The Rising Cost of Road Safety Accidents
According to a recent study by Motus, vehicle management and reimbursement platform, motor vehicle accidents cost employers nearly $57 billion in 2017. The also indicates that 40% of all accidents are work-related. What’s more, these accidents prove costly for employers, including medical expenses for employees and others involved in an accident, insurance increase, leave wage replacement, and property damage costs. A single-vehicle accident can actually become a financial nightmare for employers, especially if the vehicle is involved in a major accident and a fatality occurs. While the average cost of a non-fatal injury is (US)$61,600, the average cost of a vehicle fatality is (US)$1,130,00 million. However, only 19.5 percent of the companies Motus surveyed authorized driver safety training and only training drivers to deal safety issues isn’t always the right thing to do. It’s also smart business. Instituting a driver training program, along with insurance verification measures, for example, can reduce collision rates by as much .The Importance of Road Safety Training
Along with the prevention of fatalities and a fall in medical costs, there are a number of other advantages associated with the driver training program. These include:- Prioritizing driver safety and awareness with employees.
- Reducing time lost because of accidents in the workplace. (Vehicle incidents are the leading cause of lost time in the workplace).
- Eliminating the skills gap that may have occurred when employees first learned to drive.
- Helping managers to train, evaluate, and rate employees on operating assigned vehicles once work begins.
- Ensuring employee evaluation is stored on file by the company, after regular and refresher training, along with rating efforts.
- Driver training protects your investment in employees. Vehicle incidents are one of the most likely ways that an accident will occur on-site.
Seven Road Safety Tips
Unfortunately, unsafe driving is a common issue, with many drivers failing to follow the most important safety practices while they are on the road. This could be why continued to rise into 2018. Below are some of the most important road safety tips that you should remember to include in your training programs:- Better speed management — Poor speed management is a reason why many driving accidents occur, especially when passing through interstate construction. In fact, one-third of all work-zone accidents involve trucks. Other causes of accidents where speeding is involved, include:
- Inability to stop in time
- Blind spots on the road
- Poor weather conditions
- Taking sharp curves at high speed
- Failing to secure loads properly
- Tires losing traction on wet roads (hydroplaning)
- Look out for blind spots — Other drivers aren’t always aware of a trucker’s “no zones,” or places where drivers can’t see them. Drivers must be careful to watch out for others entering these areas.
- Keep any trucks in excellent condition — Drivers need to check their own trucks every morning to make sure they’re in good running condition; especially brakes, horns, and mirrors.
- Watch out for bad weather conditions — Harsh weather conditions are involved in 25 percent of driving accidents. Drivers need to adjust for these conditions, cutting down speeds by ⅓ on wet roads and 1/2 on icy or snowy roads.
- Get plenty of rest — Fatigue is often a factor in trucking accidents. Drivers need to get plenty of rest while driving and take care of themselves, just as much as they take care of their trucks.
- Fastening seat belts — This road safety tip may seem like a trivial one, but fastening one’s seat belt is always necessary. This could be life-saving in the event of a rollover.
- Notify supervisors about medication — Two drivers working on the same construction site and traveling along the same road crashed head-on. Prescription drugs were found to be the culprit.
