Distracted Driving Risks This Summer: How to Protect Your Mobile Workers

In case you missed it, April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The National Safety Council aims to raise awareness around distracted driving and avoid preventable deaths during this month. But it doesn’t end there. In fact, the Summer driving season is right around the corner. And it’s no surprise that summer is the peak season for distracted driving (July being the worst).

What makes the Summer driving season more dangerous?

The number of drivers on America’s highways will increase after Memorial Day throughout the remainder of the Summer. More traffic, unfortunately, also means higher risk to drivers. Especially in these U.S. cities (some of which might surprise you).

For people who spend their work day on the road, it’s important to recognize the heightened risks. And for companies with mobile workers, it’s even more important to prepare your employees for safe, distraction-free driving.

Distracted Driving and Cost

Did you know that mobile workers drive about 1,200 distracted miles each year? That’s like driving from Cleveland to Dallas without paying attention to the road. And the results are alarming. Distracted driving is costing companies and their employees. Crashes related to distracted driving cost employers $4,400 per mobile worker last year. And a ticket for using a phone while driving added $226 to the average insurance policy last year – an increase of 16%.

Any visual or manual tasks on a phone (texting, browsing, dialing and answering a call) increased the odds of these types of accidents:

• Rear-end crashes became up to 36x more likely
• Road-departure crashes became up to 7x more likely
• All other crashes became up to 4x more likely

Source: Motus 2018 Distracted Driving Report

Preventing Distracted Driving Accidents

Of course, the worst impact of all is preventable deaths due to distracting driving. U.S. roadway deaths have increased by 13.5% from 2010-2016, indicating how critical it is to educate drivers on safe driving practices. And for companies to implement driver safety programs for their employees. Yet, Motus research finds that many companies don’t require their employees who drive for work to participate in a driver safety program.

The good news is that companies can reduce accident rates by 35% with proactive training and education that goes beyond Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) checks. Motus Drive Safe offers safety assessments, risk profiling and personalized training to correct distracted driving behaviors. These, of course, in addition to insurance verification and MVR checks to identify high-risk drivers.

With the Summer driving season right around the corner, now is the time to focus on protecting your mobile workers. Learn more about how Motus can help give your employees (and a loved one) the tools they need to drive safe – this summer and beyond.

Learn More About Motus Drive Safe