Welcome to Our Driving Concern: Employer Traffic Safety Program, a program of the National Safety Council. Our purpose is to educate employers on the impact crashes will have on their businesses and ways to help prevent crashes from happening. Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of unintentional workplace deaths in the United States, and most of these crashes are preventable.
Our Driving Concern focuses on four areas where measures can be taken to prevent crashes—distracted driving, impaired driving, aggressive driving and passenger restraint. Simple and easy steps can be taken by employers to make sure these areas of concern do not lead to unnecessary costs to their businesses.
A workplace motor vehicle crash costs an employer more than $24,000. If the employee is injured, the cost increases to more than $125,000.
Off-the-job crashes are especially costly, accounting for 80 percent of employer crash-related health fringe benefit costs and 92 percent of employer crash-related health care costs.
All of the information presented here is intended to help promote safe practices on the road and is a valuable resource in educating your co-workers, friends, and family. This year more than 33,000 people will be killed on our nation’s roadways, so share these resources with those closest to you and hopefully none of you will become yet another statistic.
Two years ago, April was designated nationally as Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and distracted driving remains a major problem throughout the country. To mark Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the National Safety Council will launch the campaign, “How many will it take?” to raise awareness of the thousands who die needlessly each year because people continue to use their cell phones while driving. NSC will be encouraging drivers throughout the month to take a pledge to drive cell-free to reduce this rising trend. Visit distracteddriving.nsc.org for more information.
This month also is the perfect opportunity for employers to implement or enhance cell phone policies to protect employees. Employers took the lead in promoting safety belt use among their employees, and now is the time for them to enact bans on cell phone use while driving. NSC provides many resources, including a free Cell Phone Policy Kit, to help businesses get started. Download the kit and visit the Distracted Driving section of our site to learn more.