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Are accountants secret speed demons?

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3rd Jun 2008
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CRM calamityBest Practice Feature 2008

Recent statistics show that accountants may be the fastest professionals on the road. Daytona, a leading member of the National Karting Association, has examined seven years’ worth of race data from its Manchester track and found that by vocation, accountants hold the fastest average lap time.

Here are Daytona’s top 10 speediest drivers, by job, with their average lap times:

Accountants, 26.017s
Sales professionals, 26.021s
Solicitors, 26.121s
Marketing professionals, 26.234s
HR professionals, 26.301s
Surveyors, 26.313s
Local councillors, 27.015s
Estate agents, 27.476s
Management consultants, 28.512s
Customer service professionals, 29.660s

So is this a statistical blip, or is there something more to it? Well, a study last year by www.moneysupermarket.com revealed which were the most accident-prone professions when it comes to putting pedal to the metal. No, accountants didn’t top the list (lifeguards, tobacconists and most of the medical world, it seems, are worse) but they’re not far off. Accountants are the twelfth most dangerous drivers when it comes to the employed. Long commutes, heavy workloads, mobile phone usage and fatigue must all play a part, but even so, does the profession suffer from a need for speed?

In April the Coventry Evening Telegraph reported on a Bristol accountant who had been clocked at 145mph in his BMW 330, and facing the possibility of jail, had asked for sentencing to be delayed until after his holiday. He got four months suspended and 200 hours’ community service. In the motorcycling community, lifelong bikers have been complaining for years about the arrival of middle-aged “Hell’s Accountants” in their counter-cultural midst.

A quick look at the world of professional racing shows a few accountants have made a positive mark on the track, however. AccountingWeb is informed that one of Italy’s greatest all-time race drivers, Luigi Fagioli, left behind accountancy to enter the sport full-time at the age of 27. He’s one of the oldest drivers to have won an F1 championship, in 1951 at the age of 53. Believe it or not, he needed a cane to get into the car. Scots-born Leslie Thorne was another 50s Formula One driver, albeit one that failed to win anything. More recently accountant and economist Marc Gené Guerrero was F1Williams’ occasional replacement for Ralf Schumacher, and is now a test driver for Ferrari.

Closer to home, Fraser Smart, an actuary for Buck Consultants, currently leads the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship for single seat racing cars (you can keep tabs on his progress here). Given that he deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty on a daily basis, it is maybe not such a leap to his chosen pastime, only his desk does not corner at 95mph.

“My professional background does make a difference,” says Smart. “I am a lot older than most of the other drivers and consequently don't have quite the same fearless approach. I compensate for that by analysing the handling of my car to optimise performance. It is a thorough, methodical approach consistent with my professional training. On the track I probably spend more time than others analysing the competition to identify their weak points. Although all of that does go out of the window sometimes.”

Smart declined to make any generalisation about the driving skills of accountants and actuaries generally. But other race drivers have been known to express an opinion.

“How can you settle for a safe third or something, because it’s four points?” French-Canadian F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve once said. “Jesus, people like that should be accountants, not racing drivers.”

Yet the gifted and mercurial Villeneuve died in a tragic and fatal crash qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix shortly afterwards. So perhaps a little accountancy isn’t entirely unhelpful when it comes to steering a steady course - it’s just a shame the profession is so frustrating that accountants sometimes feel compelled to take it out on public roads.

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Replies (19)

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By User deleted
09th Jul 2008 10:44

How beautiful can this world be with the ladies accountant around. How nice.

.......but how many ladies graduate each year from CCAB-UK and CCAB-Ireland?

I hope the FIGURES are increasing. I hope to get to see the true STATISTICS of the increase.

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By AnonymousUser
05th Jul 2008 05:58

No!
Are accountants secret speed demons? NO!

The beautiful sexy accountant I know, practically cause a long crawl in the higway. So many Sales professionals, Solicitors, Marketing professionals, HR professionals, Surveyors, Local councillors, Estate agents, Management consultants, Customer service professionals were just hooting their horns.

Perhaps, they all stop to admire her beauty.

I am the most contented passenger in this world during that moment. I can admire every bits of her, others (those listed above) can only get a glimpse.

