News - Company
New sentancing guidelines
ING Car Lease’s head of risk, Diarmuid Fahy, has broadly welcomed the latest recommendations from the Sentencing Guidelines Council, which has ordered courts in England and Wales to get tougher with drivers convicted of causing death by driving.
The new recommendations, which judges and magistrates must follow, cover the offences of causing death by dangerous driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. More importantly for fleet drivers, the new laws also cover instances of death by careless driving committed by unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured drivers.
Fahy said; “This last point is an area of concern for companies that operate ‘grey’ fleets, where employees are expected to license and insure their own cars for business use. These new recommendations will force companies to sit up and take more notice of the potentially hidden danger presented by employees running, licensing and insuring their own cars for business use.
“Our survey of medium sized fleets found that while only 20 per cent of businesses took measures to monitor cash-takers, 18 per cent of companies admitted to not having a risk management policy at all. Just 30 per cent of businesses said they took account of private vehicles in their risk policies. I hope this new development will encourage companies to take a fresh look at the problem of the grey fleet, which could become a major issue if not tackled now.”
Fahy continued: “This blind spot the fleet industry has for private and cash allowance drivers is a real issue for businesses and one that can only increase as the new recommendations to courts begin to bite.”
These two new offences, introduced by the Road Safety Act 2006, are yet to come into force. The new offences are being introduced in England, Wales and Scotland but the Sentencing Guidelines Council's recommendations are only for courts in England and Wales.