Distracted driving is a critical safety issue for businesses

At highway speeds, just a few moments of distraction behind the wheel can have deadly consequences. A vehicle can cover more than 100 yards in the time it takes to do something like change a screen on a vehicle’s infotainment system or glance at a text. ¹

Distracted driving continues to be a major issue for any organization that has drivers operating a vehicle on its behalf, whether they are a direct hire, independent contractor or volunteer. The scale of distracted driving and crash-related statistics is alarming:

• More than 3,300 people were killed in accidents attributed to distracted driving in 2022, an increase over the 3,100 that were killed in 2020.²
• More than 424,000 people were injured in distracted driving accidents in 2021.³
• Research shows drivers who use cell phones can miss up to 50% of what is happening in their driving environment.⁴
• On average, a non-fatal injury crash at work that involves distraction costs the employer $100,310.⁴

Nationwide’s own research captures how widespread this issue is. Our recent survey about driver behaviors found that 1-in-5 business drivers admit to sometimes or often feeling distracted behind the wheel. Digging deeper into this shows potentially dangerous behavior while driving:

• More than half of them (53%) admit to taking work phone calls
• 28% read/respond to work text messages
• 24% read work emails or other documents

Causes of distracted driving

When we hear the term ‘distracted driving,’ most recall phones or using the vehicle’s infotainment system. Phones definitely play a part, but so do activities like adjusting music, getting directions, dealing with unruly passengers, or even daydreaming.

Driver inattention generally falls into four major categories:

• Daydreaming: Without the driver’s mind focused on the road and other vehicles, a driver is not fully processing what is happening around them. Inattentional Blindness (IB) is a term coined to describe this phenomenon.
• Taking eyes off the road: While drivers should routinely check their mirrors, speedometer, etc., best practice is to limit glances away from the road ahead to less than 1.5 seconds.⁵
• Performing secondary tasks: Secondary tasks are any activity other than defensive driving, scanning traffic, maintaining a safe speed, and keeping a safe distance from other vehicles. Secondary tasks are distractions that include phone use, eating, reading, reaching for an object, interacting with an infotainment system, etc.
• Drowsiness: When someone is tired, their reaction times are diminished. A lack of sleep, illness and medication use are primary causes of drowsiness.

According to Nationwide survey results, business drivers who reported sometimes or often being distracted said the primary reasons are:

• Using GPS/navigation systems (55%)
• Responding to work related text messages (52%)
• Talking or texting on a mobile phone (47%)
• Checking or using social media apps (29%)
• Eating or drinking while driving (25%)

Reducing distracted driving

Recognizing the danger of distracted driving, federal rules aim to limit actions that can lead to inattentiveness for many commercial drivers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), which regulate commercial vehicles operating in interstate travel prohibit handheld phones, texting, or other manual phone interaction (§392.80 and §392.802). The regulations allow for “one-touch” initiating or ending of a call and the phone must be within easy arms reach of the driver. Most state DOTs have incorporated this rule for intrastate driving as well. The FMCSR define a commercial vehicle as:

• Having a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating (including trailer) of more than 10,000 pounds or more.
• Designed to transport more than eight passengers (including the driver) for compensation.
• Designed to transport more than 15 passengers (including the driver) not for compensation.
• Used in transporting hazardous materials under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in quantities requiring placarding.

Hands-free doesn’t mean distraction-free

In addition to federal rules, organizations should have policies and programs in place to limit inattentive driving. Core components include:

• Written policies prohibiting or limiting distracting secondary tasks or driving while drowsy. Policies prohibiting cell phone use are not enough. See our Sample Attentive Driving Policy for policy wording examples.
• Clear guidance limiting staff from calling drivers when they know employees are driving, or expecting drivers to respond to calls, texts or emails while driving.
• Allowing drivers to refuse to answer a call when conditions are not safe to do so.
• Regular education and awareness on the hazards of inattentive and distracted driving.
• Monitoring drivers’ compliance with policy through observations and ride-alongs.
• Utilization of technology to prevent use or monitor compliance: phone apps, telematics, dashcams, etc.
• Leadership leading by example. Nothing sends the wrong message more than a manager calling an employee while the manager themself is driving.

Training – Nationwide offers training courses to its customers on a variety of fleet safety topics, including distracted and inattentive driving. Customers can access training by signing into mylosscontrolservices.com and registering for individual on-demand courses.

Nationwide Risk Management – The following resources provide information that can help organizations combat distracted driving and introduce safe driving practices:

• Distracted driving article with sample policy
• Distracted driving infographic
• Safe Driver resource hub

Distracted Driving Prevention and Monitoring Technology – Many organizations are taking a proactive approach and use technology to control and monitor cell phone use. These solutions range from simple do-not-disturb-while-driving settings on a phone, to full software or telematics solutions that can lock down all phones or monitor phone use. Click here for a more detailed overview of how this technology can benefit organizations.

Additional resources:

• FMCSR (DOT) – Regulations on Distracted Driving
• NHTSA – Distracted Driving
• Centers for Disease Control – Distracted Driving
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety – Distracted Driving (includes state-by-state laws)

Safe driving habits need to be everyday practices. Reducing accidents helps keep workers safe, can reduce litigation and protects the bottom line.

Share Risk Management resources with your accounts and encourage them to put safe driving strategies into action.