And it seems white still remains the most popular colour for vans
According to research carried out by IAM RoadSmart, over the past decade, the number of miles travelled by vans has risen by more than 22%.
The UK road safety charity found that in 2016, which is the most recent year that figures are available for, vans and light goods vehicles managed to clock up a whopping 49 billion miles in Britain.
It seems our new obsession with online shopping and a demand for speedier home deliveries have created the need for more vans on our roads, with many companies offering customers ‘next day delivery’ on goods purchased.
Over the years the ‘white van man’ has become a victim of stereotyping, with many labelling them as selfish and aggressive drivers with no consideration for other road users but IAM RoadSmart suggests that the new modern van drivers around today tend to be somewhat safer.
In 2006, the number of accidents involving vans stood at 15,593 however, this figure just a decade later has dropped to 13,125 and when you consider that the number of miles driven over those 10 years has increased, this represents a 16% drop in accidents. Even the number of fatal accidents fell by around a third, dropping from 274 to 186.
Modern vans these days are fitted with improved safety technology and no doubt this plays its part in the above figures. Also, the worry of ‘trial by social media’ might too be a factor believes the road safety charity. The use of dashcams means that bad driving can be recorded and shared with others via social media websites very easily.
It’s also been found that alongside the increase of van usage, some 37% of ones on the road are less than five years old, whereas IAM RoadSmart suggests that just 5% of cars can be placed in the same age category.
And whilst it’s good to see progress related to safety on our roads, some things never change, like the fact that a massive 57% of all vans seen on the road are still painted white, with silver in second place on 11.4%, followed by blue in third on 9%.
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