From small business delivery to large transportation fleets, distracted driving issues are a major liability to employers. Due to high profile crashes, large jury verdicts against employers, and a changing regulatory environment, the issue of employee distracted driving must be managed and enforced.  AegisMobility surveyed 547 transportation safety and risk management professions to find out what they are doing to manage the risk.

Here are the key findings from the 2013 Survey “Measuring Corporate Attitudes to Employee Distracted Driving”:

• A majority of employers have already adopted distracted driving policies. 71% of respondents work for companies that have adopted some form of policy to manage employee use of mobile devises while driving.  
• Employers without a policy will adopt on soon. Among 29% of companies without an existing policy, the survey finds that 52% plan to adopt one.  Of those, 55% plan to adopt a policy within the next 12 months.
• Efforts to enforce distracted driving policies remain steady at 86%.
• Current enforcement efforts are primarily manual and reactive. The most common method of policy enforcement is having employees attest (81%). Other enforcement methods include: training (75%), supervisor or peer observation (72%), post-crash discipline (54%), random safety audits (40%).
• Confidence is lacking in current policy enforcement. While most companies are taking some steps to enforce compliance with documented policies, confidence is those efforts is limited.  Only 32% report they are “very confident” that current methods are effective; 60% are “somewhat confident”, while 8% are “not confident”.
• “Hands-Free” and “Zero Tolerance” are the most popular policies. 2013 was the first year in which the survey asked employers to identify mobile device behaviors specifically prohibited by company policy. 45% prohibit all use, except hands-free. 41% prohibit all use, no exceptions. 12% prohibit texting, emailing, and browsing. 2% prohibit texting only.

To read the full report click on “Measuring Corporate Attitudes to Employee Distracted Driving” or visit AegisMobility.