Safety conscious companies recognised at Fleet Safety Awards

Companies have been honoured for working hard to reduce road crashes involving at-work drivers during Brake’s third annual Australasian Fleet Safety Awards.

The winners were announced at Brake’s annual reception for supporters held yesterday (Thursday 28 September) in Auckland. The awards, sponsored by NZ Transport Agency, SurePlan and Suzuki recognise companies and individuals who have implemented successful initiatives, products or services to tackle fleet safety. The reception was attended by Brake supporters and awards finalists.

There were five categories of awards, including two individual awards. The Road Risk Manager Award went to Matt Horan, General Manager at Pacific Fuel Haul, and the prestigious Outstanding Commitment to Road Safety Award was awarded posthumously to Dr Will Murray. More details below.

The 2017 Fleet Safety Award winners are:

• Company Driver Safety Award, sponsored by SurePlan:
  DHL and MiX Telematics
• Safe Vehicles Award, sponsored by NZ Transport Agency:
  Competenz
• Fleet Safety Product Award:
  AA Motoring School, Fleet and Business
• Road Risk Manager of the Year Award, sponsored by Suzuki:
  Matt Horan (Pacific Fuel Haul)
• Outstanding Commitment to Road Safety Award:
  Dr Will Murray

Spotlight on: Outstanding Commitment Award winner
This year's award for outstanding commitment to road safety went posthumously to Dr Will Murray, who died suddenly in 2016. He was an academic and researcher working in the fleet safety arena for many years, and a passionate advocate for road safety. He worked with a number of organisations in New Zealand, Australia and around the world. Will was also instrumental in helping to establish Brake, the road safety charity in the UK in 1995, and he continued to be a huge asset to the charity through his voluntary work as a trustee, speaker and fundraiser. For over 20 years Will worked as Research Director for Interactive Driving Systems and later E-Driving Fleet. His passion for the occupational road risk industry and saving lives was evident in the work he did with clients and the results they saw in reducing their incidents. Will spoke at numerous conferences and events, sharing his research and academic expertise with other academics and practitioners alike.
Will never sought personal reward or recognition: his motivation was always to make a difference.

More information on the awards, including photographs can be obtained from Caroline Perry at Brake by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Caroline Perry, Brake's NZ Director, says: "We are delighted to have run our third Fleet Safety Awards, celebrating the great achievements of companies and individuals who are striving to make a real difference in the world of fleet safety. Congratulations to all the award winners and highly commended entrants for their impressive work over the past year, its further proof that there is a lot happening in the fleet safety field."

NZ Transport Agency Director Safety and Environment Harry Wilson says: "We are delighted to support the Fleet Safety Awards this year and recognise organisations that are working hard to reduce incidents and improve safety. We congratulate this year's winner of the Safe Vehicles Award on their achievement and their dedication to road safety."

Gordon Brown, Chief Executive Officer at SurePlan, says: "SurePlan is delighted to sponsor the Company Driver Safety Award and congratulates this year's winner on their achievement. Organisations that are taking positive steps to reduce vehicle incidents are helping to create safer drivers and safer roads, and it's great to be able recognise them through these awards."

Steve West, AM Fleet Manager at Suzuki, says: "Suzuki is proud to sponsor the Road Risk Manager Award for a third year. We congratulate Matt on his dedication to the role and commitment to addressing road risk and improving fleet safety within his organisation."

More information on the awards can be found at www.fleetsafetyawards.com/nz. Details of how to enter the 2018 awards will be released at the end of 2017.