“Brake”, a charity dedicated to road safety, is ramping up its campaign to influence lawmakers to lay stiffer penalties for irresponsible drivers that cause injury to others due to criminal actions on their part. This bit of news is extremely important for anyone handling delivery work, or in fact any driving-related task, as Brake appears to be increasingly successful with its “name and shame” campaign!

The Points Raised by Brake

Brake has been highlighting drivers who have caused accidents due to speeding or being under the influence of substances getting away with seemingly inequitable sentences. These drivers had a variety of ‘red flags’ that should have warranted closer scrutiny, like driving without insurance, drunk driving, and driving while under the influence of drugs.

Because of this, Brake has been pushing for harsher penalties against drivers by differentiating between damages caused by ‘dangerous’ and ‘careless’ actions. They are also pushing for judges to use their discretion to impose stiffer penalties against drivers who have been shown to cause injury by their actions.

The charity has conducted surveys, with the results showing overwhelming support for the stiffer penalties they propose. Nearly 70% say they want much longer sentences for drivers guilty of negligence and only slightly less want those same penalties for those drivers caught talking on their mobile phones.

What does this have to do your haulage business?

Simple: you could be held liable for the damage any drivers in your employ cause whilst carrying out delivery work for you.

If your hauling business is a one-man (or woman) operation, then the responsibility falls upon you to drive safely on the road; you must take every possible precaution to ensure your own safety and that of those around you when you carry out delivery work.

If your hauling business is larger and you rely on other drivers to handle your delivery work for you, you need to make sure that you do everything humanly possible to ensure that your employees or contractors drive safely. Regular drug tests, strict policies against drinking and driving, training workshops for defensive driving and orientations on basic road safety laws will help ensure that they are able to get their jobs done while complying with safety regulations.

Preparing for the future

Do note that even if current road safety laws are very lenient when it comes to injury r damage caused by dangerous driving, that does not mean your business will not suffer due to the dangerous actions of irresponsible drivers. Brake’s name-and-shame campaign will become a marketing nightmare if they focus their crosshairs any unscrupulous or non-compliant haulage companies. It is definitely worth your time and money to invest in educating your drivers about road safety.