Driver safety benchmarking a step closer

THE Driving Standards Agency has taken a further step towards revolutionising the way companies view the safety of their drivers. Two working groups have been formed from driver training organisations, associated bodies and the police which, during the next few months, will help the agency achieve its main goals of establishing a common training syllabus, providing instructor accreditation and creating a fleet safety benchmarking system, under which companies could make like-for-like comparisons of accident records.

A further, more wide-reaching challenge the agency has set is to make road safety an inherent part of company culture. Two working groups have been formed, one to look at establishing an in-car trainer register and the other to look at the interventions that can be taken to bring about a change in company culture.

Organisations represented in the first group include the Institute of Risk Management, BT, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Association of Driver Improvement Scheme Providers. Among those in the second working party are Brake, the Health and Safety Executive, Lex Vehicle Leasing, Fleet Driver Training Association and Association of Chief Police Officers.