Hundreds of public sector bosses are failing to carry out routine transport planning, putting the lives of their staff and other road users in danger, it has been claimed.
According to research by trade magazine Fleet News, tens of thousands of county council employees across the UK use their own vehicles for work.
But the publication claims that many are allowed to do so without their employers having carried out simple safety checks on their cars, putting them at unnecessary risk.
As well as endangering the lives of their workers, councils are also leaving themselves open to corporate manslaughter charges if one of their drivers should cause a death while driving for business, the magazine advised.
While none of the 30 county councils polled inspected their employees' vehicles for safety, the study showed it was not only risk management where authorities were failing.
It also provided evidence that bosses are not making use of the most efficient transport options for workers - and often pay them too much for using their own cars.
Despite the nationwide findings, Gloucestershire county council recently won praise for its risk assessment and safety measures as part of a government-backed scheme to improve the safety of business drivers.
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