From restaurants with delivery drivers to corporate entities that give their staff vehicles to use when meeting clients, vehicles are driven by employees are an important piece to many businesses. However, relying on vehicles driven by staff exposes you to a huge threat…

Distracted Driving.

Actions like using a cell phone, fiddling with your GPS, or eating while driving can lead to a serious accident. Distracted driving is dangerous in ideal conditions but add in bad weather or traffic and it could be disastrous. It is important to have practices and policies in place to help keep your drivers safe while on the road.

To protect your business against the risks caused by distracted driving, consider the following:

Education. Educate your staff on the real risks of distracted driving and the potential consequences. You could develop your own educational program or utilize existing ones such as the Online Distracted Driving Course by the National Safety Council. When in doubt, you could reach out to your commercial auto insurance agent and see if they have any resources.

Driving Policies. Develop driving policies to minimize potential distractions. Communicate these to your staff and enforce them strictly. Verify that your existing driving policies don’t conflict with the ones you develop.

Unavailable? Have your drivers use settings on their devices that will automatically send messages back when they are driving, alerting individuals they are unable to answer.  Depending on the device this may be called “Do Not Disturb” or “Driving”. You could also use apps such as Lifesaver, which automatically detects drives and blocks the phone from use.

In Case of Emergency. If your business has emergency needs where you have to reach the driver, consider ways to minimize risk. Instruct drivers to always find the safest way to pull over or off the road where they can safely use their devices. If unable to, opt for hands-free devices.

Monitor Drivers. Use technology such as telematics to track your vehicles and monitor driver activity. This data can help you evaluate the safety of your drivers and help you in the event an accident does happen.

Distracted driving can happen to everyone. We get comfortable with our driving skills and can think that something as small as a cell phone could do any damage. However, the reality is that over 3,000 people die in crashes involving a distracted driver every year. Protect your employees and your business and take steps to be proactive about distracted driving today!