We’re sure you’re aware that the road can be a dangerous office. Sadly you probably have little choice about your workplace set-up. With an element of risk constantly lurking on the other side of the windscreen, you need all the help you can get to stay out of harm’s way. Luckily, our manufacturers as well as our government have recognised this, and are taking measures to make your work environment a safe place – showing that they take your safety as seriously as we do.

Euro NCAP Test Scores

Since 1997 Euro NCAP have been testing all new vehicles as they enter the market, giving drivers the low-down on their most important piece of work equipment. As the years have gone on, Euro NCAP have gotten tougher and tougher in their safety assessments, as manufacturers work harder and harder to meet the demands of such scrutiny and achieve a glowing five-star result – the pinnacle of vehicle safety. Due to the authority and credibility of these tests, manufacturers very rarely produce anything that’s less than four stars nowadays, making for safer roads and better protection for drivers. It’s definitely worth checking out their website for more detailed info on specific vehicles’ ratings.

Self-Driving Cars

Sadly, the safety of the car alone cannot guarantee your protection; bad drivers are always a threat. Consequently, there are a number of projects going on in several locations – Google head-quarters being one of them – focused on coming up with software that can take to the helm and drive your fleet vehicle for you. Using their knowledge and experience gained from working in the realms of Sat Nav and mapping, they have created some driverless cars that, even after 300,000 miles, have remained crash, bump and accident free – apart from one incident which happened to be caused by one of us mere mortal drivers. We’re only human after all. We’re still dreaming about the day our fuel cards will be able to automate the process of filling up our cars too…

Driver Aids

A motorway of cars driving around with no one at the wheel isn’t going to be a picture we’ll see anywhere but our TV screens for a while. However, there may not be a need to get rid of real drivers all together – just help manage their human flaws, such as tiredness. Modern technology may hold the key to this also, with equipment that can be installed in any vehicle to alert drivers when fatigue starts to set in, escalating their risk of danger. A less-controlling version of self-driving technology is also being developed alongside this, to provide help with navigational safety and even step in where necessary – to apply the brakes, for example. This will help without making drivers feel like robots are stealing their jobs in a plan to eventually take over the world.

So, with NCAP making sure we get the protection we deserve from our vehicle should anything happen, and clever techno-whizzes working on software that’ll prevent collisions and accidents occurring in the first place, drivers can look forward to being far more safe at work.