A driver’s risk level determines the nature of the control measures needed to address that risk. But the calculations to determine driver risk can be complex, leaving plenty of room for error.

Even DVLA data alone, just one of the factors you should be using to assess driver risk, can easily be mishandled and derail your risk management strategy.

Here, we warn of 5 pitfalls to avoid when factoring DVLA data into your fleet driver risk assessment process.

1. Equating a clean licence with safe driving

When you focus solely or too heavily on DVLA data when carrying out your drive risk assessment, it can skew your outlook and the results. This is particularly true if a check shows a driver has 0 points on their licence.

Taken at surface value, this paints a picture of a good and safe driver, but this isn’t necessarily true. In fact, quite the opposite can be true. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

• The “lucky” speeders – A driver may speed hundreds of times before ever being caught by a speed camera or by a police officer. Up until their luck runs out, this dangerous driver has a clean licence, masking their aggressive behaviour on the road.
• The incident magnet – Even with a clean driving licence, a fleet driver who is regularly involved in minor incidents resulting in things like cracked mirrors and scuffs is unlikely to be as safe behind the wheel as their record suggests. A history of minor incidents likely masks a parallel history of near misses, and is a key indicator that a more severe event may occur in the future should appropriate intervention not take place.
• The invisible liability – A driver may have adopted several bad and aggressive habits, such as harsh braking, tailgating or poor signalling, behind the wheel without accruing any penalty points on their licence. These behaviours are red flags that imply the driver is reckless and careless, but a DVLA licence check tells a different story.

As important as licence checking is, ultimately, points are a reactive rather than predictive metric. To accurately assess driver risk and get ahead of incidents, you need real-time behavioural data so you can profile drivers based on their driving style and ability rather than whether they’ve been caught committing an offence.

At Cardinus, we deliver driver assessor training to equip fleet management staff with the skills to properly evaluate driver ability and create tailored training and development plans to improve personnel and operational safety. Avoid common driver assessment pitfalls with our expert course. Learn more.

2. Ignoring the recency of offences

Points on a UK licence usually stay active for 3 years (and on the record for 4), but their predictive power for a future accident “decays” over time. In other words, a driver who got 6 points 3 years ago is a different risk than a driver who got 6 points last month.

A recent offence signals current behavioural standards that need addressing swiftly, while distant offences can imply a driver has in effect learned their lesson and has been driving more safely since.

It’s not that an older offence shouldn’t factor into the risk analysis at all, but it should be weighted differently in your calculation compared to recent offences. You don’t want to waste resources by providing unnecessary support to an unfairly categorised driver. 

3. Focusing on points rather than the severity of offences

The DVLA’s point system may seem ideal for assessing driver risk – A pre-existing point system to work with, phew! But licence points aren’t suitable for effective risk assessment as is. 

More important than the points themselves are the offences they represent. A driver with 6 points for two minor speeding offences presents a very different risk profile than a driver with 6 points for using a mobile phone or driving without insurance.

True, repeated offences should be taken into consideration as an additional risk factor, but a single severe offence can pose a far greater risk.

Related – 7 common shortcomings in fleet risk management – and how to improve

4. Not checking driving licences frequently enough

If you’re checking your fleet drivers’ licences once or twice annually, your data isn’t current enough. A check is only valid for the minute it’s performed. If a driver loses their licence the following week, you are operating illegally for the next 5 to 11 months.

It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario, as you need driver risk levels to establish the frequency of licence checks, and licence checks can inform a driver’s risk level. But you can use other data (i.e. telematics, incident history and demographics) to establish a close estimate of driver risk and use that to determine how often you should check their licences.

Alternatively, we provide a licence checking service to continuously monitor licence status across your entire fleet. This gives you the up-to-date data you need to factor DVLA records into your risk assessment.

5. Treating all drivers as having equal exposure

DVLA data shows what a driver has done behind the wheel… but it says nothing about how often they drive. And that’s a critical omission when assessing risk.

A driver covering 30,000 business miles a year may actually be safer per mile than a driver covering 5,000 miles, even if both have the same number of licence points. However, because they spend far more time on the road, their overall exposure to risk is still greater.

Yet when exposure isn’t factored in, those drivers may be categorised as having the same risk level.

Mileage, journey frequency, route type (urban versus motorway/weather conditions), time of day, and vehicle type all influence the likelihood of an incident occurring.

Related – Climate change, weather events and fleet risk

Get driver risk assessments right with Cardinus

Risk assessing drivers is a complicated and continuous task that can strain resources when handled internally. Cardinus can shoulder this burden for your fleet, providing precise, data-backed assessments via Healthy Working: Safe Driving, our end-to-end fleet risk management software. Our fleet driver risk assessments factor in all relevant information to calculate and categorise drivers by risk profile, guiding support required to minimise their risk exposure and protect your business. Request a free trial of Healthy Working: Safe Driving to get started.