Fleet Alliance is backing Road Safety Week by offering its online Driver Check solution free of charge to anyone who signs up to the service during the week-long event.

It is open to all fleet operators and covers a free initial driving licence check for each and every driver. All monies that would have been received through Driver Check will then be donated to road safety charity Brake, which organises Road Safety Week every year.

“This is a great way for companies to support Road Safety Week and ensure their drivers are legally compliant at the same time,” said Fleet Alliance managing director Martin Brown.

Brake has been organising Road Safety Week every November since 1997 and has taken for its theme this year “Too young to die”.

The intention is to raise awareness of the fact that road crashes are sudden, violent events that rip apart families by ending lives too soon and cause terrible suffering. Road crashes are the biggest killer of young people in the UK.

“Yet these casualties are preventable, often for reasons like driving too fast or overtaking dangerously, driving while using a mobile, driving on drink, drugs or while tired, or failing to belt up, “ said a Brake spokesman.

Health and Safety executive guidelines on driving at work strongly recommend that drivers’ licences are checked when they join a company, or are first invited to drive on behalf of the company, and periodically thereafter.

This ensures that drivers are properly qualified to drive and do not have excess points on their licences. However, many fleet managers or HR managers simply don't have the time or resources to check drivers’ details on a regular basis.

All the driver information is managed online in a secure internet-delivered environment, and Driver Check users can vary the licence checking frequency depending on the risk profile of the driver.

For example, for a driver with no endorsements and considered 'low risk', annual checks may be sufficient. However, a driver with a large number of endorsements may be considered 'high risk' and require a status check every three months.

Those companies signing up to Driver Check do so for a minimum of three years, with a minimum frequency of two checks a year.

Martin Brown concluded: “Licence checking is a crucial part of duty of care and is essential for a company in meeting its obligations to its employees and the public at large. This unique opportunity is open to all companies who want to make a contribution to the road safety effort and ensure, at the same time, they are fulfilling their duty of care obligations.”

If you would like to take advantage of this initiative or would like more information on Driver Check call 0845 601 8407.

More articles on: