Posted: Tuesday, 04 November 2014
By now, you have probably heard the story of the woman in Sunderland who was caught by a surveillance camera towing a man in a wheelchair around the Tesco car park last month. The woman and her pseudo-passenger probably thought the prank was fun at the time, but they may not be laughing any more. Her court case recently ended with the imposition of several penalties, including the loss of her licence for two years.
Maria Adams was shown on security camera footage towing a man in a Tesco wheelchair around a car park for several minutes before he let go. He had been hanging on to what appeared to be towel secured inside the vehicle's boot. As for the wheelchair, it was one the supermarket had on hand for the benefit of disabled customers. The man riding the wheelchair was not a regular wheelchair user.
The 20-year-old Adams admitted to dangerous driving when she appeared in court. The judge, recognising her driving as a 'piece of stupidity', revoked her licence for two years. Adams was also given a 12-month community order, a four-month curfew, and fines and fees totalling more than £1,400. There was no word on whether her partner in the stunt was also held accountable or not.
We chose to report on this story today because of the reality that there are plenty of people in the UK who do these sorts of things without ever thinking about the potential dangers. Some of these people might even be driving your company cars. If so, your company could be just one poor decision away from a serious accident and subsequent liability claim.
It is hard to imagine that a person would go through all of the education and training required to receive a driving licence only to turn around and pull a stunt such as this. However, it does happen more often than we think. It may be true that it takes all kinds of people to make the world go around, but some of our fellow citizens are just better off not driving company cars. That is where Fleet Licence Check comes in.
For more than 20 years, we have been providing our clients with claims handling service and secure licence checks. We handle over 20,000 licence checks every year. When you partner with us, we can help you keep track of your drivers and their licences. By performing regular checks, you will be kept abreast of any licence issues your workers may not voluntarily report.
Keep in mind that the paper driving licence will be phased out from January 1 (2015). From that point on, it will be even more important to run regular checks on your company drivers. We can help. Fleet Licence Check can offer you one-off services or partner with you for a complete claims handling and licence check solution. We are your partner in maintaining a safe and productive fleet at all times.
Source: The Guardian