12 January 2007
Thousands of bus and coach drivers on the UK's roads might be 'unsafe', civil servants claimed this week.
Figures obtained by a Whitehall trade union revealed that significantly more passenger-vehicle drivers pass private sector tests than those run by the government's Driving Standards Agency.
The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents Department for Transport staff, discovered that 60.2% of drivers pass tests overseen by 137 private firms using delegated examiners, compared with just 44.5% who pass DSA tests.
Norina O'Hare, PCS national officer at the DfT, estimated that 13,000 privately tested drivers have been put on the roads over the past five years, although they would have failed DSA tests.
She added that there was a potential 'conflict of interest' at firms that tested their own staff and called for an investigation into training requirements at private companies. 'The question is are these [privately tested] drivers less safe than their counterparts tested by the DSA?'
Road safety issues re-emerged over the New Year period, when a National Express coach crashed near Heathrow airport, killing two people. The driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
PFjan2007
