Safety implications of company cars—the Israeli experience

Abstract

This paper explores the safety implications of the use of company cars. It focuses on a case study in Israel that shows a massive growth in the extent of company-car use in recent years. The methodology consisted of two main elements: the first was a market review regarding the situation in Israel, the second was a questionnaire-based survey distributed to 400 drivers who had a company car and to a control group of 230 drivers who did not have a company car and drove their own vehicles. The results clearly indicate that company cars have a significant negative impact on both travel behavior and safety. First, company-car arrangements result in significant extra mileages which lead to an excessive level of exposure. In addition, company cars are installed with fewer safety features than privately owned cars, and drivers of company cars tend to exhibit fewer safe-driving characteristics. The consequence of such practice is that company-car drivers were also found to be more involved in road crashes than were drivers who did not have a company car. The consequences suggest that decision-makers may need to re-examine company car arrangements in order to control the excessive exposure and to require that company cars come with a core of sufficient safety features.