March 2008

Forward planning: Road safety comment on corporate manslaughter

A road safety campaigner, who encourages members of the public to report motorists they have seen driving badly, is available for media comment on the new Corporate Manslaughter Act.

When the new law comes into effect on 6th April, companies could be held responsible if it is proved their management of health & safety has failed with fatal consequences.

This includes drivers on company business.

Andrew McGavin is the driving force behind BetterDrivingPlease.com. Already more than 10,000 incidents of bad driving across the UK have been reported.

He set up the site in 2006 and is aiming to build a transparent UK database of road offences, which anyone can see and add to.

Andrew hopes the new law will be a wake up call for companies.

He said: “This new law is about corporate responsibility and liability. It links a company’s guilt to the gross negligence of an individual who is said to embody the company.

“And that means businesses need to be on top of important road safety issues such as their drivers using handheld mobile phones while driving.

“If a driver on company business kills someone while using a mobile, the company directors could be held responsible for not having a clear enforcable policy in place, or not providing hands free kits.”

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act creates the new statutory offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland of "corporate manslaughter", and in Scotland of "corporate homicide".

A company will be guilty of the new offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised, by its senior management, amount to a gross breach of the duty of care it owes to its employees, the public or other individuals – and those failings caused someone’s death.

Companies and government bodies face prosecution if they are found to have caused a person's death due to their corporate health and safety failings.

ENDS

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

• For any further information, quotes or interviews, a BetterDrivingPlease.com spokesman is available. Please email press@publicityheaven.com or call Paul Green on 08452 303049
• To find specific reports of bad driving, go to www.BetterDrivingPlease.com and enter the area in the Keyword search box
• You are welcome to publish any information you find on the website
• A factfile, logo, screenshots and other press resources are available online at http://www.betterdrivingplease.com/press.asp