The average untrained van driver exhibits aggressive driving every three miles by accelerating harshly, braking heavily or cornering too hard, Lightfoot has revealed.
New data, captured during blind testing by its coaching devices before they are switched on, shows that every 100 miles, the average driver accelerates too harshly seven times, brakes heavily three times, and corners too hard 18 times.
Extrapolated over the 58 billion miles covered by UK van drivers each year, that equates to nearly 20 billion instances of harsh acceleration, braking or cornering annually – or over 2.2 million aggressive driving events every hour.
Lightfoot’s coaching technology picks up on such events and identifies them as exceeding safe driving parameters.
And once the blind phase is complete and the Lightfoot in-cab coaching device is turned on, harsh acceleration events have been proven to halve, with noticeable falls in braking and cornering too.
G-force meters in Lightfoot devices record when a van’s movements exceed predefined thresholds determined by extensive testing, such as the speed taken to accelerate from 0-60mph. Driving events range from lower-severity infringements, such as those that increase vehicle wear and tear and fuel consumption, to more extreme instances that could compromise the safety of the driver and other road users.
Overall, Lightfoot is able to reduce incidences of aggressive driving by nearly a quarter, improving fuel economy, extending EV range, slowing wear and tear, and making roads safer for everybody.
And with some customers, Lightfoot has seen all incidences drop by more than 50% once the device is activated.
The driver scoring system – where drivers aim to achieve an Elite Driver score of 85% – shows the transformative impact of Lightfoot’s in-cab coaching device. On average, uncoached drivers score 59.6%, while those using Lightfoot reach 84.1%. This improvement leads to a 50% reduction in harsh acceleration events, a 12% decrease in harsh braking, and a 15% reduction in harsh cornering.
The 85% Elite Driver score is backed by scientific research from the University of Bath, extensive driving data analysis, and customer insights. It promotes measurable improvements in safety, CO2 reduction, EV range extension, and fuel efficiency while maintaining the flexibility needed for real-world driving conditions.
Lightfoot’s in-cab coaching technology has been proven to save fuel and emissions by 15%, while in EVs, a smoother, more uniform Lightfoot-enabled driving style contributes to range increases of up to 15%.
Crucially, it has seen accidents reduced by up to 40% while vehicle wear and tear has decreased, leading to a 45% reduction in downtime.
Lightfoot CEO Paul Hollick said: “One of the biggest challenges businesses face is a lack of visibility into how their vehicles are being driven, and the impact this has on other road users, their fleet, employees and corporate reputation. With Lightfoot the reality is laid wide open. The great thing is, Lightfoot provides full visibility, helping these businesses address these issues head-on.”
He added: “It’s worth noting that these driving behaviours are often not illegal, and not always unavoidable either: sometimes a driver may have to brake or accelerate hard due to what’s happening on the road around them. We don’t want to stop those from happening as they constitute a safety issue. But what we want to do is cut out unnecessary, often aggressive driving actions, and we’ve proved beyond doubt we can do that.”
