Distracted company drivers (using cell phones) are costly for employers

A study recently conducted by ZoomSafer found that only 62% of businesses who employ drivers of company or commercial vehicles have created a policy prohibiting cell phone use while operating the vehicle. Of the companies that do institute such polices, just over 50% of the companies actually enforce them. Of the companies that enforce the policies, 60% only use post-accident discipline and a mere 2% use proactive measures. 

The study also found that on average 7.6% of companies experience litigation as a result of their driver’s distracted driving practices. This number jumps significantly to 37% when the company employs 5,000 drivers or more. The amount of litigation could potentially increase since 32-50% of employers are aware of incidents that happen on the road due to cell phone use. 

In order to avoid costly litigation, the CEO of ZoomSafer suggests that more companies need to create and affirmatively enforce a policy prohibiting cell phone use while driving, and do so proactively.

 

 

Photo credit: Microsoft

 

Comments

[ZoomSafer]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing the results of our May 2011 distracted driving survey with your readers. This is definitely an issue to which employers should be paying attention -and taking action to stop!

As the survey shows, plenty of companies are taking the important first step of putting into writing policies restricting how employees use their mobile phones - but that's not enough to avoid litigation if a crash does happen.

This blog post has a great video explanation of how distracted driving on-the-job creates liability for employers - check it out: http://zoomsafer.com/buzz/blog/video-interview-expert-trial-lawyer-on-distracted-driving-risk-and-liability/

Thanks for the opportunity to comment!

Eleanor Jones
[email protected]

[skjult kamera]

Well,a policy prohibiting cell phone use while driving is very much necessary to be implemented...cell phone use while operating the vehicle can result into a dangerous outcome..

[Toyota Boston]

I agree that employers definitely need to enforce the policy and discipline employees who text or use a cell when driving a company vehicle. Many folks overestimate their ability to multi-task.