Picture this: You are lawfully pushing 70 mph down a major four-lane highway, and you pass a big rig driver who is texting.
Or this: You are driving behind a car swerving all over the road, and you look over. The driver is texting, and you observe that it is a company-owned vehicle.
Unfortunately, today, drivers face such scenes on a daily basis. And some polls indicate that one-in-four drivers admit to texting while driving. What's more, you may be reluctant to honk at these distracted drivers for fears of making matters worse.
Changing human behavior is never easy, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight. I remember how difficult it was to get people to wear seat belts while driving or riding in a car.
Based on what I've read and experienced, it takes coordinated efforts, involving education and enforcement, to affect changes in human behaviors.
A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute revealed that truckers who texted while driving were 23 times as likely to crash or have a close encounter compared to those who are watching the road.
In light of their findings, the Institute recommended: “Texting should be banned in moving vehicles for all drivers.”
This news should be alarming to both drivers and anyone who employs drivers who might potentially text while driving. Many employers today are implementing policies that prohibit employees from using cell phones while conducting company business in personally owned vehicles or company-owned vehicles.
State and national political pressures are also mounting. More and more states are banning the use of cell phones while driving. The Governors Highway Safety Association has an online update of state cell phone driving laws, including those that ban texting while driving.
Federal legislation is also under consideration. The U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would ban texting while driving. Even a major cell phone company executive has voiced support for the proposed legislation.
If passed, states that fail to cooperate would lose some of their federal highway money (much in the way drunk-driving regulations work). Incidentally, Car and Driver reported that texting and driving could even be more dangerous than drinking and driving. If you’re the one who suffers at the hands of a distracted driver, you probably would care less what distracted him or her.
The point is: Similar to the seat-belt law example above, until society realizes the consequences of texting and driving—and there is a corresponding cultural shift—employers may have to look out for their best interests. Unfortunately, if an employee causes an accident while driving and using a cell phone, and is on company business, the employer could be held liable.
Meanwhile, employers may find this Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Webinar, dated June 6, 2009, useful: Driver Distraction in Commercial Vehicle Operation