Rank: New forum user 
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Hi all, we are about to fit vehicle tracking devices to our vans in an effort to reduce damage and fuel costs, improve driving etc, but I have been told that Under the Road Traffic Act, that if you fit such devices and they show that a vehicle was speeding, the organisation is duty bound to report such incidents to the police?, its because you have evidence that is considerd trustworthy by the courts etc and can be used as evidence.
A) has any one heard of this?
b) which section of the RTA does it fall under?
thanks
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Rank: Super forum user
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I am not sure that there is a simply duty to report speeding drivers to the police. I had a quick look and nothing has come up on any of the webpages- but the Department for Transport website is a mess and i can never find anything on it anyway.
Even if you did report that a driver was speeding to the police the police would not be able to make an enforcement action stick since the measurement of driver speed is not sufficiently accurate enough o strand up in court.
On the other hand if an employer knew his staff were regularly speeding and did nothing about it then this could be judged to be ‘conniving and consenting’ and might leave the employer liable for prosecution.
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Rank: Forum user
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I agree with the employer being in a position of liability if it fails to act on information of driving laws not being followed. However:
a) who told you this? was it an employee trying to put you off fitting the device?
b) insurance companies are fitting them for young drivers and I am sure they are not going to report them
Hope this helps
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi there
We have telematics fitted to our commercial fleet - I'm not sure about any duty to report anything to the police but you certainly would be remiss not to do anything with the information you gathered. We have found it useful in reducing our fuel bills as we are able to focus not just on speeding, but drivers who brake heavily or eratically. This is followed up with each individual driver which is of course time consuming. The insurance companies love this type of approach as well as you can demonstrate quite effectively how you are attempting to manage risk.
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Rank: Guest
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Jeal43504
I've had a quick word with a good friend of mine who is a traffic officer for a rather large/ high profile constabulary.
He has informed me that you are not duty bound by any law to divulge private company information in this respect, unless it is the Police that require/ request it during the course of an investigation.
Hope this helps.
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Rank: Super forum user
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In a previous company we had a small fleet of 6 person vans that were fitted with similar devices. We never reported any speeding to the police but had a company driving section in our H&S Policy that stated how the information gathered would be used and that speeding would be dealt with as a disciplinary offence by HR. Initially the drivers hated it but it saved fuel, accidents and in the long run paid better wages as eventually money saved was put into a bonus scheme.
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Rank: Super forum user
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An interesting topic which prompts the following thoughts:
Unless the devices (like tachographs for lorries?) can also identify the stretches of roads travelled by the vans and the prevailing speed limits on them, then surely employers won't always know if their drivers have been exceeding any speed limits.
If drivers know what sort of information is recorded by the devices - AND also what their employers will do with the information - they may well be influenced to drive with more care with regards to speed, fuel economy, etc, as described by Reed 21854 regarding his employer's commercial fleet. Can any other forum users report that this effect occurs elsewhere? (Fletcher's just done so as I finish typing this response)
Also, such devices could well be of use to delivery drivers who would otherwise be under pressure from supervisors, etc to significantly exceed speed limits in order to complete as many deliveries as possible and as fast as possible.
Anyone who drives at over 70mph on a public roadway is breaking the UK national speed limit. However, it's a strong bet that very drivers in the UK can honestly say that they have never ever exceeded this limit! To paraphrase Shakespeare, it's a limit "more honoured in the breach than the observance". Therefore, even if an employer opted to "shop" a speeding employee to the police (irrespective of the inevitable damage to employer-employee relations), surely it would reek of gross hypocrisy.
As an aside regarding 70mph, it might be the legal maximum limit for motorways, etc. but isn't always the safest speed. For example I recently did a long journey on dual carriageways and motorways in what could aptly be described as "constant car wash" weather. Using a bit of dynamic risk assessment of the road conditions, I had my dipped headlights on and adjusted my speed according to the varying densities of traffic, road spray, etc. However, it seemed that plenty of other motorists either thought that somehow they were totally immune from the adverse conditions - or perhaps didn't even recognise them - judging from the numbers of other vehicles without any lights on and/or being driven at what appeared to be well over 70mph and with negligible distances apart. Call me a wimp if you wish, but I was very glad to get off the motorway and onto a A road nearer to my destination.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Most of the available "trackers" use the gps.
They are accurate to 20 metres, or better.
The 70mph limit is only m/ways or dual carriageways (unless signed otherwise)
With trucks it is 60, although limiters work to 90kph.
You're definitely going to be busy, following the tracker plot, especially as they do not monitor and record every metre of the way....
Of course, vans are limited to 50mph on single carriageway roads, 60 on dual carriageways, and they can only allow other drivers to travel at the legal maximum on motorways ...try sorting THAT out on a tracker plot.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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It is not an area that I am particularly well versed, however I suspect that employers need do more than show 'due diligence' for their employees conduct whilst driving at work. This would equate to a Driving Policy which should be properly briefed to staff and also address violations of that Policy.
It was interesting to read some of the comments with regards to discipline and reporting staff to the police for speeding, would that equally apply to the MD/CEO of the organisation? If it did, as an employee I would be the first to report him or her to the police!
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Rank: Forum user
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Hello Jeal
No there is no such requirement under the road traffic act. The police would not be able to prosecute on the basis of your tracking evidence alone.
As others have said, it may be evidence you could use for internal misconduct - damaging the reputation of the firm by repeatedly driving like an idiot perhaps?
On the other hand there may be firms who would turn a blind eye if their reps were able to fit in an extra call or two per day by travelling a bit quicker than the law would wish?
Graham's point on the data that these gizmos capture is a good one. Driver behaviour does change for the better if they know that a black box is measuring what they do. There are some out there that automatically record collision data - showing speed, braking, swerving etc. These are now fitted to many emergency vehicles and have been used as part of the accident investigation evidence.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Presumably you've also already fitted speed-limiters for fuel economy reasons . This should provide you with some degree of comfort?
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