Preventing Distracted Driving

For many commercial fleets, driver and public safety is a top priority, and organisations take great care to prevent costly and potentially deadly accidents. While a number of factors can lead to a crash (eg impaired driving, poor road conditions and adverse weather), distracted driving is a common, preventable cause of accidents. 

Distracted driving can be defined as an individual lacking attentiveness behind the wheel. This inattentiveness may be caused by an object, activity, event or person. Distracted driving reduces awareness, decision-making and performance, increasing the likelihood of driver error. Studies have shown that many collisions and near-collisions involve driver inattention, often just three seconds prior to the event. 

For instance, distracted or impaired driving contributed to 17% of all car accidents in Great Britain in 2020, according to Department for Transport (DfT) data. This statistic is particularly noteworthy for fleets, as many commercial vehicles have poorer driver visibility than personal cars and are much more difficult to control or stop in the event of an emergency.

As such, distracted driving is a crucial topic for fleet managers to address. If left unmanaged, it can lead to increased insurance premiums, costly vehicle repairs, decreased productivity, reputational damage and even driver injuries or deaths.

This article discusses key types of driver distractions and related prevention strategies to help keep your fleet safe. 

1. Visual distractions—This entails any distraction that diverts a driver’s eyes from the road (eg pedestrians, collisions or road signs).

2. Physical distractions—This includes any distraction that causes a driver to take their hands off the wheel (eg eating, drinking or tuning the radio).

3. Cognitive distractions—This entails any distraction that causes a  driver to think about something other than the duty of driving carefully (eg daydreaming or multitasking).

4. Auditory distractions—This includes any audible distraction that diverts a driver’s attention away from the road (eg listening to music or talking to passengers).

Distracted Driving Prevention Measures
Taking steps to prevent distracted driving can  promote compliance with applicable road safety laws, improve accident rates and reduce insurance premiums. It’s vital that your organisation implements strategies to mitigate potentially harmful driving behaviours.

Consider the following measures:
• Develop workplace policies. Develop, communicate and enforce workplace policies to establish distracted driving guidance and minimise
its impact. Specifically, this may involve creating a driver safety programme that highlights distracted driving and outlines disciplinary measures should drivers engage in unsafe driving behaviours.
Communicate the presence of such policies through regular emails, blogs and posters to ensure driver safety remains a priority.
• Educate drivers. Ensure drivers understand your driver safety programme through comprehensive education. Training should include real-life examples and stories to explain how dangerous distracted driving can be. 
• Leverage technology. Consider using software to manage drivers’ behaviours on the road. Some applications can prevent drivers from being contacted while their vehicles are in motion, reducing the likelihood of distraction.
• Manage driving schedules. When workers drive fatigued, the chances of becoming distracted and getting into accidents increases. Ensure employees are not overworked and have ample time to rest in
between trips. Work with drivers to plan their routes, ensuring drivers have a clear understanding of their prepared journeys, reducing the need to use distracting navigation devices.
• Help employees avoid distractions. When electronic devices are placed out of sight, the urge to use them is reduced. With this in mind, consider equipping vehicles with lockboxes that drivers can use to store potentially distracting items.