Illegal drivers are growing menance

Fobbed off: Don't believe all a driver tells you, check on their legality to drive for you

Author:

ROBIN ROBERTS

More danger on the roads is the last thing Britain’s hard working commercial drivers need, but it seems that many drivers are taking to the roads both unlicensed and uninsured, whilst employed by businesses.

The Licence Bureau, the UK’s leading authority on driver qualifications has estimated that there are around 24,000 people driving illegally for British businesses today. On average, one in every 300 driving licences in businesses is invalid.

The company that verifies the licences on behalf of businesses discovered that 43% of non-complaint drivers were driving on a provisional licence, 31% were on a revoked licence and almost 10% had been disqualified.

These sort of statistics make uncomfortable reading for any business van manager.

“Driving is the most dangerous activity that most employees undertake as part of their working day. Time and time again we see drivers that have made false statements to their employers about their licences. When you consider the number of hours and number of miles a person does when driving for business you can understand why we say that the ‘road risk’ is magnified by 5 fold” says Malcolm Maycock, chief executive of Licence Bureau.

“We want all companies based in the UK to help play a part in making the nation’s roads a safer place by checking the validity of their drivers’ documents. In the long run they will be protecting their business interest as well as protecting the safety of others.”

It’s a real problem for business van operators.

Have you verified all of the driving licences of your van drivers? If not then your business can face hefty fines for employing someone with an invalid licence.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 also means that the employer is responsible for ensuring safety on the road and this includes checking all drivers are licenced.

“Checking driver licences is the most basic step in ensuring that drivers are safe on the road, and an absolutely fundamental part of being an ethically responsible business. By ignoring this responsibility, organisations place themselves at risk under the corporate manslaughter act, with huge financial and legal ramifications” says a spokesperson from Brake.