Fleet Risk Management: Reducing Low Speed Manoeuvring Risks

Low-speed manoeuvring poses one of the most significant drivers of claims costs across commercial fleets. While the incidents tend to appear minor on the surface, often only causing apparently cosmetic damage to vehicles and relatively minor injuries, they can still have significant impacts on insurance premiums.

What is low-speed manoeuvring?

Low-speed manoeuvring generally refers to any vehicle movement at the start or end of a journey. This includes manoeuvring into a parking space at the end of a journey or setting off from a parked position at the start of a journey.

Low-speed manoeuvring also encompasses reversing activities, such as parking or executing a three-point turn.

Causes of low-speed manoeuvring accidents

Collisions result from multiple factors, including increasingly congested roads, a rise in on-street parking, inconsiderate parking, inappropriate speeds, and drivers failing to maintain proper awareness.

Regardless of other factors, a driver who hits a stationary third-party vehicle or property is usually held legally responsible, even if the third-party vehicle or property should not have been present.

The cost of low-speed manoeuvring incidents is rising

The main risk associated with low-speed manoeuvring is that a driver may strike a third-party vehicle. While the low-speed nature of these incidents may limit structural damage, the affected vehicle will still require professional repairs.

Modern vehicles have become increasingly complex, with commonly damaged areas, such as bumpers, now housing cameras and sensor equipment. According to the Association of British Insurers, the cost of vehicle repairs increased by 31% in 2023 to reach £6.1 billion, up from £4.7 billion in 2022.

Additionally, the third party may need a replacement vehicle while theirs is being repaired. The cost of providing replacement cars during repairs jumped 35% in 2023.

Consequently, even seemingly minor damage can result in surprisingly expensive claims. In addition, low-speed claims tend to be more common meaning these amounts quickly add up and the ultimate outcome will drive insurance premiums upwards.

Key training and instructions for drivers to prevent incidents

Primarily, it is the driver, not the vehicle or type of journey, that contributes to these incidents. As such, the focus should be on managing drivers to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences. This can be achieved through driver instructions and training covering:

Proper mirror set-up: Ensure drivers adjust their mirrors before leaving the depot to provide the best visibility around the vehicle. This is especially important for vehicles shared among multiple drivers with different seating positions.
Extra caution at destinations: Instruct drivers to take extra care when arriving at or departing their destination, as these times present a greater risk of low-speed manoeuvring incidents.
Avoiding distractions: Remind drivers to avoid distractions while driving. When arriving at a destination, there may be a temptation to look for house numbers or check devices for delivery information. This diverts attention from driving and keeping a proper lookout. Instruct drivers struggling to identify a delivery point to park, prior to using devices or looking for a delivery point.
Optimal parking for forward movement: Ideally, drivers should park vehicles to allow for forward movement when setting off. This can be achieved by reverse parking or positioning the vehicle, so that the first movement upon returning from a delivery is forward. This ensures drivers have the best visibility when readjusting back to driving behaviour from being on foot and making a delivery.
Get out and look (GOAL): If in doubt about surrounding vehicles and property, drivers should “get out and look” (GOAL), if it is safe to do so. Large commercial vans often have significant blind spots behind them. If a driver suspects there may be an object behind the vehicle or has lost sight of a vehicle or object while manoeuvring, they should, if safe to do so, exit the vehicle and perform a quick visual check to avoid reversing into anything.
Post-incident coaching: After an event, driver coaching can help drivers to learn from incidents and avoid future occurrences. Understanding the reasons behind the incident and identifying measures to avoid similar mistakes is vital. A lack of meaningful action may simply result in further incidents.

Technology is also starting to provide drivers with additional tools. For example, proximity sensors and vehicle cameras, linked to audible warnings, can reduce or eliminate blind spots. Operators should consider investing in such technology, as it may help reduce claims and result in long-term savings.

Benefits of reducing low-speed manoeuvring incidents

Focusing on reducing low-speed manoeuvring incidents can yield significant benefits for organisations, including:

Decreased attritional losses: Lower-value claims can accumulate over the year, resulting in a substantial financial impact.
Less time spent on incident management: Reducing incidents can cut down the time needed to deal with incidents and third-party complaints as a result of damage to their property.
Lower vehicle damage costs: Fewer incidents can lead to reduced damage to company vehicles that may incur charges when returning vehicles at the end of a lease period.
Reduced likelihood of major incidents: Vehicles can be especially dangerous, even at low speed. While most low-speed manoeuvring incidents relate to property damage, a low-speed collision with a pedestrian or vulnerable road user can have a catastrophic consequence.

How Marsh can help

To support DSPs manage their fleet risk, Marsh can provide a number of risk management services, including:

The Marsh Learning Companion: This app-based training system allows you to design, deliver, and record training for drivers. This enables quick and easy communication with drivers via interactive courses that last only a few minutes. A training portal also helps with administration, recording and tracking completion of training, and can provide vital evidence of training systems in the event of a health and safety prosecution.
One-to-one driver training: Marsh can help arrange personal driver training to address concerns about performance or in response to an incident. This helps drivers understand what areas they need to focus on to improve driving performance and provides practical driving advice.
Post-incident processes and claims management: We provide guidance on post-incident procedures and claims management to help contain costs. This includes advising drivers on the actions to take after an incident, how to investigate incidents, and the necessary follow-up actions.

Please contact your Marsh adviser to find out how we can support your fleet risk management.