road users might be about to do. A government analysis of road casualties, matched against the weather, has made clear that we could be doing much better.

It is now official. When the weather gets colder and wetter, there actually are more accidents and the consequences are more severe. Bad weather brings measurably more deaths, more serious injuries and more slight injuries. That is now statistically proven fact, no longer a mere theory.

What should people running vehicles do about this? The ostrich approach will just exacerbate the situation. If a driver does fall victim to the greater likelihood of an accident, their manager really does not want an investigation to find that the driver had not been warned of the need for greater care. If it does, blame is going to swing away from a driver who failed to take proper account of the conditions. The spotlight will fall onto the manager who failed to remind their driver to take more care in the cold and wet.

Sending out an email or a text, or holding a five-minute briefing, might seem unnecessary. After all, driving more carefully in winter is just common sense, surely? Of course it is, but that is going to seem a thin excuse when offered from the dock during a prosecution for neglecting duty of care.

If you manage vehicles, save yourself a problem this winter. Remind drivers to take more care in bad conditions, and keep a record of having issued that reminder. Read more about the statistics, here.

 

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