KEY POINTS:
Dodgy driving is the subject of this blog. The Police recently launched a campaign aimed at raising commercial driver and company awareness of the dangers of fatigue, which was identified as a contributing factor in 134 fatal crashes between 2002 and 2004.
All drivers stopped for speed, red light running, careless driving and even lane drift will be reported to their employers. Organisations which regularly feature will be provided with "feedback and advice" on how to minimise risks. This appears to be aimed at people travelling repeatedly for short distances, such as taxis or pizza delivery riders - or even "business people flying into Wellington and getting a rental car for a trip to the Wairarapa" - as well as long haul driving such as lorries going from Auckland to Wellington.
The rationale seems to be that if someone is driving badly while on company business, the employer should know about it. After all, the employer is required under the Health and Safety in Employment Act to take all practicable steps not only to ensure the safety of employees, but also to prevent employees harming others.
It is unclear what will happen to employers whose drivers do not pick up their act, despite the "feedback and advice" that will be provided initially. Presumably more robust action could follow. It's easy to imagine situations where an employer could be liable under the health and safety legislation: if it pays no heed to driving hours rules, for instance, and expects its drivers to work excessively long shifts, a fatal accident could easily ensue. Few would argue that punishment would be merited in such a case. But enforcement action could be taken in such a case regardless of this campaign.
And what about where the employer is not to blame? If it does what it can to ensure its employees get proper rest before driving, and one of them flouts the rules, should the employer come in for all this attention from the state? And is it reasonable to dobb an employee into their boss if they drift across a lane, or are given a ticket for going 60 in a 50 km/h zone? Who among us hasn't done either of those? If I was a pizza delivery rider or a truckie, I'm not sure I'd be that chuffed about my firm being phoned up by the Police if I got a simple speeding ticket - especially if I were to face some sort of disciplinary action as a result.
The Police are selling this as a "free good" for individual drivers. I'm not sure they would see it the same way. Maybe you could argue it is for businesses, who may be unaware of bad driving habits or employees who are breaking the rules, despite their best efforts to promote good driving behaviour.
The other interesting feature about this initiative is that data will be collated in a special web based data warehouse, and accessed and analysed by the Police, who will presumably disclose it to the individual's employer. So, not only will employers be informed, the details will be kept on file - for how long, who knows. No doubt the Police will say they are complying with the Privacy Act ...
I suppose you can justify anything in a country like New Zealand, which has such appalling road accident statistics. But isn't this going just a bit too far?
Greg Cain
Greg Cain is an employment lawyer at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts.
