Car safety inspections
- If you want to read a bit more on what you should be doing as a business owner, then Simon Oliphant has written a piece for us on car safety inspections called Managers need to get their hands dirty.
- And there’s also a useful piece on basic tyre safety – click here to read Check your tyre tread
- Meanwhile, you can read more on our Audi A6 ultra Black Edition here
MAKING regular car safety inspections on your car needn’t take long.
Once a month tyre pressure checks. And while you’re doing that give your tyres a quick visual health check:
- Tread ok?
- No chunks out of the sidewall?
- That sort of thing.
Plus check the oil. And top up the water reservoir. All easy stuff.
And all too easily neglected in the rush and pressure of business life, I realise (although the Audi does allow you to check the oil via the MMI screen from the comfort of the car – so not everything has to be done outside the car!).
But this time of year, not performing some of these basic items can compromise your safety: it’s dark in the late afternoons; usually wet; and the only contact your car has with the road are four patches of rubber. So it’s probably worth a bit of effort on your part to make sure they are in the best of health.
I remember talking to Simon Oliphant, the chief exec of leasing company Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, about car safety checks a while back. He told me that Hitachi had recently staged a staff car safety check day. Simon said he’d been surprised to find how many of the private cars in the company needed some tlc.
“The number of private vehicles that required significant attention was surprisingly high, compared to the company cars,” Simon told me.
And remember, this is a leasing company that lives and breathes cars. So perhaps even more surprising. Simon continued:
“Drivers need to take responsibility for vehicle maintenance, privately owned or not. This is particularly the case for small businesses that may have a mixture of company and private cars doing business mileage. Business owners must ensure the safety of employees.”
It’s an important point. As a business owner, if you ask one of your staff to go in their private car on company business, you need to ensure that the car is roadworthy, taxed for business and so on. If you don’t think the car is up to it, then find an alternative – like hiring a daily rental car. It could save your business a lot of health and safety trouble.
As well as complying with any terms and conditions of your insurance policy, whether that’s a Motor Trade insurance policy or any other type of business insurance.
