Having distracted truck drivers on the road is a very real problem in today’s world. In fact, in a study conducted in 2018 by Teensafe:
- Distracted driving accounts for approximately 25% of all motor vehicle crash fatalities.
- In 2015, 391,000 injuries were caused in distracted driving related accidents.
- In that same year, distracted driving was cited as a major factor in 3,477 traffic deaths.
- 9 people in the U.S. are killed each day as a result of crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Since there is no way to test for distracted driving after an accident occurs, it’s widely believed that the number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities caused by distracted driving are vastly under reported.
Those numbers are alarming, but very real. Paradiso Insurance is dedicated to protecting you and your employees from risks, but insurance is really there to keep you free from worry in the event of an emergency. Our overall goal is to help keep you and your team safe so that you won’t have an emergency situation to begin with. That’s why today, we’re gonna talk about cutting down on distracted truck drivers, and how you can discuss distracted driving with your commercial drivers.
Distracted Truck Drivers
It’s important to have regular safety meetings with your team to ensure that your employees don’t become a distracted truck driver. The first thing you can do is review what exactly is classified as “distracted driving.” The FMCSA tells us that to avoid distracted driving, there should be no reaching, no holding, no dialing, no texting, and no reading off of electronic devices.
Not only that, but remind your team that these are things they should absolutely know about distracted driving, as Trucking Truth tells us:
- New FMCSA regulations prohibit texting and hand-held mobile phone use while operating a commercial motor vehicle used in interstate commerce.
- Drivers caught texting or using hand-held mobile phones are subject to fines, disqualifications, and being put out-of-service.
- The FMCSA rules do not apply to devices used for dispatching, as long as they are used as part of the company’s fleet management system and are not being used for texting.
- Research shows that CMV drivers who text were more than 23 times likely to be involved in a safety-critical event than those who do not.
- CMV drivers dialing mobile phones were 6 times more likely to be involved in a safety-critical event.
- While using hand-held devices to call or text is expressly prohibited, using the hands-free options of these devices is usually acceptable.
- While state rules usually apply first, the fact that many states still haven’t devised rules to address distracted driving means that the FMCSA rules apply regardless of what state you are in.
Before your team gets on the road again, be sure to review this blog with them in order to cut down on distracted truck drivers. Remember, our job is to help you avoid emergencies altogether, but if something unfortunate were to happen, we’d want you to have the protection you need, just in case. To learn more about our commercial insurance coverages, give us a call at 860-684-5270 or click the button below.
