Remember when you first got your license? Everything changed once you no longer had to wait for a ride to go somewhere.
Unfortunately, that excitement wears off over time. That commute to work or run to the grocery store becomes less of an adventure, and driving becomes more of a chore.
When we’re not invested in driving, we’re less likely to focus on the road, which helps explain why driving is the leading cause of workplace death in the U.S. But it’s not just jaded workers facing these risks; motor vehicle crashes also are the leading cause of death for teens. These crashes affect your workplace, whether you employ teens in their first job or parents whose kids are just getting behind the wheel, or if your worker is injured off the job in a teen-driver crash.
This risk is one of the reasons we observe National Teen Driver Safety Week the third full week of October each year. We might not all be parents of teenagers, but we all have the potential to impact each other on the road, for good and bad. That’s why it’s in everyone’s best interest – new and experienced drivers, alike – to drive like your parent is in the passenger seat.
Here’s how you can help. DriveitHOME is a program of the National Safety Council that reminds parents and caregivers how their involvement can help keep teen drivers safe. DriveitHOME equips them with the tools and information they need to accomplish that goal.
To broaden this impact, DriveitHOME is offering new resources for employers, including posters, infographics, videos and a 5 Minute Safety Talk all designed to help you bring a discussion on teen safe driving into your workplace. You can share these resources in meetings, include them in newsletters or work them into your digital signage any time of year to keep the message top of mind.
With safety at work and at home intrinsically connected, these simple steps can help you protect both your workers and their loved ones. Even if your workers aren’t parents of teen drivers, they likely have other teens or parents of teen drivers in their life. Everyone has an opportunity to make a difference and support our most inexperienced road users.
Revisiting the basics of safe driving not only helps protect new drivers, it reminds us all how we should act behind the wheel. In addition to showing your workers you care about their health and safety – and the health and safety of their loved ones – you can go a long way toward protecting them from the biggest risk they face each day.
Check out these free resources, share them with your workers or bring them to your HR department to help make an impact during National Teen Driver Safety Week.
