200 Christmas cards will be distributed to businesses across the county to raise aware of the Driving of Better Business scheme and encourage them to sign up over the Christmas period.  All the online tools and resources are free to access and, when businesses join, they’ll have access to a 7-step framework to help you cover the essentials.

Driving is often seen as a consequence of a job rather than a safety-critical aspect. It is one of the highest risk activities that most employees will ever undertake.

Organisations and their managers have a legal duty to minimise that risk and ensure their drivers and other road users are safe. The programme includes essential information and legislation that commercial drivers should know from driver hours and weight limits to vehicle roadworthiness.

Warwickshire Police will also be promoting DfBB by handing out cards during multi agency operations to inform commercial drivers of their responsibilities and to pass on to their fleet managers to raise awareness of the scheme. Warwickshire Road Safety Education team will also be promoting the scheme as part of their safe and active travel offering to the workplace.

All the DfBB resources are free to access and distribute via the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership page: www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/warwickshire 

Simon Turner, Campaign Manager at Driving for Better Business said: “We’re proud to be working with the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, and sending out Christmas Cards to local businesses is a really imaginative way of engaging them. The benefits that stem from good management of work-related driver safety don’t just include fewer incidents and collisions – businesses are also likely to see reduced costs for maintenance, insurance and fuel to name a few. These are efficiencies that could prove very valuable in the coming year.”

Councillor Wallace Redford, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Transport and planning said: “This is a really important campaign at this time of year with the roads busier and cold weather leading to less-than-optimal driving conditions it’s essential that anyone who managers a fleet of vehicles and their drivers take safety concerns seriously. I hope as many businesses as possible take-up the opportunity of this free training.”

Philip Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner and Chair of the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “By sending out these Christmas cards we hope to catch the attention of business owners and fleet managers to really underline the point that everyone has a part to play in making our roads safer.  It’s one of a wide range of activities that Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership is undertaking to help meet the ambitious but achievable goal of reducing the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on our roads by 50% by 2030.”

Buddy the elf is also helping ensure everyone gets home safe this Christmas. Buddy is doing daily Elf on the Shelf updates on the partnership’s social media, giving road safety hints and tips on how you can ensure your friends stay safe over the Christmas period.  

Follow the Partnership on @WarksRoadSafety (Twitter) and @WarwickshireRoadSafety (Facebook) to see Buddy’s journey.

More information about the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership can be found on the website: https://warksroadsafety.org/