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Collision and incident records
Your record of road traffic collisions and other incidents involving the fleet.
This is general information for UK goods-vehicle operators. It is not legal advice. Use the official source on this page, and your operator licence conditions, before you rely on it.
What it is
Operators are expected to know about collisions, prohibitions and other serious incidents involving their vehicles and drivers, and to be able to show what they did afterwards. This is part of the continuous and effective management the traffic commissioner looks for. It is your incident record, not a form DVSA issues to you. What you capture should be enough to explain what happened, who was involved, and what changed in the system.
Who holds it
The operator holds the incident report, driver account, photographs, insurer reference and any follow-up on training, discipline or vehicle defects. Drivers should know how to report an incident the same day.
At a visit
At a public inquiry or a desk-based review, a pattern of collisions with no management response is used as evidence against repute and professional competence. The record is the proof that you looked, not only that the crash happened.