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.
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month - a perfect opportunity for employers to implement cell phone policies for all employees. This year’s theme focuses on the cognitive distraction from cell phone conversations, whether handheld or hands-free. Take the pledge to drive cell free and download materials including posters, fact sheets, videos and a new infographic at nsc.org/ddmonth.
The National Safety Council has a new infographic,
“The Great Multitasking Lie,” debunking the myths of cell phone distracted driving. Most people may know that texting while driving is a dangerous behavior, but many don’t fully grasp the idea that having cell phone conversations in the car also is risky. Share this graphic with your employers, family and friends to help spread the word that it is not safe to use your cell phone while driving.
Employers across the country have realized the dangers of cell phone use while driving and are taking actions to make roadways safer by implementing cell phone policies. The National Safety Council recommends policies include both hands-free and handheld devices and cover all employees. Updated in April 2012, the Cell Phone Policy Kit includes everything an organization would need to implement or strengthen a cell phone ban. The kit includes resources for executives, materials and guides for the implementation team and educational materials for employees, and best of all, it is FREE. Download the kit and help make roadways safer.
The National Safety Council recently released the white paper,
“Employer Liability and the Case for Comprehensive Cell Phone Policies,” which details the potential liability when employees are involved in crashes where cell phone use is a factor. This research includes examples of employers who have been held liable with awards reaching into the tens of millions of dollars, including cases involving employee-owned cell phones and cars and in situations where employees were driving during non-work hours or engaged in personal phone calls. The white paper is free to
download and more resources on the issue can be found in the
distracted driving section of our website.