Press releases

Arriva's UK Bus division has been awarded the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in recognition of the company's efforts to continually improve safety and driving standards.

Nomination for the award came from Dr Lisa Dorn, an expert in the field of driver behaviour, based at Cranfield University. Dr Dorn has been instrumental in working with Arriva to develop a bus driving simulator, psychometric measures of bus driver behaviour and the design of a training programme designed to support Arriva's safety culture.

Dr Dorn stated she nominated the business because of the commitment shown by Arriva in terms of time, money, and strategic support. It is hoped and expected that the company will begin to see significant reductions in road traffic incidents as a result of the project.

Richard Bowler, director of finance at Arriva's UK Bus division said:

Arriva has worked very closely with Cranfield University and representatives of the TGWU over the last three years on this project and are delighted to receive this prestigious award. We are grateful for this recognition of all the hard work we have put into ensuring we continue to improve our safety record.

Bus drivers can face difficult situations over which they have little control - for example heavily congested traffic - and by assessing the ways in which different personality types react to different circumstances we can devise training that helps all our drivers to competently meet the increasing number of safety challenges they face.

The Prince Michael Road safety Awards were set up in 1987 by HRH Prince Michael of Kent with the aim of highlighting the need for vigilance on the roads and to drive home the road safety message to all road users. Of the many submissions received by the charity each year, only the very best are selected to win one of the coveted Awards.

Dr Dorn is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Chartered Psychologist and a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety and the International Association of Applied Psychology: Traffic and Transportation Psychology Division.

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Notes to editors

• Arriva's bus driver simulator is based at the company's Luton offices and is made up of a replica driver's cab complete with steering wheel and controls combined with a six feet high circular screen on to which the road is projected. The 'driver' is given the same view as they would have in a real bus and can test their skills on very congested roads, react to situations such as children running out on the road, and get an idea of the challenges faced when taking a bus out in service.
• The Psychometric questionnaire was filled in by bus drivers from all depots, of all ages and backgrounds and with various levels of experience in bus driving.
• The following photograph of Richard Bowler of Arriva, Dr Lisa Dorn and Adrian Walsh, Director of the Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards is available electronically from Kate Flint.