Aren't you non-accountants jeolous? I am certain you all are.

If so, join the accountant fraternity and admire beautiful accountants.

Thank You very much, Miss Beautifuls.


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By User deleted
14th Jun 2008 09:10

Brakes slow you down..

I ride fast and furious - the bikers behind tell me that my brake light doesn't work. That's 'cos I don't use brakes unless I need to stop at a junction (or in an emergency).

Being Billy NoBrakes means I have to think waaay ahead and plan my line around bends, pick the best gear so I can use engine braking, etc.

It makes me much faster than the others as my riding is smoother, suspension is not loaded under braking, and I'm always in the right gear to accelerate out of corners.

Benefits - brake pads still good after 18 years, still got the same bike after 30 years (classic bike insurance is cheaper), improved street cred with younger riders (who have faster modern bikes), no accidents, and it improves my longevity.

And it's fun !

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By User deleted
10th Jun 2008 12:49

Stressed out
Rachel says

"I think it's not only the long hours - but constantly needing to be somewhere else and the enormous pressure on budgets and chargeable hours that causes speeding on the road. Self employment cures that."

Hardly I think - why would you not have targets to achieve as self-employed, and you don't have a nice regular pay cheque arriving in your account : also there seems to be an unwritten rule that all your major clients must synchronise when they "absolutely must see you today"!

Sure, you get flexibility as self-employed, but less stress?

At the risk of being un PC, one must summise Rachel is either single or the second income!

Blue touch paper lit, standing well back!!

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By User deleted
10th Jun 2008 17:19

Reply to Robert
I really don't understand your point that I must be single or a second-income. If the first I would need more money and have more pressure (I doubt many singles are paying as little half as much as families for bills, and there's certainly no second income to fall back on) - the second then the opposite would be true surely? I think that comment comes from a stereotype of a working woman rather than common sense as I guess you already realised from your posting.

The speed point is that I don't need to speed to meetings - I have time-managed properly because I am in complete control of that time-management. No-one else is making unrealistic promises or deadlines on my behalf that can't be flexed. I have prioritised work timetabled which doesn't fill the whole day, slack time for any overruns on that and optional work that needs doing, but not immediately. There's less commuting as the office is near home (few would plan to set up work too far away that's hard to get to) and I set off for client meetings in plenty of time usually with some work, CPD reading or timetabling to do in my car if I'm early. Control reduces stress enormously.

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By User deleted
10th Jun 2008 17:17

Museum piece
Frankly I love my musuem piece of the future. I did try a 58hp 119 co2 emitting vehicle for 6 months but for now I'm back with a 250bhp gas guzzler and frankly loving every minute of it. Me - I'm enjoying it while it lasts, as I know it wont. As for growing up...plenty of time for that later when I get old(er).

(and perhaps Rachel just has a well run practice!)

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By User deleted
13th Jun 2008 15:21

Vroom Vrooom!!
Speeding is fun =)

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By User deleted
12th Jun 2008 16:51

Agreed Robert
Agreed.......on both accounts!!

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By User deleted
12th Jun 2008 11:25

Inappropriate speed
Nicola

Thats what I said, doing 40 in an built up area with parked cars is not appropriate. If you haven't time to react to a situation you are going too fast. (For some drivers I see 20 would be too fast).

That said, the road sense of a contempory child is probably less than Gordon Browns chance of a second term as PM.

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By User deleted
11th Jun 2008 18:03

An interesting statistic
Robert I understand what you are saying but it is easy to forget that at 40 mph nine out of ten children hit by cars either die or receive life changing serious injuries. At 20 mph nine out of ten survive.

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By User deleted
11th Jun 2008 13:07

Rachel
I still don't see why being self employed, however well you timetable your work, reduces the need for meeting budgets and filling chageable hours - which is my main point, especially as being self employed you are likely to have a larger amount of unchargeable time.

Unrealistic deadlines are no excuse for lawbreaking and placing lives at risk. That said, it is not speed that kills, but inappropriate speed - in many intances the cameras would be better measuring the ratio of the gap between cars and their speed, rather than speed alone.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
09th Jun 2008 22:29

Just another addiction
This is not that difficult to understand, the life of an accountant then withing seconds a mean machine! Surely it's as simple as that, either the thrill of all that elegant, sleek, shiney power at your fingertips or even between your legs, or perhaps another trial balance or 50 emails to answer.

