A quarter of company car drivers habitually tailgate
Wed, 30 Jul 2025
Nearly a quarter of company car drivers are habitually tailgating, putting other drivers and themselves at risk.
Meanwhile, almost a third are not checking their mirrors or blind spots, while more than a fifth are failing to properly scan the road ahead for potential hazards.
The findings have been discovered from more than 4500 participants in road safety charity IAM RoadSmart’s ‘Driving for Work’ training course.
The 23% of company car drivers who fail to maintain a safe following distance to the vehicle ahead of them is one of the most concerning findings, says IAM RoadSmart.
It calls tailgating "a dangerous habit which can lead to rear end collisions."
Company car drivers are engaging in expensive bad habits too. A third of drivers were rated as ‘below average’ for gear selection and 34% were classed as ‘poor’ for being able to manage speed and space around their vehicle.
Nearly a fifth of drivers routinely failed to change gear at the correct time, leading to the engine revving unnecessarily.
"What these results show is that bad habits creep in over time, even with good drivers. In far too many cases, drivers are failing to carry out even basic actions, like checking their mirrors or maintaining a safe distance from the vehicles in front," says IAM RoadSmart policy and standards director Nicholas Lyes.
He called the implications of the results "significant, not only in terms of damage to vehicles, but for the safety of drivers and other roads users – and, as a consequence, reputation."
As a result, IAM RoadSmart is urging businesses to send company car drivers for extra training to maintain standards, keep safe on the roads and prevent the costs that come from poor driving behaviours spiralling out of control.
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