Police chief warns fleet operators

29 May 2012

Story from Fleet News

Fleet operators have been warned that police forces across the UK are waiting to convict one of them under corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide legislation.

The message was delivered to fleet decision-makers attending this year’s Mercedes-Benz sponsored ACFO Conference and AGM by Sgt Gareth Morgan, supervisor of South Wales Police Driver Training.

To date there have been just two successful prosecutions under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, but neither were linked to fatalities involving at-work drivers.

Historically police forces investigated ‘death on the highway’. However, they now look for ‘responsibility’, which in the case of at-work drivers could include investigation of the roles played by fleet decision-makers, company directors and other employees in implementing and managing an occupational road risk management strategy.

'90% of accidents are as a result of human behaviour,' said Sgt Morgan, who advocates businesses using psychometric profiling as a successful method to enable drivers to self-evaluate their behaviour on the road and organisations to develop and implement at-work driving risk management strategies.

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