Paul Mountford: Fit to drive - fit for work

With Christmas quickly approaching and Merseyside Police about to start their Christmas drink/drugs campaign, Paul Mountford shared his expertise and experience with Liverpool Insurance Institute.

Paul served in Merseyside Police for 30 years before retiring from active service in February 2017. For over 27 years he was a Traffic/Roads Policing officer and has returned to work for Merseyside Police in a casualty reduction role. He is also the Force Lead on drink and drug driving law and procedure.

Due to an increasing demand, Paul now also runs Road Safety Matters, a not-for-profit Community Interest Company with the aim of raising awareness and better educating people about current road safety issues. This involves speaking to businesses and organisations across Merseyside as well as schools and colleges.

Paul detailed the specifics of the drink drive and drug limits for prescription and recreational drugs and talked about what happens to our body when the recommended limits are exceeded. Our awareness is affected and the ability to multi task (a very much needed skill whilst driving) is diminished. He handed out a leaflet that detailed other signs.

There are three million company car users in the UK and over 200 road deaths that involve a driver driving for his job. In 2016 – 10,000 people were injured in drink/drugs collisions

Paul stressed that not only is driving under the influence of drink/ drugs a potential killer but fatigue is also. Whilst most companies have policies regarding drink and drugs, Paul asked do all Managers recognise the signs that their employees show when driving on company business? Eighty three percent of employees in a recent survey said they felt fatigued during the day.

Paul spoke of the dangers of using mobile phones, not just using a phone whilst driving, but being distracted with a hands-free conversation.

His case studies gave much food for thought. Many fatigue and distraction accidents are as a result of split-second distraction or a micro mini sleep during the drive. These split-second incidents can have profound consequences.

The challenge to industry is to ensure policies are robust enough. If an employee is arrested, the first thing the police will do is to check the drivers records. There is the possibility that a company could be investigated for corporate manslaughter.

What about the next morning after an event? Alcohol takes time to leave the blood stream. Companies should ask “Are all of your employees fit to drive after the office party?”

Paul’s handouts were really useful and as well as the leaflet he gave out a number of breathalysers and signal blockers. There is the worrying trend of criminals using software to pick up the signal of electronic keys, often sitting close to your house to pick up the signal and converting it to start your car. His recommendation - leave your keys overnight in a signal blocker. These are cases used to store mobile phones whilst driving. They can also be used to put keys in overnight - a potential stocking filler perhaps! The signal blocker is a must have if a car or sleigh has an electronic key.

Nowadays, Paul is involved with community projects aimed to raise road safety and awareness, particularly for the corporate market. After a workshop with Royal Mail drivers, there was a 31.4% drop in collisions, a 39% improvement over 2 years and in the third year an overall 40% reduction in accidents.

Have a look at the attached leaflet and ask yourself the questions: -

1. Could your company do more to train, educate and monitor your professional drivers?
2. Could you, as an individual, live with yourself if you caused an accident by something that was preventable such as alcohol, drugs (prescription and recreational) fatigue and distractions?
3. Do I want to give my car to a thief as an early Christmas present?

If you would like more information or would like to talk to Paul, please contact him on – Paul.Mountford@merseyside.police.uk