Company car at top of most-wanted list

WELLINGTON - A company car is rated ahead of profit-linked pay, superannuation or health insurance, a survey of leased-vehicle drivers has found.

People surveyed by Lease Plan said a company car was cheaper to run, with no worries about insurance and maintenance.

Almost 80 per cent said their employers paid their fuel bills for private use.

However, the survey showed most were better at putting a price on the value of a company car - about $15,000 a year - than they were at keeping their cool, obeying the law, ensuring vehicles were kept in good condition, or using common sense to minimise environmental impacts.

Nearly 80 per cent said they broke the speed limit on the motorway in light traffic, but 42 per cent rated people aged 17 to 21 as the worst drivers, closely followed by drivers aged 65 or over.

Just over half admitted behaving aggressively to other drivers, usually with rude hand signals or verbal abuse, and 1.26 per cent had physically abused another driver.

-NZPA