Wednesday, February 13, 2013

New safety rules for drivers

Employers with employees who do a lot of driving as part of their job is to take a lesson from some road safety laws more expected this year. This law is intended to plug loopholes in the law of road safety that exists with the introduction of a new offense causing serious injury by dangerous driving. New offense will serve as a clear message to all drivers, especially those who do a lot of driving to work, driving the weak standards will not be tolerated and offenders will be dealt with very strictly by the courts. Offense will carry a maximum prison sentence of five years. This is more than double what dangerous driving sentences in non-fatal cases. The purpose of the new legislation is to recognize the severity of dangerous driving causing death but with a very adverse impact on the lives of victims and their families. As with the existing law, the actual level of fine is determined by the judge, taking into account the severity of the offense and the extent of damage caused. However, how the new offense of work yet to be completed so that employers would do well to monitor the progress here. For example, there is no proposed definition of what constitutes a serious injury. In particular, there is no indication of whether or not the injury must have permanent consequences for the victim, or if serious injury, even fully recovered from time to time, will be included. What is clear is that in many cases under the new law is determined in detail the medical evidence and can add additional time and cost to complete the case. Hence, for SMEs to implement one of those people who do a lot of driving as part of their role, it is wise to take this opportunity to ensure that workplace policies drove up to date and fully implement their business. This will help to reduce the risks associated with employees driving to work and ensure that risks are effectively controlled.

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