Motor Vehicle Safety

1. Policy

The College expects all employees and students, when on College-related business, to operate motorized vehicles safely and in compliance with all applicable legislation.

2. Scope

• 2.1 This policy and related procedures are applicable to all College employees and students when using motorized vehicles on College business.
• 2.2 Vehicles referred to under this policy include College owned, leased or rented as well as employee-owned, when travelling on College business.
• 2.3 Travel to and from an employee’s place of residence to their normal worksite is not considered to be business travel.
• 2.4 Major traffic act violations include those driving offences that result in demerit points under the Highway Traffic Act. See Appendix A for a table of demerit point penalties. Note that demerit points are removed from a driver’s abstract after 2 years and the record of offence is removed after 3 years.

3. Responsibility

• 3.1 College Employees and Students will:
  • Drive safely and in compliance with this policy and all applicable legislation while on College-related business;
  • Report all accidents (See section 4.10).
• 3.2 Supervisors and Managers will:
  • Ensure their employees or students who operate a motorized vehicle as part of their job/academic responsibilities are aware of and understand this policy;
  • Ensure their employees or students provide their driver’s license information prior to operating a vehicle for College-related business;
  • Request a driver’s abstract from the Motor Vehicle License Bureau for each of their respective College employees or students requesting to drive a College owned, leased or rented vehicle. New abstracts will be obtained when the driver’s license expires, if that person is still required to drive on College business. For details on how to obtain abstracts, see Form/Procedure under myLoyalist – Team Loyalist – Corporate Services Policy and Procedures.
  • Approve drivers with no traffic act violations on record (i.e. those subject to demerit points). See Appendix OHS-026(A) for a table of demerit point penalties.
  • Forward a driver’s abstract with 2 or 3 demerit points to the Vice-President Corporate Services (or designate) for a risk review, if asked to do so by the requesting driver. At the discretion of the Vice-President Corporate Services (or designate), the driver may be approved to drive a College owned, leased or rented vehicle.
    • Note: Persons under 25 years of age with any demerit points will not be approved.
  • Drivers with 4 or more demerit points will not be approved to drive a College owned, leased or rented vehicle;
  • Ensure that any College owned vehicle under their area of responsibility undergoes preventative maintenance on a schedule recommended by the manufacturer and records are maintained;
  • Ensure an Incident Investigation Report is completed for any work-related motor vehicle accident in which there are injuries. See OHS 006 Workplace Incident Reporting.

4. Procedure

• 4.1 Driver Selection
  • College employees driving, renting or leasing College vehicles must:
    • Hold a valid, full “G” driver’s license,
    • If renting a vehicle, be 21 years of age,
    • Allow their driving record to be checked through the Motor Vehicle License Bureau and wait for approval by their Manager before driving, renting or leasing a College vehicle.
• 4.2 Vehicle Maintenance
  • College owned or leased vehicles must be maintained according to the manufacturer’s preventative maintenance schedule. Maintenance records must be kept for the duration that the vehicle is owned or leased by the College.
  • 4.3 Mobile Devices
  • Drivers may not use any hand-held communication or entertainment device (e.g. mobile telephone, Blackberry®, iPhone®) while operating the vehicle. Drivers are encouraged not to use any mobile device while driving, even those with hands-free capability.
  • Drivers are encouraged to pull over to take or make any calls or use portable technologies. In an emergency, drivers are permitted to use these devices to contact ambulance, police, and fire department emergency services.
  • GPS devices must be placed “securely in” or “mounted to” the vehicle. Drivers may not input addresses/directions into their GPS unit while driving.
  • The display screen of a computer or entertainment device must not be visible to the driver.
  • College employees will not be disciplined for failing to answer e-mail or their cell phone or participate in a conference call when they are driving.
• 4.4 Impaired Driving
  • Drivers must not drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including prescription drugs, which may impair driving capability. If the driver is 21 years or younger they may not have any alcohol in their bloodstream (BAC must be 0).
• 4.5 Seat Belts
  • Drivers and passengers must wear seat belts at all times. Drivers are responsible to ensure all under-age passengers are wearing seatbelts and there are no more passengers in the vehicle than available seatbelts. Passengers may not be transported in the cargo area of a truck or van.
• 4.6 Smoking
  • Employees are not permitted to smoke in any vehicles being used for College-related business.
• 4.7 Hitchhikers
  • Are not permitted.
• 4.8 Driving Conditions
  • Make alternate travel plans if severe weather related travel advisories are in effect.
• 4.9 Fines
  • Drivers are responsible for the payment of all fines resulting from motor vehicle related offences.
• 4.10 Accident Reporting
  • The driver is responsible to report all work-related vehicle accidents to their supervisor, and if driving a leased or rented vehicle, also report the accident to the car lease or rental company. In the event that there are injuries arising from the vehicle accident, the driver will assist their supervisor in the completion of OHS 006 Form A: Supervisor’s Incident Investigation Report.

5. Related Documents

• Appendix A: Ontario Ministry of Transportation – Demerit Point System
• OHS 006 Workplace Incident Reporting
• OHS 006 Form A: Supervisor’s Incident Investigation Report

6. References

• Highway Traffic Act
• Smoke Free Ontario Act and Regulations