Fleet News secured exclusive interviews with the three most important political figures for fleets – transport minister Paul Clark, Conservative shadow transport minister Theresa Villiers and Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker.
With the election just months away, we quizzed them about their policies on key transport issues and what they have in store for fleets.
Here we give readers their policies on one of the most critical issues for fleets - how to manage at-work driver risk.
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- Paul Clark, Labour Transport Minister talks about Driving for Better Business and Reporting Crashes to the HSE
- Theresa Villiers, Shadow Transport Minister for the Conservatives talks about Intelligent Speed Adaptation and Professional Driver Qualifications
- Norman Baker, Shadow Transport Spokeman for the Liberal Democrats talks about Professional Driver Qualifications
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You can read their answers or listen to them in the soundbites below. Just follow the links.
While it is accepted that one third of all road crashes involves someone who is driving for work, there is no reliable data to confirm this.
For many, the obvious solution is to have road crashes that involve someone driving for work reported to the Health and Safety Executive as a workplace accident. Politically, however, this has been resisted, with a reluctance to introduce more red tape.
All three parties are becoming more focused on tackling at-work driver risk and expect companies to be proactive.
“It is a fact that getting behind the wheel does involve considerably higher levels of risk than any other activities we do at work,” says Theresa Villiers.
“Employers are just starting to wake up to the importance of doing all that they can to minimise the risk that their employees are facing when driving.”
The Conservatives agree. “We recognise that those who drive for work are at particular risk,” says Paul Clark.
“We will continue to promote the benefits of good practice to fleet managers, including through the website of the Driving for Better Business programme which provides information on how to improve driving for work policies.”
To read the other interviews in this series, with the option of listening to the audio files, follow the links below.
Working Parking Levies and Congestion Charging
Road safety
National road charging
Road building
Electric vehicles