A course to help drivers comply with the law and improve technique offers food for thought

The NHS spends a staggering £100m every month picking up the pieces after road traffic incidents. Every year up to a third of fatalities on the roads involve someone "at work", while half of all child deaths in the UK are traffic-related. In short, the UK's roads are a dangerous place.

But how much thought do directors give before they send employees out on the road without the proper skills? Would they allow staff to use other dangerous machinery without special training? The Health and Safety Act 2008 came into force in January this year and means that the maximum penalty for a serious breach of health and safety, including a fine up to £20,000 and a prison sentence of up to two years, now applies to offences under which fleet managers might be prosecuted.

After several years of campaigning, the same rules for health and safety at work apply to the roads. Staff driving on business, whether using a company car or their own, are deemed to be "at work". The onus is on directors to prove they have maintained a duty of care. Along with making sure vehicles are safe and well maintained, evidence of driver training can also help.

In the view of former British touring car champion Robb Gravett, a properly structured course will make a difference. Gravett established driver training firm Ultimate Car Control in 2001 and started developing a course to both comply with legislation and improve driving.

"We spent three and a half years developing the course and then trialled it for two years," explains Gravett in a break from his one-day Excellence in Professional Driving (EPD) course. The aim, says Eunan Mac Guinness, director of training and compliance at the firm, is to turn people who are "unconsciously incompetent" drivers into ones that are "unconsciously competent". This requires making people think about things they do everyday without thinking.

It also means unlearning bad habits and understanding more about what Ultimate Car Control calls "driving dynamics", in other words, what's happening to you and your car when you brake, accelerate or tug on the steering wheel.

The one-day course, run in conjunction with Mercedes in a range of cars from across the fleet, offers a balance of classroom-based theory and practical experience. The two come together well in the area of driving dynamics. A quick lecture introduces concepts such as "roll over steer", which come to life behind the wheel of a car as you accelerate in a slalom around a series of cones, slam on the brakes and avoid an imaginary obstacle.

It's a great arena for demonstrating the impressive Mercedes fleet, especially its range of safety features. There's also information on how to drive more fuel efficiently—think ahead and go gently—and other nuggets of information that change the way you drive.

Perhaps most impressive is the way the course manages to impart its message in a fun environment. While our roads might be hazardous, by and large cars are only as dangerous as the people driving them. While it's true rising insurance premiums and increased employer responsibilities are good reasons to offer driver training, keeping your employees healthy and happy is probably the best motivation of all.

The one-day EPD course costs £300, with discounts for bulk orders.