BT relaunches family and friends road safety programme

28 November 2008

British Telecom has reaffirmed its commitment to community road safety with the relaunch of its ‘family and friends road safety’ programme operated in conjunction with Interactive Driving Systems.

The relaunch came in the wake of last month’s European Road Safety Day and Interactive Driving Systems’ research director Dr Will Murray said: “This is particularly important because many road collisions happen close to home, often within the communities in which people live and work meaning that safety in the workplace can also have a major impact on you, your family and community while at home.”

BT, also a business champion under the Driving for Better Business programme, encourages its people to drive safely while at work, and also that family members take care at all times while using the road. The message is that: ‘We want you to take road safety home with you, and to engage your family (including brothers, children, sisters, friends, husbands, nannies, partners, sons, daughters, spouses and wives) in driving safely at all times’.

To help keep family and friends safe on the road, BT has relaunched its online driver training module ‘One More Second’ for family members and friends. To date over 5,000 people have visited the website, but the company is urging more people to take part.

BT’s group safety advisor Dave Wallington said: “During the last six years we have assessed and developed the driving behaviours of over 65,000 of our own people, and seen significant reductions in our collision rate and associated costs. Re-launching our ‘family and friends’ initiative is a natural extension of this program, and an opportunity for the community to participate in a scheme which is already helping to keep BT employees safe at work.”

The ‘One More Second’ module implemented by BT for ‘friends and family’ is one element of Virtual Risk Manager, which has been used by a range of organisations around the world over the last 10 years, including over 35,000 BT employees. The training is free of charge to BT family members and friends.