Survey finds van drivers optimistic about new technology

A new survey from UK insurance website Gocompare.com Van Insurance asked van drivers what they think of the new technology that might affect their business. Safety was a concern when it came to new technology. Over 50 per cent of respondents said they thought futuristic technology might provide a safety risk. This was of particular concern to drivers in both Belfast and Norwich – with 71 per cent of the respondents in those cities naming it as an issue for them. The next most worrying factor for drivers was
April 20, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A new survey from UK insurance website 5175 Gocompare.com Van Insurance asked van drivers what they think of the new technology that might affect their business.


Safety was a concern when it came to new technology. Over 50 per cent of respondents said they thought futuristic technology might provide a safety risk. This was of particular concern to drivers in both Belfast and Norwich – with 71 per cent of the respondents in those cities naming it as an issue for them.

The next most worrying factor for drivers was the potential for reliance on technology. Almost half said they thought the ease involved in using future van technology would make workers over-reliant on gadgets over their own skills.

Asked what technology would be the most useful for van drivers, only 1.5 per cent were interested in the ability to run apps in their vans, suggesting digital integration isn’t a priority, while other potential inventions such as automatic parking, active window displays and driverless functionality proved more popular.

While automatic parking was indisputably popular, respondents were more conflicted on driverless cars.

But although it made the top three most popular future technology options among van drivers, it was also in the top three for the technology that they felt would have the most negative impact on their business. One in ten said that future technology might be a problem and of them 58 per cent said that they thought it might make their own skills obsolete.

Overall, optimism towards technology is high, with 82 per cent of respondents being interested in at least one of the forms of technology on offer. Forty per cent felt that their efficiency would be increased by the advances and a further 41 per cent were interested in the improvements to their safety as a result of added resources.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The future of in-vehicle navigation systems
    February 3, 2012
    TRL's Alan Stevens looks at the evolution and future prospects of in-vehicle navigation devices. Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) plays a crucial role in the safety of vehicles on our roads. Until we achieve full automation (and that's a debatable prospect anyway) a driver's interaction with the vehicle - all the controls, information and systems - holds a pivotal role in safe driving.
    Read More
  • Safer roads need safe systems approach, better infrastructure
    January 19, 2012
    Some developed countries are far from leading the way when it comes to making road infrastructure safe. In fact, says the Road Safety Foundation's Joanne Hill, they learn a lot from what is happening in emergent nations. A new report from the Road Safety Foundation, 'Saving Lives, Saving Money - the costs and benefits of achieving safe roads', makes some startling assertions about attitudes to road safety. Although concerned predominantly with the UK, there are some universal lessons to be learned, accordin
    Read More
  • IBTTA seeks transportation innovation
    December 16, 2016
    IBTTA’s Patrick Jones contemplates the need for, sources of and constraints on transportation innovation. For years now, visionary thinkers and doers in the highway transportation community have been laser-focused on the role of innovation in addressing the most pressing mobility challenges.
    Read More
  • Roadside infrastructure key to in-vehicle deployment
    November 28, 2013
    The implementation of in-vehicle systems will require multilateral cooperation, as Honda’s Sue Bai explains to Colin Sowman. Vehicle manufacturers will shape the future direction of in-vehicle ITS systems, but they can’t do it on their own. So to find out what they see on the horizon, and the obstacles they face, ITS International spoke to Sue Bai, principal engineer in the Automobile Technology Research Department with Honda R&D Americas. Not only does she play an important role in Honda’s US-based ITS
    Read More

Highlighted Content