What Is Your Distracted Driving Policy?

With the pervasiveness of cell phones, distracted driving now clearly includes entering phone numbers or talking on a cell phone (even hands-free), texting, e-mailing, etc.  Yet, most insurance industry employers do not have a “distracted driving” policy, but rather, have just a hands-free mobile device use policy, if they have a policy at all.  As more and more insurance industry jobs require outofoffice jobs including cars, it is imperative to pay attention to liabilityreducing policies.

Cell Phone Distractions Are Different

Cell phone usage and texting are verifiable.  When an accident occurs, records exist that show whether a driver was using a cell phone or not.  This can mean trouble for the user’s employer if the employee was conducting work on the cell phone, or driving for work, regardless of who owns the car or the phone.

Advice For Cell Phone Use

With the advent of the plaintiffs’ bar taking cases against employers, most companies recognize that they should have a complete distracted driving policy.  It should be broad enough to cover all forms of distracted driving.

Enforceability

Most importantly, the policy should be practical and enforceable.  What is “practical and enforceable” may vary by type of workplace.  At a minimum, you should:

• Require employees to comply with applicable state law.

• Encourage employees not to engage in any form of distracted driving.

• Offer basic alternatives like “pull over” or “wait until you get back to the office.”

• Tell employees that you do not expect the employee to engage in work while operating a vehicle.

Also, decide what level of compliance you are ready to enforce.  The worst policy is one that says “never ever engage in any form of distracted driving or you will be terminated immediately.”  As a practical matter, some form of distracted driving is inevitable and immediate termination may not be the answer.  The worst possible scenario is an employer who sets a very high bar, but fails to enforce it and then has an employee who injures someone.  In that case, the employer’s policy may hurt more than it helps.

The solution is to develop a policy that works for your industry, your company and your drivers and that you can enforce as a practical matter.