Duty Of Care Raises U.K. Car Risks

Travel managers with responsibility for the United Kingdom are being urged to review policy regarding employees driving vehicles on business trips as employers face litigation from employees involved in accidents and even prosecution by the police.

The impetus is coming from the United Kingdom's Health and Safety Executive, which has urged the police to ask drivers involved in accidents whether they were traveling on business. The HSE is stepping up its efforts after realizing that working people are involved in more accidents on the road than in their permanent workplace. Many are related to driver fatigue. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, this factor accounts for at least 20 percent of road accidents.

"Police are treating each road accident as a potential crime scene," said Mark Avery, chairman of the Institute of Travel Management. "There have been a couple of cases where companies have been litigated against for negligence."

Stephen Campbell, head of the health and safety practice at the law firm Dickinson Dees, agreed. "We are seeing the effect of this in the courts," he said. "The police are being given directions to aggressively investigate and prosecute people. We have seen a flurry of cases in the last six months."

As a result, the United Kingdom's Guild of Travel Management Companies has advised businesses to revise their policies to ensure travelers reduce their road mileage, either by putting them up overnight in hotels or considering rail and air alternatives. "Someone who falls asleep at the wheel after a lengthy business trip can claim that company demands impaired his or her ability to drive safely," said GTMC chief executive Philip Carlisle. "Companies that insist on saving a few pounds on overnight accommodation could end up facing legal bills running into thousands—and more."

Among those businesses revisiting policy to ensure they are compliant is HSBC. "We write a maximum daily mileage by car into our policy and we are reviewing whether we should bring the limit down because of duty of care," said Tony Pilcher, head of global business travel management for the bank.

Companies also will have to consider whether they need to meet their duty of care by insisting drivers follow the U.K.'s Highway Code recommendation of taking a 15-minute break for every two hours of driving. Risk assessment also extends to ensuring drivers are fully licensed and insured to drive.

Similarly, companies need to check the vehicles that employees drive are in good condition. "Businesses must ensure employees are legally allowed to be on the road and are fit to drive," said Richard Plummer, senior partner in the consultancy The Corporate Travel Partnership. "If they are paying for a car to be on the road, they are responsible for the condition of it."

Given the difficulty of verifying the roadworthiness of employees' private vehicles, car rental companies are claiming buyers can pass on their duty of care concerns. "It is no longer acceptable to rely on luck as to whether vehicles are taxed, insured and in good condition," said National Car Rental U.K.'s head of sales for the North, Kevin O'Keeffe. "Rental takes out all the guesswork and we are starting to see this reflected in travel policies, especially for larger companies."

Meanwhile, U.S. buyers whose employees visit the United Kingdom need to consider the wisdom of allowing them to drive. The dangers of driving immediately after a long trip are compounded by driving on the left-hand side of the road. "Some U.S. companies won't allow their travelers to drive on arrival," said Plummer.