STAGECOACH West has crowned Robert Stacey as its safest driver in Stroud.

The award was granted to the driver who has driven to in the safest most comfortable way over the course of 2017.

Robert achieved the lowest score at Stroud Depot, at 0.96. He was given a certificate and vouchers to mark his achievement as the driver with the best safety score in the town.

Rachel Geliamassi, operations director at Stagecoach West believes Robert thoroughly deserved the award.

“We have a best in each depot, with the lowest safety score, they all put in hard work and are fantastic people.

“Hopefully we’ve made all of our drivers feel really special today.”

All of Stagecoach West’s buses now use the Ecodriver behaviour system to encourage smoother and safer driving.

The system uses a traffic-light LED device on the dashboard, which gives drivers immediate feedback on their manoeuvres.

As well as ensuring smoother driving, it helps Stagecoach West reduce its CO2 emissions by three per cent a year.

“EcoDriver interprets everything the driver does and makes sure the driver drives green,” said Rachel.

This means the driver must be more careful with braking, cornering, and handling - giving customers a much better passenger experience.

“It’s really fuel efficient and the passengers love it because they get a better experience.”

To support the Ecodriver system, drivers also complete a Safe, Skilled and Fuel Efficient Driver programme as part of their training.