Fleet drivers should be warned of summer drink-drive dangers

Company car and van drivers should be reminded of the dangers of combining alcohol and motoring as police forces across the country gear up to crack down on drink driving throughout June.

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More sociable behaviour across the summer months is generally seen as creating an increased chance that fleet drivers will – usually inadvertently – drink beyond the legal limit.

Interestingly, figures released by the Association of Chief Police Officers shows that the number of drivers convicted during last summer’s drink-driving campaign – 5.6% of 101,000 breathalysed – matches exactly the rate recorded by CFC from among the thousands of fleet drivers with convictions on its Licence Link database.

Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC, said: “Our experience is that very few fleet drivers consciously take a chance by deliberately drink driving in their company car or van. Ethical issues aside, the chances of losing your licence and your job creates a definite reality check.

“What is probably much more of an issue is the employee who visits a Sunday afternoon family barbeque and drinks a couple of cans of full strength lager, believing that if they wait a couple of hours before they get behind the wheel, they will be legal and safe.

“Fleets should do everything possible to discourage this kind of ‘unit counting’. It is a lottery as to whether a driver doing this will stay under the limit. The only safe option is not to drink and employers should consider adopting a zero tolerance approach to drinking at all behind the wheel of company vehicles.”

CFC’s Licence Link is designed to provide a fast and easy means for employers to check the current status of the driving licence of their employees, automating an important part of the fleet risk management process.