Frequently Asked Questions

The Driver Risk Index™ is an extensively validated driver risk assessment that identifies crash involvement risk from a behavioural perspective. The Driver Risk Index™ enables the selection of highly targeted and therefore more effective interventions to address driver behaviour highlighted by the assessment results.

There are currently several different variants – each with their own research programme underpinning their development. These include variants for Fleet, Truck, Bus, Police, Fire Appliance and Ambulance drivers.

The Driver Risk Index™ is the first stage in a three stage solution to impact driver behaviours and reduce crash risk:

1. Identify – driver risk using the Driver Risk Index™ and focus on the specific contributing behavioural and situational factors.
2. Review – implement and evaluate your driver safety management strategy with our comprehensive Management Information System.
3. Act – Address at-risk driver behaviour and improve safety with a range of interventions tailored to the Driver Risk Index™ results.

A wide range of UK and international clients use the Driver Risk Index™, including Shell, Unilever, Greyhound Bus among many others. It is used in virtually all business sectors to manage fleet risk, as well as emergency services and public transport operators.

The Driver Risk Index™ is the commercial name for our online driver risk assessment with a 30+ year research history underpinning its development. The scales used in the Driver Risk Index™ have been the subject of over 90 published academic papers. The scales have been through the standard phases of psychometric development, from the initial theoretical underpinning, through various methodological and statistical tests to practical use for driver risk assessment and management in a variety of different organisations. It has been reliably shown that the Driver Risk Index™ scales are personality-based emotional responses to driving. The scales are associated with driver behaviours, errors and crash risk.

The Driver Risk Index™ has been commercially available since 2005 when DriverMetrics® was formed by Cranfield University.

Driver behaviours, like other behaviours, can be influenced and changed. Whilst the Driver Risk Index™ is normally used as part of an ongoing driver risk management process, it has also been used successfully to aid in driver recruitment and selection. By identifying the personal characteristics that are associated with at-risk driver behaviour, the Selection Driver Risk Index™ can be used alongside other recruitment methods, contributing to a holistic view of a candidate’s suitability for a particular driving role. Once selected, the driver’s report can then be incorporated into any induction programme and used as part of their ongoing driver development.

We recommend that the Driver Risk Index™ is completed by your drivers once a year. Comparisons can be made in the scores between assessments within the Management Information System. If you have implemented any interventions to manage risk, this is an ideal way of evaluating the impact on driver behaviour.

The Driver Risk Index™ takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

The web interface for the Driver Risk Index™ is designed to be accessible to all users and the level of English used is easy to understand. If the user can browse the web, they will be able to complete the assessment with ease.

The entire online interface for the Driver Risk Index™ is designed to be accessible to all users and the level of English used is easy to understand for people with literacy issues.  The Fleet Driver Risk Index™, for drivers of vehicles up to 3.5 tons, is available in a range of languages.

No.  All drivers access the Driver Risk Index™ via our secure website interface. It can be accessed from any computer with a web browser installed. Managers can access the Management Information System in the same way.

You have two options. Either we can pre-load the system and email your drivers directly or we can provide you with a set of passwords for allocation to drivers for you to distribute yourself.

We take data protection very seriously. We are compliant with UK and EU data protection legislation and our databases are stored securely using Amazon Web Services.

For drivers taking part in an assessment with an e-learning package included, their report is immediately made available to them on completion of the assessment, as their e-learning allocations are linked to their factor scores.  For those without automatically allocated e-learning, the report can be made available on-screen at the end of the assessment, and/or emailed to the driver, group contact, and main MIS contact.

The assessment contains scales specifically designed to identify drivers who show signs of responding in a way that may not be representative of their real risk.  Communicating the health and safety reasons behind the introduction of the Driver Risk Index™ to your driving workforce, particularly around its role as a development tool to help them be as safe as possible, will help to reduce suspicion and improve accuracy.

Research on the development of the Driver Risk Index™ in the late 1980’s began with a large sample of drivers completing a driving diary over a period of days recording their driving experiences and responses. From this information, a questionnaire was developed and administered to hundreds of drivers. Responses to this questionnaire were subject to various statistical procedures to describe behavioural and emotional responses to driving. These statistical procedures resulted in the development of several behavioural scales to describe personality-based emotions and behaviours when driving. These scales were then assessed for reliability and validity and the findings published in a large number of published academic papers.

To adapt the Driver Risk Index™ for international use we translate the assessment and web interface into the relevant language.

New translations and countries are being added continually, please contact us directly to discuss and we can provide you with the very latest information.

If your language is not available, we can undertake a short project to implement. Contact us for further information.

If your language is not available, we can undertake a short project to implement. Contact us for further information.

The main features of the MIS include:

• an overview of Driver Risk Index™ completions in graphical and list form
  • overall and by situational and behavioural risk ratings
  • by individual situational and behavioural risk
  • individual reports are stored and are available for download at any time
  • line managers can use the MIS to contact drivers individually or in batches at the click of a button
  • changes in individual and whole fleet risk can be tracked over time
  • group drivers for ease of tracking – line managers can have access to the MIS showing just their own group of drivers while senior fleet managers have whole-system visibility

We will provide the management team with one whole-MIS username and password, and one set for each group set up within the MIS, and a unique website address.

There are a range of different types of interventions that can be used to influence driver behaviour including e-learning, driver workshops, and one-to-one driver coaching. Decisions should be made on a case by case basis according to each particular company. We can advise on the best course of action.

If you have enrolled on the Driver Risk Index™+ programme, after completing the Driver Risk Index™ a set of e-learning modules are allocated automatically based on the results of each report. The e-learning modules have been specifically developed to address the high risk behavioural factors identified by the Driver Risk Index™.  Successful completion, as defined by passing a test at the end of each module, is recorded within the Management Information System. You will then have an audit trail of the steps you have taken to manage to inform your drivers about how to improve their safety as part of your risk management programme.

Many organisations successfully integrate the Driver Risk Index™ into their training without requiring an extensive amount of help from us. However, available in-company, online or by DriverMetrics®, our training courses provide driver managers, trainers, instructors and teachers with the advanced skills and knowledge required to use driver coaching methods based on the Driver Risk Index™. Our standard 2 day Driver Coaching Programme is a CPD course delivered regularly by the DriverMetrics® team. Contact us for more information.

Telematics allows you to monitor your fleet in close detail but only measures specific behaviour such as speed or harsh braking. For influencing driver behaviour, it is important to understand why people are speeding and this is where DriverMetrics® comes in. Drivers may be speeding for a range of different reasons including thrill-seeking, frustrations or work pressures. This information is required in conjunction with telematics in order to implement behavioural interventions.

Typically the wisdom around reassessment of drivers is that it should be every three years. However there are many drivers that may have undergone major changes during that time. So having a blanket view that all drivers need to be assessed every three years may not be the best approach for your organisation. One of the best methods is to have a blended phased approach and to nudge safer driving.

To ensure that any fleet risk management programme is implemented to the maximum benefit, line managers need to champion the programme so that the driver safety message and cascaded down.

When a driver completes the assessment online, there are up to a million-and-a-half different reports that could be generated based on all the possible responses that could be given. This means that we do not merely categorise drivers as high, medium or low risk – we look at the score for each individual driver on each scale.

We have seen a number of very positive outcomes of implementing the DriverMetrics^® approach as shown in many of our case studies. Most obviously we see reduction in the numbers of crashes taking place and the cost of those crashes. Our clients see major return on investment.