Duty of care | Business Motoring

Duty of care | Business Motoring

Stay on top of your legal and social obligations to ensure the safety of your fleets and drivers here.

SME’s must focus on safety when equipping fleet vehicles

SME’s must focus on safety when equipping fleet vehicles

By Chris Wright|2023-11-07T16:27:58+00:00November 7th, 2023|Duty of care, Keep it legal, News|

Businesses need to take into consideration how their vehicles are used, including the working environment and the payload of the goods and equipment they are carrying. Crucially, these need to be considered prior to any conversion. Organisations also need to make sure staff are equipped with the knowledge they need to operate the vehicle and the on-board equipment

M&D Care automates licence checking with API from DriverCheck

M&D Care automates licence checking with API from DriverCheck

By Chris Wright|2023-03-27T11:06:09+01:00March 27th, 2023|Driving licence checks, Duty of care, News|

Business operates 20 care homes across the region with a fleet of around 45 company -owned pool cars kept typically at the care homes and with multiple drivers, and 45 grey fleet vehicles which are generally owned and driven by community care staff.

Keeping drivers safe leads fleets to connect cars to telematics

Keeping drivers safe leads fleets to connect cars to telematics

By Chris Wright|2023-01-05T10:55:03+00:00October 11th, 2022|Duty of care, News|

In total, 44% of UK fleets said that their cars were connected to a telematics tool, ranging from 50% with fewer than 10 employees to 35% with more than 1,000. This compares to responses from a basket of 19 other European countries, where on average 22% were connected.

Driver App takes the stress out of fleet management

Driver App takes the stress out of fleet management

By Chris Wright|2021-11-02T15:08:25+00:00November 2nd, 2021|Duty of care, News|

Loaded onto a driver’s smartphone, new App equips the driver with all the information they require to manage their vehicle, including emergency recovery number, accident management services, service and maintenance reservation contact, and more.

Red alert as ‘grey fleet’ drivers slip past risk assessment radar

Red alert as ‘grey fleet’ drivers slip past risk assessment radar

By Glynn Williams|2019-02-21T15:02:19+00:00November 6th, 2017|Car news and reviews, Duty of care, News|

THERE'S a red alert as 'grey fleet' drivers slip past risk assessment more stringently applied to company car drivers. And that applies as much to business drivers who have taken a cash-for-car cash option instead of a company car from their employer. Cash takers can potentially fall off the radar when it comes to safety, even though there are frequently [...]

Alphabet rolls out slicker new online tyre service portal for drivers

Alphabet rolls out slicker new online tyre service portal for drivers

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:36:00+00:00August 7th, 2017|Car news and reviews, Duty of care, Keep it legal, News|

IF YOU have your lease car through leasing company Alphabet then tyre changes should be slicker with a new online Tyre Replacement Portal rolled out in collaboration with Kwik Fit. In what is believed to be a first-to-market for the leasing and mobility industry, business drivers can arrange a quick, timed appointment to replace their tyres online or via an [...]

When brain injury threatens your driving livelihood

When brain injury threatens your driving livelihood

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:52+00:00May 4th, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

IF like me you have been driving for more years than you care to remember, you take your time behind the wheel for granted - but a brain injury can change all that. Driving is a complex activity which requires both cognitive and physical skills as well as the ability to co-ordinate the two. Anyone unfortunate enough to suffer a [...]

Keep your company car drivers safer

Keep your company car drivers safer

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:47+00:00April 18th, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

COMPANY car drivers are being urged to take the Brake Pledge to help reduce fatal accidents on the roads of Britain. The road safety charity says that five people are killed every single day by something we already know how to cure. It claims that if people change their driving behaviour the 470 deaths and serious injuries that happen on [...]

Corporate Manslaughter Act and duty of care

Corporate Manslaughter Act and duty of care

By Ralph Morton|2017-11-20T12:08:26+00:00April 4th, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

An employer’s duty of care car checklist Employee holds a valid driving licence The car has a current MOT if more than three years old The vehicle is insured for business use The car is regularly serviced The employee is carrying out basic maintenance checks on oil, water, washer fluid, tyre pressures and tyre tread depths on a regular basis [...]

Kill this lethal habit of social media at the wheel

Kill this lethal habit of social media at the wheel

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:34+00:00March 15th, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

NEARLY a fifth of motorists who have used social media at the wheel believe they can check or update their Twitter or Facebook accounts and drive safely at the same time. And alarmingly 14 per cent of offenders say they have been doing so for work. These are just two of the shock findings of a new YouGov survey which [...]

