Steer Your Workers Toward Safer Driving

When you think of safety hazards and employee injuries, you probably focus on what goes on inside your workplace. But one of the greatest threats to worker safety is right outside your door.

• Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of accidental death in the United States. They are also the most common cause of workplace fatalities, representing about one in four fatal work injuries.


• Every 12 minutes someone dies in a motor vehicle crash, every 10 seconds a motor vehicle-related injury occurs, and a crash occurs every 5 seconds. And many of these accidents occur during the workday or during the commute to and from work.


• Motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion annually. The average crash costs $16,500, and when a worker has an on-the-job crash that results in an injury, the cost can go to $74,000 or higher. When a worker dies in a traffic accident, costs can exceed $500,000.

What the statistics don’t tell you, however, is that these deaths, injuries, and costs are largely preventable. And you’re in an ideal position to help prevent them by making sure employees understand the risks and take the proper precautions whenever they get behind the wheel—whether it’s in a company vehicle or their own car.

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Don’t let your people kill themselves or somebody else on the road. Teach your employees defensive driving with BLR’s Interactive CD Course: Defensive Driving. It’s completely self-contained and usable anywhere. Try it at no cost or risk.

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A Fatal Combination

Drinking and driving—or using drugs and driving—are fatal combinations. More than 40 percent of all traffic-related deaths in the United States involve alcohol, and drugs (such as cocaine and marijuana) are involved in approximately 20 percent of fatalities. 

Driving under the influence might not be something you’d expect of employees who drive company vehicles. And you might not expect them to be impaired as they drive in to work or drive home. But the fact is that many workers grab a quick drink or smoke a joint on their lunch hour—including those who drive on the job. And lots more probably stop off for a few cold ones on the way home.

So impairment is an issue you must address and hit hard with facts, figures, and compelling reasons for avoiding such dangerous behavior.

Make Them See!

Use statistics, photos, or videos of traffic crashes, stories from your own experience, and other “shock” tactics to shake employees out of complacency about driving hazards. Reinforce the message that highway accidents can, and often do, have a tragic impact. Each day, traffic accidents hurt not only drivers who cause accidents, but also passengers, people in other vehicles, and the families of all those injured or killed.

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Make sure your vehicle drivers are safe, defensive drivers. Try BLR’s Interactive CD Course: Defensive Driving at no cost or risk.

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Other safe driving points to emphasize in training include:

• Your company’s substance abuse policies (and the possible consequences of violating the rules)


• Mandatory seat belt rules for job-related driving
• The importance of proper vehicle maintenance, reminding employees that, at a minimum, they should check such basic items as tires, front and rear lights, wipers, and washer fluid before starting out
• The necessity of taking it easy in bad weather, such as when there is snow and ice, and reminding workers that it’s better to arrive late than not at all

Tomorrow, we’ll focus in on some critical, defensive driving tactics and tell you about an exceptional training tool and what it can do for you and your employees.

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