ASSE: Employers Need to Take Steps to Reduce Driver Distraction

Aug. 7, 2003
To reduce accidents and fatalities on the roadways and to guard against distracted drivers, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recommends companies develop or upgrade their employee driving guidelines, and, that states improve driver education information.

In an earlier position statement, ASSE recommended that state driver education information include training focused on eliminating and minimizing driver distractions and to show the extreme negative impact a slight distraction can have when an accident occurs, such as a death or sustaining a lifelong injury from brain damage.

As in years past, transportation incidents are the number one cause of on-the-job deaths.

"Drivers don't control weather or road conditions or for that matter the behavior of other drivers," ASSE President James (Skipper) Kendrick, CSP, said. "But what they can do is to take more responsibility for their own safety by utilizing safe driving techniques and being cognizant of the many driving hazards on the roads today. Last year 42,815 people died from traffic crashes. Many of these tragedies might have been prevented through elimination of distractions."

The ASSE position statement titled, "The Use of Electronic Devices in Motor Vehicles and Safe Driving Practices," recognizes that legislative and regulatory initiatives such as increasing seatbelt and child safety seat use have been successful in improving roadway safety on the nation's roadways, however more needs to be done.

In addition to drivers following the rules of the road, ASSE also recommends that the private sector take more responsibility for promoting safe driving techniques that include:

  • Increasing public outreach to reinforce the fact that a driver's first responsibility is the safe operation of a vehicle - this includes school based driver education, which has been drastically reduced;
  • Evaluation of employers' current practices; creation and enforcement of written guidelines addressing employee use of electronic devices while driving;
  • Proactive training of employees about appropriate operation of electronic devices;
  • Increased research by the automotive industry and the manufacturers of electronic and other devices that are routinely used in vehicles to improve designs and functions to eliminate driver distractions;
  • Improved driver education - a significant component in securing safety on the roadways.
About the Author

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

Sponsored Recommendations

April 25, 2025
Environmental audits should be a core part of your EHS program regardless of whether you choose to pursue ISO 14001 certification.
April 25, 2025
Streamline EHS inspections. Conduct, track, and manage inspections effortlessly with customizable checklists, real-time reporting, and actionable insights.
April 25, 2025
A winning business case is based on the ROI of the project. The essential first step is determining your EHS costs today.
April 25, 2025
The use of QR codes can greatly simplify observation, near miss, and incident reporting and improve the quantity and quality of data. The more safety information that is collected...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of EHS Today, create an account today!