According to Government estimates there are approaching 1.5 million people driving on Britain's roads without insurance, they cost the insurance industry £500 million per annum which adds £30 to every annual motor insurance premium. The Road Safety Act (RSA) parts of which came into force in 2007 detailed new safety measures to help reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads every year. On 18th August 2008, two entirely new offences came into force, one of which relates to uninsured driving.
So what are the new offences?
1. Causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving (section 20)
2. Causing death by driving whilst unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured (section 21)
These new offences apply in England, Scotland and Wales.
Causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving
This new piece of legislation means that should a driver be found guilty of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, they will receive a mandatory disqualification and have their licence endorsed as well as the penalties in the table below. This offence is linked to the standard and quality of driving. A driver will be found guilty of this offence if they have caused a death by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or another public place without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other person using the road or place. For example, a driver could be found guilty of this offence if they pull out onto a road and misjudge
the flow of traffic – resulting in the death of another. It is important to appreciate that the driver will not be acting in a dangerous manner, as this would then fall under another offence of causing
death by dangerous driving.
Causing death by driving whilst unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured
This offence deals with causing a death by driving whilst unlicensed, disqualifies or uninsured. It means that a driver, if found guilty, will be disqualified from driving and will have their licence endorsed as well as being subject to the penalties in the table below. This offence is not dependant on the driver's standard or quality of driving – they do not have to drive in a careless or reckless manner.
This new offence is of particular relevance to companies who have employees driving on company business, irrespective of who owns the vehicle being used. If, for example, a driver is not adequately protected by insurance (which could be an administrative error by the employer or the employee). All companies have a duty of care to ensure that any driver using a company vehicle or their own vehicle on company business has the correct level of insurance cover. It is also important for individual drivers who drive in the course of business or in company cars to check that they are adequately insured.
Road safety for your fleet
Every week in the UK over 20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured in "at-work" road traffic
accidents (RoSPA). According to the government, "for the majority of people, the most dangerous
thing they do while at work is drive on the public highway" (HSE). It is now more important than ever to ensure that your fleet is well managed and that you have a procedure to assess your drivers' capabilities and identify training requirements. It is necessary that risks related to driving behaviour and standards are identified early on as well as insurance checks are in place.
Please let your drivers know about the information in this bulletin.
Arval helps to maintain driver safety
Arval can give advice and guidance on reducing fleet risk and preventing accidents. As well as
offering Accident Reviews in our Accident Management service, we have a range of risk
assessment and driver training initiatives designed to comply with the HSE guidelines on managing occupational road risk. This includes advice on company car policy, employee driver licence and insurance checking and driver training to help reduce future accident expenditure.
WH.13423.09/08
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