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Will Licence Checking Identify High-Risk Drivers?

Posted: Friday, 23 September 2016

Experts are frequently calling for fleet managers to conduct more regular checks on driver licence entitlement - including frequent checks where driver risk profiles warrant higher caution. Currently, most organisations are only checking their employee's licences on a bi-annual, or annual basis.

Unfortunately, information from the DVLA suggests that thousands of licence holders within the UK are currently driving on the roads despite having twelve or more points on their licence. By establishing industry standards per driver risk profiles, the Association for Driving Licence Verification suggests that regular licence checking will help fleet managers to identify high-risk groups such as those who have committed several driving offences.

Checking Current Information

By using the latest systems for licence checking, fleet managers will be sure that they have the most recent information available to help them take appropriate action for their employees, minimising the risk to the public and enhancing road safety. Increased checking will help to discover high risk drivers more quickly, and therefore assist in maintaining the success of various businesses.

Regular licence checking will allow employers to:

  • View the driving record of their employees, including the vehicle classes that they are permitted to drive
  • Examine any penalty points or disqualifications that drivers might have
  • Make decisions as to the risk levels of various employees

Each new penalty point will be recorded electronically on drivers' records, but they will not be printed on paper licences, or photocard licences, making regular checking essential. In other words, the only way to identify if drivers are legally entitled to drive, is through the online system.

Why Regular Checking is Crucial for Fleet Managers

Frequent online licence checking will assist fleets in avoiding issues regarding verification of new or existing licences, licence renewal, and more. Data for an entire fleet can be collated within a single electronic location, and can cut down administration significantly.

Because it is an offence for a company to allow an employee to drive a vehicle as part of their job without the appropriate licence, regular checking is essential to protect the ongoing success of any business. At present, the statistics suggest that more than one in every two hundred company vans, trucks, and cars are driven by an individual who does not actually hold a valid licence for driving their company vehicle. According to the ADLV, more frequent checking will soon become a best-practice for all professional fleet managers.