Opinion: What new vehicle technology means for fleet safety

Our CEO Ruth Purdie OBE has penned her views on what new vehicle technology means for fleet safety on our roads, and emphasises the importance of an evidence base that keeps pace with technological change.

We’re grateful to Fleet World for running this important opinion piece in their publication on 3 June 2026:

New technology is changing the way we drive. In recent years, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) – a range of technologies that help drivers with steering, braking and monitoring – have moved from premium extras to standard features on new vehicles and the potential safety benefits are significant.

A 2022 study estimated that ADAS technologies could reduce crashes on UK roads by almost a quarter and there is already strong evidence that many of these systems are improving safety. Automatic emergency braking has been shown to reduce rear-end collisions and driver monitoring systems help detect fatigue and distraction.

For fleet operators, whose drivers spend long hours behind the wheel, the benefits are clear: fewer collisions, injuries and lower operating costs. However, history shows that major technological shifts can also bring unintended consequences.

As vehicles take over more driving tasks, there is a concern that some drivers may become less engaged or overconfident in what the technology can do. ADAS features are assistive technologies, not autonomous driving systems, yet drivers may not fully understand their limitations.

For example, lane keeping assist is known to struggle on poorly marked rural roads and automatic braking systems can perform less reliably in heavy rain or snow. At the moment you need them the most, in tricky driving conditions, they are more likely to let you down. Intelligent speed assistance has also been found to misread speed limits – Which? researchers found multiple instances of vehicles registering a speed limit of 80mph in 30mph zones.

If the result of ADAS is drivers paying less attention to their driving, relying instead on the technology, then this could represent a significant danger on our roads and one that may increase as driving habits change over time.

For fleet operators, this creates a new type of management challenge. Traditionally, road safety has focused on issues such as speeding, fatigue and vehicle maintenance. Those risks still exist, but fleets must now also consider how drivers interact with automated systems: when they trust them too much, when they switch them off, and whether they understand what the benefits and limitations are.

There are also wider concerns around cybersecurity and software reliability as vehicles become more connected and dependent on digital systems.

One of the clearest messages from recent road safety research is that the evidence base has not yet caught up with the pace of technological change.

The Road Safety Trust’s independent impact evaluation found that many funded projects are already improving road safety knowledge, guidance and organisational practice, but also highlighted how difficult it can be to measure long-term impacts in a complex road environment.

We still need better evidence on questions such as:

• How quickly drivers become over-reliant on automation?

• Which ADAS features create the biggest behavioural changes?

• How do these systems affect professional drivers?

• How should fleets train drivers to use these technologies properly?

The Road Safety Trust is now making safe use of vehicle technology a major focus of its current large grants programme, recognising that this is an area where the evidence base still needs significant development.

Technology can reduce human error, but it is not a replacement for driver responsibility, training or good safety management. For fleets, ADAS should be treated as part of a wider safety system, not as a solution on its own.

New vehicle technology gives us a real opportunity to reduce deaths and serious injuries on UK roads. But if we want to realise the full benefits, we need to invest not only in the technology itself, but also in the research, training and evidence needed to understand its risks and limitations.

9 June 2026