But let’s get real here, your thrill is somebody else’s time in hospital or in the ground. Most of the cars built for this thrill will be museum pieces in a few years time. Driving them, or in the way described, will go the way of smoking, only you’ll be restricted to a private indoor racing track where they can collect your emissions and and you can use up all your carbon credits in an afternoon.

Break the habit. Go on, try it, just for a year, trade in your ton+ of steel and plastic for a 120g per k, 60mpg, £5 - £10K runabout. It will change your outlook and bank balance and enable you to grow up.

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By User deleted
09th Jun 2008 16:24

Stressed out
I think it's not only the long hours - but constantly needing to be somewhere else and the enormous pressure on budgets and chargeable hours that causes speeding on the road. Self employment cures that.

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By User deleted
06th Jun 2008 18:52

IAM
Stig I dont want to side track this to be an argument about the merits / otherwise of the IAM. The point I was making is that for ME, it made be feel I was better than most and was invincible. It wasnt until I had experienced driving on a track that this terrible attitude changed. I dont feel it was a failing on behalf of the IAM/Category 1 Police driver who undertook my training. One way of training does not suit all and always achieve the same results.

I think accountants do like speed - perhaps it gives us that feeling of power and control lacking in our jobs? Perhaps it gives us the adrelin buzz accounting doesnt! Perhaps it is just that we are so used to doing our work at speed that this extends to our driving? It would be interesting to see if average speeds increase towards 31 January!

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By User deleted
06th Jun 2008 18:19

No so Ironic
Having been to Daytona and thrashed our legal opposition, must be correct! Also being a member of IAM really helps on the road and sorry Nicola, you must have missed the point about making progress or your group was not expaining it very well - it is one of the best ways to protect yourself on the road and those in your car, all should visit www.iam.org.uk and help make the roads safter so we can race on the track.

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By User deleted
06th Jun 2008 17:37

Ironic...
Anthony as a complete opposite - I too did the IAM and passed first time. It made me an extremly arrogant and aggressive driver who felt they were invincible. I know it made my driving considerable worse and made me drive much faster because a) you are taught to make 'good' progress and b) I truly thought I was better than most.

The thing that slowed me down was going out on a racing track on a number of track days. I soon learnt that doing 100mph on a road is nothing like having the ability and skill to do the same on a track and having spun into the gravel several times at 90mph+ you really learn how easy it is to crash.

I do love speed, always will, but dont feel the need to prove it on the road now.

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By The Black Knight
06th Jun 2008 16:54

Anton Mang
I believe Antong Mang 250GP motorcyclist was an accountant and a lawyer. I think he was Austrian , can anyone remember?
The art of quick riding relies on reading the road ahead and taking a few risks, bit like tax planning really.

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DougScott
By Dougscott
06th Jun 2008 16:19

Customer Services
Is it any wonder that "Customer Service Professionals" are bottom of the heap. Slow on the track and slow off it, especially to answer the telephone and resolve customer complaints.

Anyway I can confirm, as an ex-kart racer myself, that us accountants have a penchant for speed but also a habit of flying off the track if my brief career (pardon the pun) is anything to go by!

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By User deleted
06th Jun 2008 15:56

Advanced Motoring
Just a suggestion. I had a driving career littered with speeding fines, and narrowly avoided disqualification due to totting up. The problem has been much mitigated since, four years ago, when I passed the Institute of Advanced Motorists examination. Among other things, it dealt with reasons why I became impatient behind the wheel, as well as helping me to drive in such a way as to maximise speed without undue haste.

Not a perfect solution, however. A couple of years ago I managed to pick up a few points speeding to a meeting for which I was late. The culprit was my own self-importance (a defect with which I'm sure I'm not alone among accountants), and the event became a much-needed lesson in humility.

The IAM can be found as voluntary groups in most towns, who give freely of their time observing drivers' performance, and making suggestions to prepare them for the test.. Check out www.iam.org.uk

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