Driving skills under scrutiny as Derby and St Edmundsbury councils fit black-box monitors to bin lorries and other vehicles

Council bin men and other drivers could soon find themselves rated for how well they drive while working.

Two local authorities are to install black box-style technology in council vehicles to monitor whether employees are driving safely and economically.

Derby City Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council have signed a deal Greenroad Technologies to fit the equipment to cars, refuse and highway maintenance vehicles. Initially pilot schemes will be run with a random selection of drivers, with a view to rolling out the technology across the councils' entire fleet.

Each gadget will check if drivers brake too harshly, pull away too quickly, corner dangerously or drive too fast. The information will be used to give staff a rating for their driving ability, and flag up areas that need improvement.

Derby City Council said it would then tailor training to resolve any problems the drivers have. It also wants to use the Safety Centre technology with employees who use their personal cars for business travel.

"We plan to offer council employees a reduction in their insurance premiums if they install it in their own cars," said Aidan Ryrie, Derby's road safety team leader.

"It's not just the council who will benefit from its introduction. We are partnering with local employers to encourage them to use [the technology] and adopt a culture of road safety for the benefit of our entire community."

However, the council denied the move was about monitoring staff as the technology does not reveal where staff are located.

Greenroad claimed that clients using the technology had reduced accidents by an average of 54% and lowered accident costs by an average of 65%.