(a) County officers, including elected officials and department heads, shall be responsible for the proper use of vehicles by departmental personnel in accordance with the rules set forth in this chapter.
(b) Employees shall be prohibited from carrying passengers in County vehicles who are not a party to County business. An employee with an assigned vehicle which has been exempted in accordance with Article 5 of this chapter may transport other County employees to and from work provided the passenger’s work location is at or near the normal route to work.
(c) Employees shall be required to observe all traffic laws at all times. Fines and penalties imposed by a court for a violation while on County business shall be the personal responsibility of the driver.
(d) Parking citations issued to a County vehicle shall be the responsibility of the employee who parked the vehicle.
(e) Employees shall operate County vehicles in an ordinary, reasonable manner consistent with the intended use of the vehicle. Except for vehicles engaged in law enforcement work, they shall not be used in activities which may damage the vehicle.
(f) All County-owned vehicles shall be maintained under a preventative maintenance program to insure safe vehicle operation and to reduce unscheduled downtime.
Vehicles are therefore scheduled for service at regular intervals as indicated on the dash of each vehicle. It shall be the responsibility of the using department to arrange for the maintenance of the vehicle at the time so indicated.
(g) The use of seat belts shall be mandatory.
(h) It shall be the driver’s responsibility to report all mechanical defects to County garage personnel.
(i) In case of an accident, the driver of a County vehicle shall immediately complete an accident report on the forms provided in the vehicle. The completed forms shall be submitted to the employee’s immediate supervisor for further processing.
If the driver is injured and unable to complete the report, it should be completed by the driver’s immediate supervisor.
(j) The driver may not admit fault nor discuss the accident with anyone except the police, the driver’s supervisor, the County’s Risk Manager, or others authorized by the Risk Manager.
(k) The costs of repairing damages to County vehicles resulting from negligence, abuse, or willful misconduct by the employee having the custody of the vehicle shall be recoverable from the employee. (§ 1, Ord. 910, eff. June 25, 1981)