Jul
11
This is the sixth in a series of blogs by Fleet Risk Consultants’s Nigel Grainger.
If I told you that the Police could come and seize all your computers and seal off your office for as long as it takes, just because one of your vehicles has been involved in a collision, would you be surprised or concerned?
The Police treat all serious collisions, those involving death or life changing injuries, as crime scenes.
They operate with reference to a document titled ‘Road Death Investigation Manual’ it lays out how deaths on the road should be investigated and prosecuted.
By treating the scene as a crime scene they are already assuming that a crime has been committed, therefore they are looking for someone to prosecute.
That someone could be YOU.
They will seal the scene and have the collision investigators examine the area minutely for evidence.
You should be aware that the Police may seize mobile telephones, data recorders, tachographs, engine management chips, telematics systems, laptop computers and the vehicles themselves and hold them until after any prosecution and appeal period, at which time they will be returned.
In my experience this can be anything up to and occasionally beyond twelve months, dependent on the circumstances of the incident.
You will be interested to note that a section of the procedures covers Corporate Liability and states that consideration should be given to whether working regimes, working practices or negligence of a corporate body led to the death of the person involved in a traffic incident.
This looks at duty of care and is aimed at establishing whether a body failed in its duty of care to the public and specifically the deceased.
Nigel
Nigel Grainger is the senior consultant and Fleet Risk Consultants, the first resort for companies with fleets that want to have robust policies in place, to protect them and their employees.
Sarah Arrow
www.thecouriershop.co.uk
www.ArrowLightHaulage.co.uk
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