Presented by Michelle Ellison Director of INSafe & Marketing
Cognitive taking your mind off of the primary task of driving. Manual taking your hands off of the steering wheel. Visual taking your eyes off of the roadway.
5,000 + people died in crashes involving driver distraction in 2009. Nearly 1,000 deaths included cell phone use as the major distraction. 448,000 people were injured in distracted driving crashes in 2009. Of those injured in distracted driving crashes, 24,000 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction. Source: Distraction.Gov www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html
Year after year, the leading cause of workplace fatalities is motor vehicle crashes. Transportation-related incidents accounted for 2 of every 5 fatal workplace injuries in 2010. These events included: Crashes on highways and other roadways Pedestrian workers struck by a motor vehicle Non-highway crashes (industrial, farms, fields, parking lots, etc.) Other transportation-related incidents Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries 2010 www.bls.gov/iif
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries 2010 www.bls.gov/iif
Busy lifestyles/over scheduled activities. Technology is used as a primary source of communication (i.e. cell phones, texting, email, instant messaging, etc.). Multi-tasking is a habit. Failure to prioritize driving.
At Risk Occupations Farmers & other agriculture workers Delivery, sales & service workers (e.g. food delivery; taxi, bus and shuttle drivers, repair technicians; etc.) Social service workers Real estate agents Police officers, firefighters & other emergency responders Long-haul transportation drivers Construction workers (work zones) Many others
Texting while driving is the MOST alarming distracted driving behavior because: Sending and reading text messaging requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the driver.
In June 2011, 196 + billion text messages were sent/received in the U.S., up nearly 50%. Drivers who are texting take their eyes off the road 400 percent more often than when they are not texting. Texting takes a drivers eye off the road for 4.6 seconds. At 55 mph, that is comparable to driving an entire football field blindfolded. Texting messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.
Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety www.iihs.org/laws/maptextingbans.aspx
When you drive for your job, your job is to drive.
Establish clearly written policies that prohibit distracted driving activities. Be sure to get employees involved! Lead by example! Prohibit the use of communication devices while driving including those that are handsfree. Declare vehicles text-free zones. Do not schedule teleconferences/meetings when employees are driving.
Do not impose unreasonable or unrealistic delivery/service deadlines. Heighten awareness (educate) by providing employees with distracted driving resources and materials. Be a role model by mentoring smaller and other employers.
Provide input and feedback to employers to help develop polices, programs and procedures. Follow all employer-developed and implemented policies, programs and procedures. Take safety home with you! Distracted driving doesn t become less dangerous when the work day is over.
Model No Cell Phone Policy Distracted driving hazard alert Distracted driving brochure (No Texting) Drop-in articles tailored to the following audiences: Youth Employers Associations
Website Resources www.distraction.gov www.osha.gov www.cdc.gov/niosh www.nhtsa.gov www.aaafoundation
Feel free to contact me with questions: Michelle Ellison, Director of INSafe Email: mellison@dol.in.gov or insafe@dol.in.gov Phone: (317) 234-4792