Prioritizing Personnel Safety: Reducing the Risk of Distracted Driving in Your Agency

Nearly 1,300 people lost their lives on Washington roads due to a distracted driver-involved crash in the last decade (Washington Traffic Safety Commission, 2024). Many of these fatal crashes occurred during the workday or during the commute to or from work.

Of 11,000 respondents to a 2023 statewide traffic safety survey conducted by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC), 35% indicated they sometimes or usually held and talked on their cell phone while driving. Of the 5,531 survey respondents who indicated they were employed, 46% noted they either didn’t know if there was a workplace policy about distracted driving or their employer did not have a policy (WTSC, 2023).

Employers are uniquely positioned to reduce risks associated with distraction and driving and reinforce a traffic safety culture by adopting a focused driving policy. Public employers can actively protect their workforce from serious injuries or death caused by distracted driving, reduce the risk of crashes, and safeguard public funds. A distracted driving policy is an important component of a strong workplace safety culture and demonstrates a commitment to employee and public safety.

What is Distraction?

Distraction can be many things: from eating, drinking, personal grooming, listening to music or audiobooks, managing navigation systems, talking with passengers, and of course, hands-free, or hand-held cell phone use. There are four types of distraction:

• Visual – anything that takes your eyes off the road, like referencing a mapping tool, reading a text message, or looking at billboards or street signs.
• Cognitive – thinking about anything other than the complex task of driving, like daydreaming, work concerns, family or relationship matters, or school demands.
• Manual – taking your hands from the wheel to do something else, like drinking or eating food, flossing, putting on makeup, having a pet in your lap, or typing a text message or email.
• Auditory – noises that affect your ability to hear, which can include music, audiobooks, passenger conversations, and hands-free phone calls or virtual meetings.

Distraction is often a combination of these four types. Conducting a work phone call likely involves a greater degree of mental attention causing the driver to focus their cognitive and auditory attention to what the caller is discussing rather than observing and responding to visual cues from other drivers and road conditions. Who hasn’t eaten something while driving, dropped food on your shirt, and become completely focused on cleaning yourself up, all while driving?

The bottom line is that anything that takes your eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, or your mind off the task of driving, even for a moment, is a dangerous distraction. This isn’t just a public concern, but a very real and persistent workplace safety concern as well.

What’s the Washington Law?

Hands-free use is allowable by state law; however, keep in mind the different types of distraction and weigh what is the safest policy to protect your employee’s health and safety. It’s best to select your navigation or music function before starting to drive. What is not allowed is any handheld use of a cell phone, even when stopped at a traffic signal.

Distracted driving comes in many forms, and Washington law reinforces the importance of avoiding all types of electronics use, including tablets, laptops, two-way messaging devices, electronic games, and cell phones:

• RCW 46.71.672 – Using a Personal Electronic Device While Driving
• RCW 46.61.673 – Dangerously Distracted Driving

What Are Distracted Consequences for Employers?

According to the National Safety Council, transportation incidents were responsible for 38% of work-related deaths and injuries between 2016 and 2022.

Vehicle crashes cost employers millions of dollars in lost productivity, liability settlements, property damages, and workers’ compensation claims (Smith System). The National Highway Traffic Safety Association found that crashes involving a distracted driver resulted in $98.2 billion in economic costs in 2019.

Employers can predict their cost of crashes by using the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety calculator, but the emotional toll of serious injuries and loss of life due to a preventable crash is incalculable.

How Do Employers Reduce Risk?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health agree that the well-being of your staff is paramount, and a distracted driving policy is an essential component of your company’s safety culture.

Proactively addressing the importance of focused driving through a comprehensive policy can lead to increased productivity and improved morale among employees. When employees are engaged in policy development and feel valued and supported by their employers, they are more likely to comply with safety policies and regulations.

Consider the following about your safety culture:

• Do your employees believe they are expected to respond to phone calls, text messages, or email as quickly as possible, even when driving?
• What are your workplace guidelines about seat belt use or managing speed while driving?
• Do you have a policy about safe driving?
• Do employees feel like they need to eat lunch on-the-go instead of stopping to eat?
• Does the culture of your organization match your policy?
• Is your policy visible and an ‘active’ part of your organizational culture?

“Active” policies are those that show up around the workplace like reminders on virtual or hybrid meeting agendas to focus on driving, messages on fleet vehicle keychains, or the automatic use of company cell phones “Do Not Disturb” features while driving.

A Toolkit to Help

Concerned for your employees’ welfare? Interested in reducing liability and avoiding expensive productivity slowdowns or costs? Not sure where to start with developing a policy?  The Washington Traffic Safety Commission offers a complete toolkit designed to assist employers with policy development. An anonymous assessment tool to gauge employee attitudes and behaviors, resources to include employees in crafting the policy and a complete workshop are all included in the free toolkit. When employees help develop the policy, they will likely have a greater appreciation of the value of focused driving.

Visit www.drivefocusedatwork.com for all the tools and to request your custom survey link to get started.

Compliance

Do you already have a policy in the books, but wonder if your employees comply? Use the employer toolkit’s anonymous survey to gain insight into employee attitudes and behaviors. Your survey results may indicate the need for policy revision or supplemental training to underscore how important it is to drive focused.

The employer toolkit includes a ready-made presentation that will engage employees in practical discussions and training activities to encourage traffic safety advocacy and increased compliance with the policy.

Additionally, here are some sample policies to consider:

• Download sample policy with definitions
• Download sample policy with no definitions

Why Now?

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and a great time to highlight the increased risk of serious injuries or fatalities from driving while distracted. It’s also when law enforcement agencies across the state will participate in the nationwide Put the Phone Away or Pay high visibility enforcement campaign to discourage distracted driving and reinforce the importance of drivers solely focusing on the complex task of driving.

Conclusion

Even if your employees aren’t professional drivers or don’t routinely drive as part of their workday, crashes from distracted driving can have significant workplace consequences. A strong workplace safety culture often translates into improved driving choices off the clock, too. Employees’ safe driving habits can even have a positive ripple effect on family expectations about safer driving choices, which can improve road safety for everyone.

Use these resources to take steps to protect your employees, reduce risk, and save lives:

• National Highway Safety Association: Social Media Playbook
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Distracted Driving at Work
• Network of Employers for Traffic Safety: Drive Safely Work Week Distracted Driving Module
• University of California San Diego, Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS): Just Drive training

Technical assistance is also available by contacting Dr. Janine Koffel, WTSC Program Manager, Focused Driving Promotion, (360) 725-9871.