June 14

Press Release

Drug driving risk policies needed by fleets as figures show problem is on the rise

“Drug driving” policies may need to be adopted or rewritten by many fleets as new figures show that the problem is on the rise among younger drivers, says CFC Solutions.

An RAC survey of more than 1,000 people found a rise from five per cent to nine per cent among 17-24 year olds who admitted to driving under the influence of illegal drugs during the last year.

The research follows hot on the heels of a Government announcement that drug driving will be tackled in the Crime, Communications and Court chrisand that police will be given roadside “drugalysers”.

The drugalyser works by analysing a saliva sample. Drivers who fail the initial roadside test will be taken to a police station and tested with a more sophisticated machine. Penalties include up to six months in prison and fines up to £5,000.

Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC, said: “Action in this area is long overdue from a general road safety point of view and these latest figures from the RAC, combined with the Government’s announcement, should prompt fleets that have not already taken action to make drug driving part of their risk management policies.

“For too long, this has been an area of risk management characterised by a certain amount of cloudiness and elasticity because the law and its enforcement were themselves unclear. That situation has changed with the arrival of the new law.

“Now, it should be made clear to employees that recreational drug use and business driving will be treated in a zero tolerance manner, and also that any doubts surrounding prescribed or over the counter medication should be raised so that further advice can be sought. Drivers need to take the subject seriously.”

About Licence Link

Free to adopt, Licence Link is designed to help employers simplify the routine task of regularly checking car and van driver licence information through a web based system - something made essential by the introduction of risk management legislation.

Once basic driving licence information is entered onto Licence Link, fleet managers can choose how often automatic checks are made with the DVLA database – for example, annually for low mileage drivers or more often for high mileage, high risk employees.

Risk summary reports will automatically group drivers into different levels of risk group – for example, those with 1-3, 4-7, 8-12 and 12 plus points, and Licence Link can be set up so that those with higher numbers of points are checked more often.

Automatic alerts are sent to the fleet manager if the DVLA checks show changes to endorsements, the categories of vehicle that an employee is allowed to drive or if there are critical licence events such as disqualification or a photo card expiring.

Further features in Licence Link include the ability to upload and store document scans against each driver record, such as an image of each driver’s licence and driver declarations. These files are held online and encrypted for security purposes.

Access to Licence Link is via a credit payment scheme. To run checks, a company buys credits in advance and as each licence check is made, the system displays the credits remaining, providing a constant balance reminder for the fleet manager.

About CFC Solutions

CFC Solutions has supplied fleet, contract hire and workshop management solutions for more than three decades, delivering ground breaking vehicle management software to UK and European blue chip customers.

A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a holder of the ISO27001 data protection accreditation, CFC Solutions employs leading edge technologies guaranteed to keep pace over time, providing customers with fleet compliance, time and cost savings.

Further information on products and services from CFC Solutions can be found at www.cfcsolutions.co.uk.

For further details about this press release please contact Simon Wells at Paperchase Public Relations on 01283 711311/07768 912430 or e-mail simon@paperchasepr.co.uk.