We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Car website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookies at any time
The start point for the best source of fleet information |
Sugababe Amelle Berrabah could soon be joining the commuters after she was banned from the roads for 14 months after admitting drink-driving.
James O'Brien, representing the singer, had argued that she should keep her licence, as her fame meant she would find it difficult to use public transport.
Why is it that some drivers (not just the celebrities) think they can do what they want on the roads and then come up with an excuse, so that they are not inconvenienced by their actions? The attitude that driving is a right and not an earned privilege is what is fundamentally wrong with drivers today.
The last few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time in London working with a company to reduce their accidents. If one more driver says to me: "you have to understand, that driving in London is different to driving anywhere else," I will scream! I have spent the last 20-plus years in road safety, and I cannot find any book including the Highway Code where the rules are different in London. Sorry chaps but this is yet another excuse for bad driving.
Ask any fleet driver trainer and they will tell you, they have lost count of the number of drivers who say "it is impossible to keep to the speed limits and get the job done". The other day I read a fleet trainers report on a driver and it said: "(name) spent five minutes looking for his delivery address when parked opposite it, because he drove so fast into the delivery address road and failed to spot the signs." But it is not just the time drivers are wasting by the way they drive; it is fuel, increasing costs in unplanned maintenance and repairs. These extra costs are avoidable if attitudes are changed.
So how do you change attitudes? Simple, you start at the top. Firstly the attitude of directors needs to be changed. The government is using legislation, the training companies are promoting the benefits and the trade press is reporting that companies have 'duty of care' at the top of their agenda.
So why is very little actually happening? Maybe because those directors, who should be doing what they say they are doing, are drivers with poor attitudes just like their employees! To illustrate this point, I was recently told of a company that bans the use of mobile phones whilst driving, except for members of the board, because they need to be in constant communication. The attitude displayed by those at the top of a company should be an example to all the staff within a company. It shouldn't be a case of 'Do as I say not as I do'!
Let's all stop the excuses and start looking at managing occupational road risk, so that everyone can benefit.
Follow BusinessCar on TWITTER
BusinessCar magazine ©2019
Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
