Bridport: Staff receive safe driving course after boss gets speeding ticket (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Bridport: Staff receive safe driving course after boss gets speeding ticket

10:30am Thursday 5th July 2012 in Bridport By Anne Bell

THERE was No Excuse when a Bridport boss collected a speeding ticket and now his entire workforce is getting advice on how to drive more safely on West Dorset’s roads.

Ashley Chant, managing director of building services firm AP Chant, was stopped by PC Graham Pinney of Dorset’s road policing team and heard about the force’s No Excuse initiative to make the county’s roads safer.

The company has 130 employees and a fleet of 70 vans covering between 600,000 and 700,000 miles a year and on Monday morning half the drivers had a before-work briefing from police and road safety experts.

Mr Chant had approached the team, including PC Pinney, to come and talk to his staff at the company’s Gore Cross headquarters and the No Excuse team hope that more businesses will come forward to do the same.

“I got a ticket for speeding from Graham and I thought about the things he told me and this seemed the right thing to do,” said Mr Chant.

“My name is on the side of every van and of course I want everyone to be driving safely.

“It looks good for our business and we care about our staff and about pedestrians – accidents can kill.

“And also the way we drive our vans means that they will last longer, and they will be more fuel efficient.”

The staff were asked to think about aspects of their driving and why it matters, by tackling the ‘fatal four’ – inappropriate or illegal speed, distractions including mobile phone use, the wearing of seatbelts, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

They heard about the importance of making regular vehicle maintenance checks, and were asked to think about the devastating effects that unsafe driving can have.

Dorset’s road safety manager Robert Smith said that it was vital to get the message across to companies.

“One in three people killed on the roads are driving for work purposes,” he said. “Every fatality costs the country £1.25million. We want five-star roads, five-star vehicles and five-star drivers and the element that we can do something about – and without huge cost – is the drivers.”

No Excuse project manager Brian Austin said that any other businesses wanting the team to visit them should make contact through dorsetroadsafe@dorsetpnn.police. uk.

“The drivers are aware that they have a job to do and that there are time limits to stick to, but because management is seen to be on-side, then it is not ‘us’ against them,” he added.