David Blake a driver for United Biscuits (UB) - makers of Jaffa Cakes and Hula Hoops - has won the national Drive For Life 2010 competition organised by vehicle tracking company Masternaut Three X. Blake drives a heavy goods vehicle for UB's national distribution centre in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, and beat four other finalists.
The safe driving competition is the largest of its kind worldwide and is supported by road safety charity Brake and IAM Drive & Survive, the professional training division of the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Blake shares the first prize of £2,500 with Brake.
Blake competed against 60,000 other professional drivers across the UK. He completed an online risk assessment and his driving was monitored for three months in real time using Masternaut's innovative GreenerFleet safe and environmentally responsible driving style management system."I am delighted to have won the competition and the money will come in very useful! It is good to be recognised as a professional driver by the organisers of this remarkable competition," says David Blake. "I have been driving for United Biscuits for 18 years and would consider myself to be a conscientious driver. My motto is steady wins the day."
"When I return to the office at the end of my shift, I check our Masternaut GreenerFleet information on the Masternaut display screen to monitor my progress and to see how I compare to my colleagues," he adds.
Bill Hooton National Transport Controller for UB says: "I am pleased that David has won this national competition. He is a conscientious driver who has taken on board the training UB has provided to become a safer and more fuel efficient operator. UB provides annual training coupled with on road assessments. The company culture is also an important factor; UB has invested in innovative behavioural Health and Safety training across the entire work force to drive a safe operating culture across the entire site activities in Ashby."
Katie Shephard, spokesperson for road safety charity Brake, says: "Brake is delighted to be supporting the Drive for Life competition, which is an extremely positive approach to improving driving behaviour and helping to reduce road crashes involving commercial vehicles. At-work drivers have crash rates that are 30-40 per cent higher than those of other drivers, and targeting driving behaviour could go a long way to tackling this."
"Masternaut Three X's Drive For Life is helping to set better driving standards among professional drivers. Each year around 60,000 drivers take part in this competition to win the title of Best Driver. It is a forward thinking initiative that is helping make our roads safer for all users," says Dr Keith Hellawell QPM, former Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, who chairs the panel of judges for the competition.