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people after having consumed at least 13 pints of lager. This was the longest sentence handed out for drunken driving in Britain. But the boss of a road haulage firm could be sent down for life without even having sat behind the wheel, if new proposals from a working party reporting to the Heath SC Safety Executive become law, The independent Work Related Road Safety Task Group is worried about new research that shows a third of all road accidents involve someone who is driving for their work. This refers not only to HGV drivers but also to motorists driving company cars. However, a key plank of the group's proposals mean that it should be easier to prosecute those responsible for vehicles and driver training if a driver is involved in a fatal accident.
An HSE spokeswoman says: "We are not intending the changes as a means of having a go at commercial lorry drivers. The law at the moment does allow us to prosecute firms, and some hauliers have been fined. But it is very hazy, especially when it affects company car drivers."
There are mixed feelings about the proposals in the industry. Ruth Potts, head of employment at the Road Haulage Association, says: "At the end of the day company directors have always been prosecuted under the law. You have only to remember the Roy Bowles Transport incident a couple of years ago, where a driver was involved in a fatal accident and the company was fined. That sent shock waves round the industry and made quite a few firms sit up and take note."
Action plan
But the Freight Transport Association takes the proposals seriously, and its training officer Peter Sewell has drawn up an action plan to ensure companies do not fall foul of the law, "They should ensure risk assessments are performed and that recommendations are implemented; make sure everyone in the organisation realises they have a legal obligation for safety; encourage the discussion of safety issues and the reporting of concerns; and investigate complaints, accidents and near misses thoroughly," he says.
There could also be two unforeseen benefits of the proposals, should they become law. Alan Martin, qualification adviser at the Road Haulage & Distribution Training Council, says: "We have developed a set of driver standards that can lead to a National Vocational Qualification, and perhaps if directors of companies realise that it could be their heads on the block if a driver underperforms they would be keener to ensure their drivers reach these standards," he says.
And the HSE itself says there could be insurance benefits to companies. It quotes a company, News Transport, which runs to large vehicles and five cars. "In 1990 it carried out an assessment of its accident repair and associated costs, and found them to be running at L64,000 a year. To reduce these costs it embarked on a structured one-to-one driver training programme, added vehicle safety measures and better managed driving schedules, and as a result has enjoyed niqe continuous years of no insurance claims," says a spokeswoman.
The measures also have the approval of the United Road Transport Union's head of campaigns, Douglas Curtis, He says: "The union has not formally debated the issue, but I am very much in favour. I realise the pressures that are on some vehicle operators to make a living, but personally I would much rather be on the dole than drive an unsafe vehicle."
Individual companies have had a very mixed reaction to the proposals. Richard Dykes, group managing director of Mail Services, who is responsible for one of the largest fleets in the country including Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide Vehicles, is also chair of the task group. He comments: "The estimate that up to a thousand people die on the roads in incidents connected to work is startling. We need to find out more about the causes, and must explore what can be done by employers and others to prevent road traffic accidents happening in the first place."
Laura Holland, managing director of East Fife-based horse transporter H&S European, is also in favour of the proposals, even though her business has been hard hit by the foot and mouth epidemic, "Because we transport horses we have to ensure our vehicles are mo%, because they are a very fragile commodity. I am in full agreement with the proposal that firms should be responsible for the vehicles they send out," she says
Just desserts
Steve Richardson, director of Middlesbrough-based Richardson Transport, is more sceptical, saying: "It doesn't make much sense that directors could be jailed unless a company flagrantly breaks the law. In that case they deserve all they get."
The proposals certainly put the onus on companies to get their act together. But the real proof of the pudding is in how keen the authorities will be to prosecute if the law changes. Laws exist already, but the number of prosecutions is very small, and unless there is a change of attitude this could still be the case,
even if the task group's • proposals are adopted.