Van Drivers and Mobile Phone Use - RSA Study Findings
What the RSA observational study shows
The RSA's latest observational study found van drivers are more than twice as likely to be using a mobile phone at the wheel as other road users.
If you run a fleet, you probably aren't shocked. The habits you've suspected on the road are now in the data.
Why van drivers? They live in their cabs. Tight delivery windows, phone-based dispatch, sat-nav running on the same handset, customers ringing for an ETA. The phone earns its keep on every shift, which is exactly why it ends up in a hand at 60 km/h.
The risk shows up in the claims file. Distraction is a contributing factor in 20-30% of fatal and serious-injury crashes in Ireland (RSA estimate). For a fleet of any size, that's more incidents, higher renewals, longer vehicle off-road time and harder HR conversations after a preventable collision.
What the Fleet News safety report (April 2026) adds
Three sections of the report pair directly with the RSA finding.
Distraction (pp. 15-16). Arval bans phone calls in company cars, hands-free or not. The educational line from head of insurance Ian Pearson: put the phone in a bag or the glovebox so the temptation isn't there. Balfour Beatty went further in 2014 with a blanket ban after a distraction-related fatality, built around a comms package on planning calls around breaks. The fleets featured combine clear policy with consistent education across the workforce.
Root cause analysis (p. 29). "Unless fleets can identify those underlying patterns, there is a danger that they end up focusing too heavily on the event itself, rather than the behaviours and conditions that lie behind it," says Alex Crane-Robinson, regional director UK & Ireland at Webfleet. Kelly Group reviews harsh-driving alerts every morning and rings the drivers who keep showing up. The opening line is "are you okay?" Most of the time it's a five-minute chat. Sometimes it stops a driver going out who shouldn't.
Communications strategy (pp. 34-38). The report sets out nine steps. Three pair with the phone problem.
1. Communicate regularly. One topic a month, every month. Speedy Hire pushes transport bulletins through Microsoft Viva Engage so the message lands on every device a driver uses (p. 34).
2. Lead by example. If a senior manager takes a call at the wheel, the policy is dead (p. 34).
3. Use free resources. DfBB driver information cards add up to a "free three-year communication programme", per Simon Turner at Driving for Better Business (p. 36).
The key is consistency: a monthly topic, a signed-off policy, leaders who model the standard and reviews that don't quietly drop off the calendar.
Where SURVEY fits
SURVEY pulls driver risk data across your whole driving population in 10 minutes. You get a baseline you can act on. You target your communications and coaching at the drivers and behaviours that need it. Without that baseline, you're guessing.
Related DriverFocus reading
• Minimising Driver Distraction Risks and Safeguarding Business
• Driving for Work, Governance and Absence of Evidence
Sources:
ETSC summary of the RSA observational study.
Fleet News Safety Report - April 2026
Driving for Better Business Van Toolkit