Future may be behind you with crunch factor benchmarking tool

Future may be behind you with crunch factor benchmarking tool

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:15+00:00February 8th, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

Bodies in RoadSafe-led DfBB’s Fleet Safety Benchmarking Project: Freight Transport Association’s Van Excellence programme Interactive Driving Systems, global provider of driver safety management solutions RoSPA TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) Fleet Forum STONE CHIPS, low-speed reversing collisions or high speed crashes. They are a problem and a worry for every business, large and small. Having one-fifth of an SME's five-car operation sidelined for [...]

Health and safety fines rise to up to £10 million under new guidelines

Health and safety fines rise to up to £10 million under new guidelines

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:15+00:00February 4th, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

New health and safety penalty scale based on business turnover Fines up to £10 million for large organisations (annual turnover over £50m) Fines up to £4 million for medium-sized organisations (turnover £10m to £50m) Fines up to £1.6 million for small companies with turnovers £2m to £10m Fines up to £450,000 for “micro-businesses” (less than £2m turnover). Large business convicted of corporate manslaughter can [...]

Check it! You can’t afford to turn blind eye to drivers’ poor vision

Check it! You can’t afford to turn blind eye to drivers’ poor vision

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:12+00:00February 2nd, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

EMPLOYERS who insist new members of staff have a medical before joining them are hardly likely to accept a retrospective one. Yet that’ s exactly what businesses do when it comes to the standard of vision of the company car drivers they employ. But you can't afford to turn a blind eye to drivers' poor vision, for their sake and that [...]

Brace yourselves: Half of drivers can’t change a wheel

Brace yourselves: Half of drivers can’t change a wheel

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:33:12+00:00February 2nd, 2016|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

Worrying ignorance Less than 50% of drivers across major UK cities, including Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, London and Newcastle, know how to carry out basic tasks, such as changing a wheel, checking brake fluid or adjusting the height of a steering wheel. A WORRYING number of UK drivers are unable to carry out basic maintenance tasks on cars - such as can't [...]

Car and van drivers facing harsher mobile phone penalties

Car and van drivers facing harsher mobile phone penalties

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:32:49+00:00December 22nd, 2015|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

Proposed penalties for driver's hand-held phone use For cars, vans, motorbikes - increase from 3 to 4 penalty points Points double from 3 to 6 for drivers of larger vehicles such as HGVs Fixed penalty increase from £100 to £150 First offenders to be offered educational course alternative to penalty - at discretion of police PENALTIES are to get tougher for car and [...]

Festive tips to help business drivers stay safe

Festive tips to help business drivers stay safe

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:32:46+00:00December 16th, 2015|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

WITH temperatures set to plummet this winter and the festive season upon us, here are 12 Days of Christmas festive driving tips to help drivers stay safe. Provided by experts across the Alphabet team, the tips are designed to encourage drivers to revisit the basics and travel with caution on the roads this winter: Regularly check tyres are in good order, and [...]

Soaring price for failing in your duty of care

Soaring price for failing in your duty of care

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:32:37+00:00December 2nd, 2015|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

SMEs are often told about their “duty of care” to their employees, but how many know what it consists of or the potential severity of the punishment if they fail to comply? In a nutshell duty of care means employers should take all steps which are reasonably possible to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of employed drivers. Legally, employers [...]

Volvo helps SMEs cut road risks of most dangerous month

Volvo helps SMEs cut road risks of most dangerous month

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:32:20+00:00November 11th, 2015|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

The November risk factor Serious pedestrian casualty incidents rise from an average low of 397 in August to a peak of 565 in November (2010-2014 data) Serious car user casualties also peak in November, averaging 832 On average there are 2,135 serious casualties on Britain’s roads every November Pedestrians account for 26 per cent of serious injuries each November PEDESTRIANS [...]

‘Crash’ course helps managers deal with accidents

‘Crash’ course helps managers deal with accidents

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:32:15+00:00November 5th, 2015|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

TRL, the Transport Research Laboratory, has launched a new vehicle accident investigation course for fleet, operation and health and safety managers that should help reduce insurance costs. What participants will learn: TRL says they will be able to Capture potentially critical short-lived evidence - such as debris and vehicle fluid trails - from incident scenes; Investigate, understand and take corrective actions [...]

Five facts to drive safely in fog

Five facts to drive safely in fog

By Glynn Williams|2017-11-20T12:32:11+00:00November 2nd, 2015|Duty of care, Keep it legal|

FLIGHTS delayed, crawling traffic, jams caused by crunches, idiots driving without lights, more idiots who don't know when to turn them off - guess what, it's the season for fog! And you need eyes in the back of your head! Look out for the really useful safety systems such as approach control with person warning. collision prevention, adaptive cruise control, [...]