MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Safety camera switch-offs across the country prompted by reductions in
Government funding may lead company car and van drivers to take more risks
in accident black spots, says CFC Solutions.
Last week, the West Midlands Casualty Reduction Scheme became the latest to
have its funding withdrawn which will lead to more than 200 cameras being
switched off. Similar reductions are underway in Staffordshire, Hampshire
and elsewhere.
Research by CFC shows that speeding is far and away the most common offence
incurred by company car and van drivers, accounting for around 60% of the
points issued to the thousands of drivers it monitors through its Licence
Link software.
Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC, said: "Many company car and van
drivers treat safety cameras in exactly the same way as other motorists –
they slow down for the camera and speed back up again afterwards.
"The danger is that, with the knowledge that fewer and fewer of these
cameras are operational, they may become less likely to slow down and more
likely to take a chance, especially if they are running late or otherwise
under pressure.
"It is important to remember that many of these cameras are placed in
locations where there are known road safety issues and by staying above the
speed limit, your drivers could be putting themselves at risk."
At least one local authority – Oxfordshire – has turned its safety cameras
back on after there was a reported increase in accidents when they were
switched off.
Briggs continued: "As one of the issues arising from Government spending
cuts that has received widespread coverage, this is likely to be a story
that runs and runs but fleet managers may want to alert their drivers that
they should continue to exercise caution around safety camera sites,
whatever they hear on the news."
About Licence Link from CFC Solutions
Free to adopt, Licence Link is designed to help all employers simplify the
routine task of regularly checking car and van driver licence information
through a web based system – something made essential by the introduction of
risk management legislation.
Once basic driving licence information is entered onto Licence Link, fleet
managers can choose how often automatic checks are made with the DVLA
database – for example, annually for low mileage drivers or more often for
high mileage, high risk employees.
Risk summary reports will automatically group drivers into different levels
of risk group – for example, those with 1-3, 4-7, 8-12 and 12 plus points,
and Licence Link can be set up so that those with higher numbers of points
are checked more often.
Automatic alerts are sent to the fleet manager if the DVLA checks show
changes to endorsements, the categories of vehicle that an employee is
allowed to drive or if there are critical licence events such as
disqualification or a photo card expiring.
Further features in Licence Link include the ability to upload and store
document scans against each driver record, such as an image of each driver’s
licence and driver declarations. These files are held online and encrypted
for security purposes.
Access to Licence Link is via a credit payment scheme. To run checks, a
company buys credits in advance and as each licence check is made, the
system displays the credits remaining, providing a constant balance reminder
for the fleet manager.
