Fleet safety policies are needed: this is not just a hollow statement—a serious appeal was made this February after footage from a dash-cam camera of a van driver responsible for an accident in which an elderly couple died has been made public.
The event dates back to January 2016. On that occasion, a van driver, Michael Boothman, had entered a right-hand bend too fast in Lincolnshire and veered onto the opposite carriageway, killing an elderly couple who were approaching in an oncoming car. Boothman and his passenger were seriously injured.
The in-cab footage of the delivery van was released in December after Boothman was sentenced and made public by press outlets in February such as Fleet News, notably. The footage does not show the actual moment of impact so as to spare the family of the victims any further unnecessary grief, but the video does highlight the irresponsible behaviour of the driver: eating, smoking, driving one-handed in treacherous road conditions, no proper control over the steering wheel, and in some cases even speeding. The driver is also not wearing his seat belt.
The attitude of the driver involved in the accident—borne out by the footage—shows he had no regard for either the risks he was taking or for the law. Boothman suffered significant injuries in the crash and has since had to have a total hip replacement. He also lost his job for breaching company rules regarding smoking behind the wheel.
The video of the footage was promoted by the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership in an attempt to provide a sobering reminder to other businesses of the vital importance of effective on-road risk management.
Some companies—especially the smaller ones where there are fewer drivers— are incredibly busy, and often there is nobody specifically covering policies or risk assessments, or it is carried out by somebody with other responsibilities as well, do not have a proper fleet policy in place, or are pushed too hard by commercial pressures to complete the more ‘productive’ jobs, and therefore often disregard the health and safety aspect.
The risks for fleets not complying are too high; it is only a matter of time before companies not having specific policies, not training drivers in fleet safety and not having a risk assessment process end up being prosecuted if they do not take appropriate health and safety measures.