The so-called “grey-fleet” was highlighted as a major safety concern in the UK during a recent report from Fleet News. The publication revealed that almost two out of three private vehicles driven on company business were "not safe to be on the road." It has been estimated that between one and three million privately-owned cars are used for work purposes. An ongoing study by Total Motion found that almost 60 percent of the private vehicles were not properly maintained and around a third were not properly insured. Just over 70 percent of maintenance problems identified were tyre-related and should have been picked up during basic safety checks. However, the vast majority (91 percent) of drivers admitted they did not carry out such checks, and 98 percent said their employers had failed to ask about them. A separate poll by Fleet News and National Car Rental revealed that almost a quarter (24 percent) of fleet managers thought other motorists were the greatest risk to the safety of their employees while driving for business. Mobile phones and other in-car distractions, such as sat-nav, were seen as slightly less of a threat overall, closely followed by pressure on drivers to meet work deadlines. While only 11 percent of fleet managers felt that their own drivers' poor skills behind the wheel presented a major risk to their safety.
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