Updating MUARC's car policy - research meets practice

The policy for the purchase and use of vehicles at MUARC was developed in 1999 as an internal set of guidelines. The policy was placed on the MUARC website where it has registered several thousand hits. Given the changes in vehicle safety technology since 1999, MUARC has recently undertaken an update of the policy. Two complex issues arose in updating the criteria for vehicle selection - the extent to which the effectiveness of safety features needed to be scientifically proven (versus potentially effective) in order to be included and potential conflicts between the Occupational Health and Safety requirement of providing the safest possible workplace for employees and the public safety aspect of not unnecessarily endangering other vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users. A further issue arose, in terms of guidelines for use of vehicles, regarding the extent to which legal, but potentially unsafe, behaviours could be proscribed. An example that will be discussed in the paper relates to the use of hands-free mobile phones. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E211985.