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                FLEET NEWS

                Employees & Employers could face IMPRISONMENT for using Mobiles Phones

            Motorists in England and Wales caught driving dangerously while using a handheld mobile phone face jail under new guidelines.
              Business vehicles are involved in more than a third of all collisions. What is important for drivers and employers alike in the new
              policy is how the CPS plans to interpret some of these offences. The net result is likely to be more serious charges for many involved
              in accidents or observed driving "badly". It is likely that employers are more likely to be held to account for the manner in which
              vehicles are driven whilst being used for their business.

              In April 2008 the new new offence of corporate manslaughter becomes law. Thereafter it will be possible to charge an employer with manslaughter if:

                -the way in which an organisation is managed by its senior managers causes the death of someone owed a duty of care by that organisation
                 (such as an employee, another driver, pedestrian etc.)

                -and it fails so far short of an acceptable standard that it is right to fix the organisation with criminal responsibility.

                Employers of all sizes must expect scrutiny of their driving policies, training, risk assessments and safety leaderships.

                Source: BBC NEWS December 2007