GM UK Fleet has announced that from 6 April 2008, it will be the first vehicle manufacturer in the UK to commit to being a Champion of the Department of Transport’s Driving for Better Business initiative. 

The start date of 6 April 2008 was chosen by GM UK Fleet to coincide with the coming into being of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

“The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is a hugely important piece of legislation for fleets all over the UK, including GM UK’s own,” comments Maurice Howkins, Director, GM UK Fleet. “And as the leading fleet vehicle provider in the UK, we want to demonstrate how serious we are taking this new legislation both to our customers and to our staff.”

Driving for Better Business, a Department of Transport programme managed by RoadSafe, is an initiative, “To develop and co-ordinate a network of employers and champions to promote good practice in order to catalyze a reduction in deaths and injuries caused by cars and vans used for business purposes.”

“We are the first vehicle manufacturer in the UK to take this initiative. We believe that it’s the right thing to do,” continues Howkins. “We sell our vehicles to businesses big and small all over the UK, and we also run a company car scheme for our own employees. We, and every other vehicle manufacturer who sells to businesses, should do our part in ensuring that business car drivers and their organisations not only have, but understand, the information associated with being safe and legal on UK roads while going about their business.”

Welcoming GM UK Fleet, Adrian Walsh, Director of RoadSafe said: “It is vital that business leaders shoulder their responsibilitiesfor ensuring the safety of their staff on the road. This commitment by GM UK Fleet is an excellent example of leadership and will certainly contribute to making road journeys safer”

What a Driving for Better Business Champion does.
Driving for Better Business champions constitute the central element of the Driving for Better Business employer network. They are those firms that are prepared to step forward to champion good practice in work related road safety by taking a business message to business.

Business champions, drawn from public, private and voluntary sectors, both company directors and fleet decision-makers, will work through various networks and associations to deliver awareness to their fellow businessmen.  The target audience is those businesses operating company car and van fleets, as well as those who rely on staff to use their own vehicles on work-related journeys.