New fleet safety focus update
Driving is for the most people the most dangerous activity they can do.
We know that in the great majority of cases the initial cause of a crash is around driver behaviour, with distraction, often by mobile phone, both hands-free and handheld, being a major issue. These crashes can so easily result in severe injury or fatality.
It’s vital that as an organisation, and as a manager or owner you are confident that your drivers understand the importance of not being distracted when driving. Distraction can lead to charges of death by dangerous driving or death by careless driving, resulting in severe penalties, prosecution and even imprisonment.
Hands-free calls are dangerous. Drivers should not answer work calls until they are parked somewhere safe to take the call. And remember, distraction comes in the form of other activities as well – eating, reading and anything that takes their attention and focus away from their key task of driving.
So, how confident are you that your drivers will not be distracted when driving? Do you have a strict no-mobile policy, which requires phones to be turned off or blocked while driving?
Driving for Better Business in collaboration with the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team are providing free to access resources to help those who manage and employ drivers. Their Fleet Safety Focus Updates cover an important area every month. This month’s update focuses on Distraction and the risks around Distracted Driving.
It includes a link to a file of useful resources for you to download and share with your drivers, including:
- An article to share with your drivers on Distraction
- Short safety messages on the risk of distracted driving to send to your drivers on their devices
- A ‘Distraction Kills’ poster for your staff noticeboards
- Information sheets from our Van Driver Toolkit on Distraction.
Access this month’s Fleet Safety Focus and watch the video here >