Driving licence check uncovers employee with bans totalling 16 years

A company car driver banned for a total of 16 years was identified to his employer following licence checks undertaken on behalf of fleet supplier ALD Automotive.

The incident has been identified as the worst case of disqualification seen by ALD Automotive since it introduced its DriveSafe licence checking service five years ago and the worst ever recorded by the Licence Bureau, the contract hire and leasing company’s licence checking partner, since it was established in 2003.

The unnamed driver received four, four-year driving bans in the space of 16 weeks from the courts. Two four-year bans for drink-driving were followed by two separate incidents of driving whilst disqualified and a number of other related offences such as supplying false details and driving without insurance.

Driving licence validity checks are recommended by the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Transport in their joint ‘Driving at Work: Managing Work-related Road Safety’ document, which is established as best practice guidance for businesses as they get to grips with managing occupational road safety.

ALD Automotive’s marketing director David Yates said: “This appalling case highlights the importance of companies checking the validity of employees’ driving licences. Ensuring all drivers have a valid licence and are legal to drive on business should be a key feature of all corporate occupational road risk policies.”

Employee licence checks are one feature of DriveSafe, the comprehensive suite of risk management products offered to customers by ALD Automotive, which operates 50,000 vehicles in the UK.

The licence checking service is designed to reduce the administrative burden for fleet managers and is based on a Data Protection Act release form with a three-year mandate that allows the checking of licences with the DVLA, without reference to the driver in question at any time over that period.