Lanes Group Wins National Award for Driving up Road Safety

Lanes Group has won a prestigious national safety award for a vehicle risk management strategy that is helping to significantly boost road safety during a period of rapid business growth.

The drainage and water utilities specialist has won the Best Driver Risk Management Performance Award at the Safety and Health Excellence Awards, which are supported by the British Safety Industry Federation.

Lanes Group was presented with the award, a new addition to the SHE Awards, at a gala evening held at The Vox, Resorts World, NEC Birmingham, on 9th April, 2025.

The company is using its Samsara vehicle telematics system in innovative ways, integrated with a driver engagement programme, to encourage safe practices among 3,250 registered drivers.

It is also one of only a few businesses around the world that has a dedicated team to drive uniform standards and both safety and sustainability improvements across the company.

Lanes Group IT Director Mo Dawood said: “This award is a win for every single person who gets behind the wheel in our business, and the many people who support them in their work.

“Samsara is a powerful enabler. But it’s the commitment of our teams to exemplar high driving standards and to working together to reduce road risks that is achieving these results. Let’s keep raising the bar.”

Over the last 24 months, Lanes Group’s use of Samsara has supported significant road safety improvements, including:

• 50% reduction in collisions
• 24% reduction in speeding
• 92% reduction in mobile phone use and distracted driving
• Average insurance claim value reduced by £3,000

Fleet Systems Team Leader Amber Kirkby, who heads up the Samsara team, said: “Very early on, the company could see the potential for supporting the highest safety standards by making full use of all the capabilities of a telematics system like Samsara.

“Winning the SHE Award demonstrates the progress we’ve made, but there is no room for complacency. We have a full programme of work in 2025 aimed at generating further improvements.

“What’s very pleasing, and vital to the process, is that our drivers are responding very positively. They can see the advantages for them of having a way to measure performance and drive up standards.”

Having a dedicated Samsara team is creating significant efficiencies as Lanes Group undergoes rapid growth through acquisition and contract wins.

As new companies join the business, and contacts are mobilised, their fleets are being onboarded to Samsara and measures put in place to integrate procedures and standards.

For example, Amber Kirkby and her colleagues have played a key role in the mobilisation, at the start of April, of major new contracts for Southern Water and Yorkshire Water.

Samsara is allowing the company to efficiently and effectively fast-track driver safety improvements.

For example, Samsara recorded 18million vehicle miles in 2023, and 31m in 2024, an increase of 72%.

Evidence gathered from multiple sensors, plus forward, rear and cab-facing cameras on each vehicle is being used to celebrate good driving practice, as well as identifying where improvements are needed.

Lanes Group is rolling out a company-wide incentive programme to reward drivers demonstrating best practice, and providing coaching support where it is needed, which include e-learning sessions available via a driver app.

The company has also been a pioneer of using Samsara to manage driver documentation. Hundreds of thousands of vehicle checks and tachograph records are now stored on Samsara, eliminating paper use and making vehicle maintenance more efficient.