Adopt, Communicate Policies
Employers “cannot rely on state legislation alone to keep employees safe and protect their bottom line,” says Jack Hanley, executive director of the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), a partnership between the federal government and leading companies.

He says employers should develop policies on the use of electronic devices while driving company vehicles, communicate those policies to employees, educate employees on them, enforce the policies, measure their effectiveness, and create a cultural expectation that such policies will be followed.

Employers have a vested interest in educating employees about distracted driving and related policies. Hanley says accidents can cause injury or death, expose the company to lawsuits, result in higher medical claims and/or lost work time, and damage the company’s image.

Each year, NETS conducts a benchmark survey of its membership, which is composed of large employers. The most recent survey found that 86 percent of members have implemented policies on the use of electronic devices while driving, and Hanley expects that number to be even higher in this year’s survey.

Among employers with a formal policy, 43 percent ban the use of electronic devices while a company vehicle is in motion, and the other 57 percent allow the use of hands-free devices, according to Hanley, who notes that all of the companies ban texting while driving. “Texting is a form of Russian roulette, and, clearly, texting is banned—period—while a vehicle is in motion.”

What Policies Should Include
NETS recommends that employers adopt a policy that is “thoughtful, implementable, sustainable, and able—once the time is right—to evolve to the next level” (e.g., for some companies, that could mean moving from a ban on the use of handheld electronic devices while driving to a hands-free ban as well), Hanley says.

When creating or updating a policy on the use of electronic devices in company vehicles, he also recommends that employers:

Use the term “electronic devices.” “Most companies don’t use the term ‘cell phone,’” Hanley says. Instead, they use “electronic devices [so] that there isn’t any wiggle room when people interpret the policy.”

Ban texting outright. In all cases, “texting while driving should simply be banned,” Hanley says.

Check out relevant city and state laws. For “up-to-the-minute” updates on state laws pertaining to the use of electronic devices while driving, Hanley recommends visiting www.ghsa.org, website of the Governors Highway Safety Association®.

Participate in Drive Safely Work Week campaign. NETS is partnering with the U.S. Department of Transportation to sponsor its annual Drive Safely Work Week campaign from October 4-8. Geared toward companies of all sizes, this year’s “Focus: Safe driving is serious business” campaign focuses on distracted driving and addresses the creation of policies on cell phone use and texting, according to Hanley. Toolkits for the 2010 campaign can be downloaded free of charge through September 20 from http://trafficsafety.org/dsww-materials.