Cell Phone and Text Usage While Driving Policy
IT HR
595 Posts
I read an article this morning that said people who send text messages while driving are 3 times more likely to get into an accident. The article said that companies should be revising their communication policies to say that employees are prohibited from talking on a cell phone while driving (or must use a hands free device) and also are prohibited from texting and surfing the web. The reasons behind this are for the employees safety as well as others so that the company doesn't have to pay when they are sued (because the employee gets into an accident and says they were on company business and responding to an email for the company while driving).
Has anyone done this? What are your thoughts on this subject? Anyone dealt with a lawsuit for an accident involving someone on the phone/texting/using a blackberry?
Comments
Our policy states that only the use of hands free devices may be used for short duration calls only. We specifically prohibit the use of blackberries, lap tops etc. We have a lot of delivery drivers and here has been a big question if read only GPS systems could also be a distraction. Has anyone else encountered this?
A lot depends on whether or not you operate in states that allow contributory or comparative negligience defenses. If you only operate in strict liability states, it may be less of an issue because many traffic incidents are cut-and-dried based on things like speed or right-of-way. Under contributory negligience, the other party in the accident may say that while it is true that your employee had the right of way, she's partially responsible for the accident because she was busy looking at her GPS/talking on her cell/playing with her laptop. This could end up forcing the Company or its insurance to make partial payment to the person who, under strict liability, would have been held wholly responsible for the accident.
Now, beyond the issue of liability is the simple fact of the health, safety, and well-being of your employees. I know some companies simply prohibit the use of cell phones while operating a motor vehicle. You have to get off the road and call back. I'm sure there are a lot of policies in between the two extremes. We only have one employee who travels for work and he is required to use a hands free set and can only answer calls while driving. He has to pull off to initiate calls.
When you think about it, why do you need a policy. Texting while driving is incredibly stupid. Anyone caught doing this on company time whether or not in a company vehicle, needs to be disciplined, because they're stupid!
Ken
Hey Ken -
I agree to an extent with your thought, but unfortuantely, I know too many employee's who carry "stupid" as a middle name and little things like commen sence. At least in this neck of the woods it seems that way!
Seeing this string--and the mention of whether anyone is addressing use of GPS systems--convinces me that we need a comprehesive, blanket policy regarding distractions while driving. First we had cell phones to contend with, now text messaging (how anyone could be so idiotic as to do this while driving I don't know, but anyway....), internet surfing and probably downloading watching movies and listening to Ipods while driving....now GPS systems...and we'll soon have other new technologies to contend with...
All electronic devices--ones that exist now or could ever be conceived of or created-- should just be banned outright except for hands-free phones, so that we don't have to "specifically prohibit" any specific devices.
Morevoer, employees need a policy that makes it clear that they shouldn't be distracting themselves with anything while driving--whether its by reading a newspaper, eating a sandwich, or grooming themselves. Maybe all employer policicies should read that doing anything else while driving is prohibited! Keep your attention on the road and be mindful of other drivers--that's your responsibility when you're driving and on the job!