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An Arriva risk manager has won a top award.

Jon Sweet picked up the prize of “2006 Road Risk Manager of the Year” from road safety charity Brake.

Jon, who works for Arriva the Shires and Essex , was nominated for his campaign designed to increase driver awareness and develop a culture of road safety.

As part of his winning project he simulated accidents using old double decker buses and cars at both Luton and Watford garages.

Fire crews then attended the 'scene' and in front of on looking drivers rescued crash test dummies from the wreckage.

As a result of the whole campaign, accidents involving driver error have gone down 30 per cent.

Jon said:

It is a real honour to get this award and it represents a lot of hard work from a number of people.

It is a fantastic achievement that means a lot to me and everyone involved.

Jon picked up his prize as Brake named an award in honour of a former colleague who was killed last year.

Kevin Storey, 38, who worked for Arriva North West at Aintree, died of massive head injuries when his Ford Focus was struck at 60mph by a van, while he was parked in the lay-by off the A50 in Staffordshire in May 2005.

He had also previously won the UK risk manager of the Year and only days after the accident Kevin was posthumously awarded the RoSPA Gold Award for his outstanding achievement in the reduction of accidents at Arriva over a four year period.

Jon added:

Kevin was a fantastic risk manager and someone we all looked to for inspiration. Kevin set the bench mark for all of us at Arriva. It was a very emotional night for everyone at Arriva.

Arriva the Shires and Essex managing director Keith Spicer said:

We are all very proud of Jon and he really deserves this award.

Safety of staff and passengers is the number one priority for Arriva and Jon's work really does save lives.

It is especially poignant in light of our former colleague Kevin Storey's death.

The fact that an award has been named in his honour shows what a contribution he made to safety.

Ends

Notes to editors

• Arriva is one of the largest private sector providers of passenger transport in mainland Europe, employing nearly 33,000 people and providing more than one billion passenger journeys every year.
• Arriva provides transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and water buses in eight European countries: Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
• Arriva is the largest private bus operator in Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands and is London's largest bus operator.
• Revenue from Arriva's mainland European operations has trebled in the past five years to £621.2 million.
• Arriva was the first UK transport company to become a signatory of the European Road Safety Charter – http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/roadsafety/charter.htm.