Personal Security while driving

28 June 2006

Jim Kirkwood, managing director of DriveTech (UK), explains why personal security training, as part of a driver training programme, should be considered as a key component of an employer’s duty of care to an employee.

It is now widely accepted that statistically driving at work is one of the UK’s most dangerous ‘occupations’. With nearly 1,000 road fatalities a year involving somebody ‘at work’ (source: RoSPA), it’s important to ensure that employers have an occupational road risk strategy and programmes in place to reduce risk for employees who drive.Usually, these programmes include individual driver assessment and then appropriate driver training either on-road or tailored workshops or e-learning. However, one area that is becoming more and more important is personal security while driving.

I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all had the experience of feeling uncomfortable when driving through unfamiliar areas, often at night. While it’s hard to pin down why drivers feel nervous, simply locking the doors may help feel more secure as well as protecting yourself, your passengers and any valuables from a sudden, unexpected attack. There are clearly some types of company drivers that are potentially at more risk. A typical example would be a field sales team making cold calls or visits in unfamiliar areas often using high value technology such as laptops, PDAs, mobile phones and, more and more, satellite navigation systems.

Clearly, there are both duty of care and potentially financial benefits from improving an employee’s awareness of personal security. While some companies believe this is more appropriate for female employees, our experience is that all employees can benefit.

Pam Barnaville, a DriveTech training consultant was recently interviewed in the March 2006 issue of Company Car magazine. According to Pam, the answer is not clearcut. She said: “Yes, there are certainly safety issues that do only apply to women - for example, if you go to work in a posh frock, you should wear a long coat to cover up and sensible shoes for walking. But there’s no doubt that any driver can be targeted, regardless of gender.”

At DriveTech, we are more frequently including a personal security module as part of a typical driver training day. This additional training may also be invaluable outside the work environment and considered a ‘life skill’ for an individual.

Pam continued: “We do find that fleet managers aren’t always aware of the need for personal safety training. They want to reduce the accident rate and insurance costs but don’t think of other driver issues. But once they come to us, we give them all the info they need and can build a tailored driver training programme for them.”

The focus of the training is good observational techniques, planning and preparation (see panel). This is a low-level security risk programme and focused on company drivers. If a customer has a requirement for higher-level risk, such as VIP chauffeurs, we would provide specialist and comprehensive training, including role play, for those individuals at high risk of personal attack.

However, there is a common thread running through the levels of threat and that is for drivers and passengers to be observant and aware of surroundings. Good observational skills and deployment of defensive driving techniques are a good foundation to ensure that companies retain employees who drive safely and securely.

For more information on reducing risk in your organisation, contact Jim Kirkwood on 01344 773144. E-mail: jim.kirkwood@drivetech.co.uk

Practical Training Tips

DriveTech recommends that individuals adopt a dynamic risk assessment (DRA) technique when travelling in unfamiliar locations in general and turning into a new road in particular.

1.     Dynamic risk assessment (DRA) - the assessment could include:
(i) What type of road is it - how many lanes, volume of traffic, speed limit.
(ii) Visibility.
(iii) Road surface condition.
(iv) Surrounding environment - junctions, crossings, residential/commercial premises left and right, traffic lights, high risk of stopping, pedestrian activity, how does the driver feel, do they feel threatened?
(v) Who is in front?
(vi) Who is behind? - what are they doing, look at body language, do they look suspicious, how close are they.
(vii) Do they have good visibility to the front? If not drop back.


2.      Observation at all times - observation is crucial. Know who is behind, to the sides and front. Looking for suspicious behaviour is the key, especially from the driver behind. Raise the question who is behind us? What are they doing? Are they on the mobile, is there a risk of a rear shunt etc.

3.      Keep the vehicle moving - this will require good observation and planning, save on fuel and be less of a target to opportunist thieves at the side of the road

4.      Coming alongside - when travelling along a multi-lane road in slow moving or stop start traffic, avoid coming alongside other cars, especially at traffic lights. Always stop in such a position that the adjacent driver or front seat passenger cannot see you and avoid eye contact. Also consider safety advantages of avoiding travelling in the blind spot area.

5.      Stopping -when stopping, you should consider:
(i) Maintain adequate space to the front - always have an escape route
(ii) Mirrors prior to braking - to avoid a rear shunt. If you are hit in the rear, is it a deliberate act?
(iii) Is there anyone stood around the traffic lights, alongside the pavement, the zebra crossing or acting suspicious e.g. looking closely at the traffic, into cars or communicating to another person further up the road or talking on a mobile phone and clearly looking at you

6.      Parking - when parking you should consider the following:
(i) Benefits of reversing into a bay - easy escape in addition to other safety benefits.
(ii) Avoid parking up against pillars, especially alongside the drivers’ door.
(iii) Good lighting.
(iv) A busy car park - will it be busy when on return?

7.      Are you being followed? - is it a coincidence that you are being followed or is it deliberate? If suspicions have been raised you will need to confirm if it is not coincidence. This can be achieved by either going around a roundabout completely or if the following driver signals the same direction as you, change your mind at the last minute and note the following drivers’ reaction.

8.      Doors locked? - doors should be locked at all times. Prestige cars are fitted with devices which automatically lock the doors when travelling over 5 mph. If you are uncomfortable with locking your doors then be selective and certainly lock them in busy urban areas and in stop start traffic. Trust your intuition.

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.

For further information contact:

Ashley Martin (telephone 01733 390691) or Arthur Dalziel (0121 445 6633)
AWD Communications Ltd.