The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that distracted driving claimed 3,450 lives across the United States in 2016 alone. The amount of crashes total, however, is far worse:over 391,000 accidents occurred in 2015 that involved distracted driving. Texting and driving is hazardous, yet unfortunately common.
If something doesn’t change, the rate of car accidents claiming lives will exacerbate. When people don’t learn lessons, they teach others their bad habits. If a business requires its employees to drive for work, whether it’s on the clock or using company vehicles outside of work hours, it becomes liable for what goes down on the road. Through the use of strong work techniques, here’s what a business can do to ensure the safety of their driver and all other drivers while on the road.
Install a Mobile Service Surveillance Application to Monitor Workers
Highster Mobile, Auto Forward and SurePoint offer some of the best spy gear on the market, according to experts. If you want to review smartphone use, this is a great way how. Nowadays, it takes preventative measures to get things done. Thousands of managers are currently monitoring their employees in order to keep them safe. Discrete and affordable, getting spy equipment could be a worthwhile investing for an agency that is using company cars. In the event of an insurance claim, monitoring tools will also prove helpful, as they will provide a greater look at the situation and who was really at fault.
Create and Enforce Powerful Company Policies Against Texting and Driving
Having a distracted driving policy on top of encouraging safe behavior are other ways to help combat against this huge problem. Once a policy is in place that strictly prohibits the use of texting while driving (with consequences for it), it’s time to enforce it.
Training employees on the dangers of texting and driving might seem repetitive. But it’s absolutely critical for the protection of everyone on the road.
It’s good to always reiterate these important talking points when training employees on distracted driving:
- Cell phone use severely deteriorates reaction time.
- All cell phone use needs to be eliminated while at the wheel.
- Cell phone laws still apply in traffic and at stoplights. Employees need to adhere to them.
When employees are caught breaking protocol, it puts an employer out of liability with their hired and non auto insurance. That’s why keeping track of cellphone use is critical: if something happens, an employer shouldn’t have to be held liable if it’s the employee’s fault.
Whether a firm’s employee is driving a company car or one of the firm’s clients’ cars, it is likely that the staffing firm will be held liable for anything that happens on the road. In addition to taking preventative measures, a Hired & Non-Owned Auto Insurance policy will provide comprehensive coverage in the event of a damaging accident.
About World Wide Specialty Programs
For the last 50 years, World Wide Specialty Programs has dedicated itself to providing the optimal products and solutions for the staffing industry. As the only insurance firm to be an ASA commercial liability partner, we are committed to that partnership and committed to using our knowledge of the industry to provide staffing firms with the best possible coverage. For more information about Staffing Professional Liability Insurance or any other coverage, we have available to protect your staffing business, give us a call at (800) 245-9653 to speak with one of our representatives.