Drivers who are mentally or physically distracted react more slowly to traffic conditions and significantly reduce their “margin of safety” leading them to take risks.
Consider this scenario: Your employee is driving down the road talking on a cell phone. Distracted, the employee swerves and hits what she believes to be a deer. The employee does not stop. Tragically, the deer was a 15-year-old girl. The girl was killed. Cell phone records show the employee was on the phone when the crash occurred. Your employee is charged with a felony hit-and-run and you are named in a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit.
This happened and it could happen to you. Over the past five years, there has been an explosion in litigation involving distracted drivers with settlements from $500,000 to tens of millions of dollars. Experts predict that as technologies advance, distracted driving cases similar to this one will escalate.
Distracted driving and your employees
We’ve come a long way from just tuning the car radio-according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving behaviors are now responsible for 20 to 30 percent of all traffic crashes.
Cell phones, laptops and handheld communication devices and technologies allow employees to be more productive and accessible, but if used irresponsibly, they can significantly impair a driver’s focus and result in a crash.
A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers using a handheld cell phone are four times more likely to be involved in crashes. NHTSA research suggests hands-free does not mean crash-free. In a NHTSA and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study, researchers monitored 100 drivers in one year, concluding the use of hands-free devices provide little safety benefit and offer false security.
Cell phones and wireless devices attract the attention, but driver distraction can and does take many forms. According to University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center researchers, common driver distractions, objects, persons or events outside the vehicle, occupants, moving objects in the vehicle, adjusting climate and radio controls; as well as eating and drinking are all linked to crashes.
These instances pose a potential liability concern for employers. A Baltimore trucking company recently settled a $1.25 million personal injury settlement, after a driver took his eyes of the road to adjust his heater, crossed a centerline and struck an on-coming vehicle, seriously injuring the driver.
Driving is a complex task that requires drivers to look, listen, anticipate roadway hazards and react safely. It requires a substantial degree of attention and concentration. Drivers who are mentally or physically distracted react more slowly to traffic conditions and significantly reduce their “margin of safety” leading them to take risks.
If employers aren’t worried about what their employees are doing behind the wheel, they should be. More than 90 percent of all motor vehicle crashes are caused by human error.
When an employee crashes, in many cases, employers bear the human, economic and legal costs. The average on-the-job motor vehicle crash costs an employer $16,500. The more miles employees drive, the higher the costs and legal liability for the employer. If employees are engaged in work-related activities behind the wheel, employers are potentially liable-regardless of who owns or provides the vehicle or whether the crash occurs during or after business hours.
Make safe driving your business
Employers are being held accountable for employees’ roadway actions, it is imperative that they understand their legal obligations. If employees drive for work or simply to and from work-it is critical to educate them about traffic safety; promote safe driving practices; and implement and enforce safe driving policies.
Employers can reduce the risks associated with an employee’s driver distraction by implementing a proactive training program that enables employees to identify potential distractions while driving and developing techniques and strategies to manage and minimize these distractions. The program should address all types of distractions and include in-vehicle, environmental and exterior distractions.
Employers should establish a “safety culture” at their business. Companies that develop, implement, monitor and enforce a strong workplace traffic safety program are providing substantial protection against employee fatalities; crippling injuries; and the potential liabilities and financial costs associated with litigating or settling catastrophic crashes.
Duhoski is the marketing and communications
manager for the Network of Employers for Traffic
Safety. NETS, an employer-led public/private
partnership, is dedicated exclusively to traffic safety in
the workplace. For 15 years, NETS has helped
employers address both the human and economic
impact of traffic crashes. Contact her at
jduhoski@trafficsafety.org or (703) 891-6005.
Topics Auto Personal Auto
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