An increase in electric vehicles (EVs) and ‘last-mile’ delivery services could lead to an increased risk to public, according to a driver training firm.
As last-mile delivery vehicles and EVs increase, so is the risk to pedestrians, suggests RED Corporate Driver Training CEO, Seb Goldin.
“The delivery market has boomed in the past few years,” Goldin says, “and there has been a race to sign up as many drivers as possible and to maximise the number of drops, and our concern is this will lead to lower standards of driving which results in more accidents.
“Many companies are turning to electric vehicles for their ‘last mile’ service too. It’s undoubtedly a good thing in urban environments, because they reduce pollution from noise and emissions,
“But as always, there are some drawbacks we need to address, and one is pedestrian safety. The Department for Transport figures on the number of pedestrians killed and injured are quite shocking, and our concern is that as the number of near-silent EVs increase, the figures will start to climb again.”
