As part of an ongoing focus on road risk, our first Toolbox Talk for 2026 sets out clear expectations around professional driving standards.

Driving at work remains one of the highest-risk activities carried out in day-to-day operations, and the consequences of a poor decision on the road can be immediate and long-lasting.

This Toolbox Talk is built on a simple principle: professional driving isn’t defined by confidence or experience alone. It’s defined by consistent judgement, calm decision-making and respect for other road users, even in difficult conditions. For organisations, professional driving standards are also about trust. Every journey reflects on the driver, the business and the wider industry.

A key theme this month is focusing attention on the risks that repeatedly sit behind the most serious outcomes. Enforcement, insurers and behaviour-change programmes consistently highlight the “fatal four” as areas that cause most harm on the roads:

• Speed and driving too fast for the conditions
• Mobile device use and distraction
• Not wearing a seatbelt
• Alcohol and drugs impairment

Rather than treating these as tick-box issues, the Toolbox Talk places them in their proper context: they’re the behaviours most likely to turn a routine journey into an incident that affects lives, careers and reputations.

The Toolbox Talk also reinforces defensive driving as a professional habit. Many experienced fleets use the COAST framework as a practical reminder of what good looks like behind the wheel: Concentration, Observation, Anticipation, Space and Time. The value of COAST is that it encourages drivers to plan earlier, create margins and allows for the mistakes of others without escalating risk through frustration or impatience.

We also address outcomes honestly. When standards slip, consequences are not limited to vehicle damage or paperwork. Serious incidents can result in life-changing injury or loss of life, criminal investigation and prosecution, loss of driving licence and long-term psychological impact including trauma and stress. These outcomes aren’t uncommon. They happen on the roads every day, often following a single lapse in judgement or attention.