Sixt Road Safety Programme over halves the number of serious road accidents in a year

Dublin, March 3rd, 2016. Sixt Rent a Car Ireland has presented today a major road safety analysis which has found that drivers from abroad, who normally drive on the right hand side of the road, are twice as likely to have an accident in Ireland. The comprehensive survey was conducted by Sixt Rent a Car Ireland, one of the largest car rental companies in this country. Unlike the usual high risk categories that are used for domestic drivers such as age, the dominant factor with visiting tourists is the side of the road they are used to driving on. Drivers from the USA, who at home drive on the right-hand side of the road, accounted for 16% of rental days and 35% of accidents. This compares unfavourably to drivers from Australia, who like Ireland drive at home on the left, accounted for 5% of rental days and 5% of accidents. “As a result of this research, Sixt Rent a Car Ireland has implemented a major Road Safety Programme. The Programme is primarily a driver education programme, backed with in-vehicle prompting, which is largely aimed at drivers who do not normally drive on the left”, explains Trevor Toner, Operations Director Sixt Rent a Car Ireland. “The programme has been a spectacular road safety success. In a period of over 250,000 days, the Sixt safety programme has resulted in a welcome and unprecedented decrease in accidents and serious injuries. In fact, the frequency of serious claims per 100,000 rental days has declined from over 6% in 2014 to below 3% in 2015”, says Trevor. These findings have been confirmed by Zurich one of the world’s major car insurance companies. “The success of the Sixt Road Safety Programme is such that it has attracted world-wide interest, even from as far away as the New Zealand Department of Transport”, says Trevor. “The Sixt Road Safety Programme ensures meticulous safety checks of every vehicle during the preparation procedure before every single rental transaction. The Sixt Road Safety Programme also places a large emphasis on driver education at a number of key points during the rental cycle. In particular, every high risk driver must review a six point safety card with his or her rental agent as part of the rental process”, says Trevor.
Sixt Rent a Car Ireland currently employs 78 people and has seen huge growth over the last few years. Sixt Rent a Car is a German 4th generation family owned business, which is in fact the world’s fifth largest car rental company with 4,170 outlets in 106 countries across the globe.

Sixt AG, with its registered office in Pullach near Munich, is an international provider of integrated mobility services. Founded in 1912, the company, together with its franchisees and partners, is represented in more than 105 countries. Sixt is the market leader for car rentals in Germany and Austria and one of the biggest OEM-manufacturer-independent full-service leasing providers. The Sixt Group generated a turnover of € 1.56 billion in 2011 and employs around 3000 people worldwide (excluding franchisees). www.sixt.ie

German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Deutsch- Irische Industrie- und Handelskammer
46 Fitzwilliam Square
Dublin 2
Republic of Ireland

Nicole Jung
PR-Manager
DEinternational
Phone: 01 – 6424-390
gic8@german-irish.ie

This release was published on openPR.