Ashley Giles launches Professional Cricketers' Association - Safe Driving Campaign in partnership with DriveTech (UK)

13 March 2006

Billy Taylor Hants, Ashley Giles Warwicks, Alex Gidman Gloucs, Martyn Ball Gloucs

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England and Warwickshire cricket hero, Ashley Giles, has launched the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s (PCA) latest player initiative, in association with Volkswagen Touareg, its “Safe Driving Campaign”. 

In partnership with DriveTech (UK), Thatcham (the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre) and the ECB, the initiative aims to educate and promote driver awareness to all professional cricketers, throughout the 2006.  

The launch event saw a 35mph controlled car crash, in Thatcham’s crash-test laboratory, simulating the damage caused both to a car and its passengers, even at a relatively low speed.

The PCA’s season-long campaign will be a combination of workshops, risk assessments and training programmes provided to all professional players, nationwide.  The programme will be provided to players, free of charge, by the PCA and Volkswagen Touareg, and has been specifically designed and developed by DriveTech (UK), the country’s leading provider of at-work driving risk management and is tailored to meet the needs of the modern professional cricketer. 

Jason Ratcliffe, director player services at the PCA said: ‘Our members, the 400 or so professional cricketers in England and Wales travel a huge number of miles each season and spend countless hours on the road travelling from county to county to play their matches.  As the PCA, it is our role to be proactive in identifying areas where we can help to safeguard the welfare of our members and in this initiative we believe we will significantly reduce the potential risk of death or serious injury on to professional players.’

Ashley Giles looks at damaged vehicle

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Volkswagen, an Official Supplier to the England Team, is delighted to be involved in the programme: Adam Chamberlain, Head of Luxury Cars, Volkswagen UK Ltd, said: ‘The Touareg, like all Volkswagens, is renowned for its high safety standards and a five-star Euro NCAP crash-test performance. It is among the safest luxury 4x4s on the market.  This initiative with the PCA can only serve to reinforce the Touareg’s already strong safety message.’

In most cases, the three-hour driver awareness programme will be delivered to the players at their individual county grounds.

Each cricketer will initially complete a driver risk assessment to determine their risk exposure rating. The assessment will then be followed by a two-hour inter-active workshop during which DriveTech’s experts will address key driving issues such as speed awareness, driver fatigue, the impact of alcohol and drugs on drivers, equipment storage, mobile phone usage and observation and manoeuvring while behind the wheel.

Mr Ratcliffe continued: ‘During the first half of 2006, we hope that all counties will hold courses for their professionals. I believe that each player’s attitude and behaviour while driving will be enhanced as well as their competency to drive. The initiative will not teach the players how to drive, but it will teach them how to drive safely’.

Jim Kirkwood, managing director of DriveTech said: ‘ We’re delighted to be working with the PCA and Volkswagen Touareg on their Safe Driving Campaign. At DriveTech, we believe that, by explaining both the potential and actual consequences of driving decisions, we can lower the risk to the driver, their passengers and other road users.
‘We’re convinced the PCA Volkswagen Touareg’s campaign will play an important role in reducing the likelihood of professional cricketers being involved in serious road collisions.’

Click the images above to view/download the high resolution photos or click the links below:

• Impact 1
• Impact 2
• Impact 3
• Impact 4

Ashley Giles reflected on the PCA Volkswagen Touareg’s campaign: ‘The work the PCA does on behalf of its members is invaluable.   There have been many times during my career when I have jumped in the car at the end of a long day’s play and driven a couple of hundred miles to our next venue. This is an important initiative and driver safety is a key issue for cricketers, especially when, in the space of a couple of years, the game lost two young players, Graham Kersey and Ben Hollioake, in car accidents.’

Editor’s notes

DriveTech is the UK's leading provider of  ‘driving at work’ risk management, driver assessment and driver training solutions.

DriveTech’s goal is to reduce both an organisation’s vehicle business costs and the personal risk for ‘at work’ drivers, by significantly improving driver ABC – attitude, behaviour and competence – therefore supporting driver safety and corporate ‘duty of care’ requirements.

DriveTech (UK) has won the Institute of Transport Management’s ‘Fleet Award for Driver Training’ in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and its ‘European Driver Safety Specialist’ award in 2005.

Contact information

DriveTech

Ashley Martin - 01733 390691 or Arthur Dalziel - 0121 445 6633

The PCA

Volkswagen