Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley sits down with Sam Clayton, Vice President of the Construction Group to discuss how effective fleet safety programs can be the solution for distracted driver auto claims.

Show Notes: ⁠Register for the Fleet Safety Webinar⁠; ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to Rancho Mesa's Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alyssa Burley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam Clayton⁠

Editor: ⁠⁠Megan Lockhart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

© Copyright 2024. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa news, brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network, StudioOne.

Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Sam Clayton, Vice President of the Construction Group with Shemesa. Today we're going to discuss how effective fleet safety programs can be the solution for auto claims.

Sam, welcome to the show.

Sam Clayton: Good morning, Alyssa. Good to be back in StudioOne.

AB: Well, we're happy to have you. Now, it's no secret that contractors have seen significant increases in commercial auto rates over the last few years. And, we're always explaining to clients that it is imperative that they implement a written fleet safety program to help get these claims under control.

So, what is the key to an effective fleet safety program?

SC: That's a great question, Alyssa. The fleet safety program must detail the company's expectations of what's required to be a driver, whether that be the type of license they have, an A license for heavy vehicles or just a regular C license that you and I have, and the consequences if the policies are not followed. For both the fleet safety program and driver training to be effective and successful, companies should be constantly discussing the policies with all of their employees, not just the employees that are assigned to company vehicles.

AB: Absolutely, in order for employees to follow the fleet safety program, they have to see buy-in from their leadership.

So, what’s the topic that employers should spend the most time addressing?

SC: Well, in my opinion, one topic that should be at the forefront of your driving training program is distracted driving. 

Distracted driving is the leading cause of most vehicle collisions and near collisions. According to the National Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80% of collisions and 65% of near collisions involve some form of distracted driving. 

AB: That's a lot of collisions and near collisions. So, how can employers address this?

SC: Well, this should be addressed through their distracted driving training for employees. In these trainings, they should be discussing the three types of distracted driving: visual, manual, and cognitive. Visual, an example of that would be if you're driving down the highway and you see an accident on the side of the road and you kind of slow down, you take your eyes off the road. A manual distraction would be eating and you're taking your eyes and your hands off the wheel. But cognitive, which 85% of the distracted driving claims come from, would be your either texting or talking on your cell phone. And, you know, I mean, I'm guilty of it sometimes when you're sitting in traffic and you just kind of look at your cell phone, a lot of times you can, you know, take your eyes off the road in the car in front of you stops real quick.

AB: Yeah, and distracted driving is so easy to do. And I can see why there are so many incidents that are caused by it.

So, what does this mean for employers' insurance premiums?

SC: Well, many of these crashes occur in company vehicles during working hours and can cause serious problems for both the driver as well as the company.

If the employee's injured, you know, he or she is going to be eligible for workers' compensation, the company's auto insurance would pay for the damage to the vehicle and any potential lawsuit brought on by the bodily injures suffered by the third party that you hit.

The quick glance at a cell phone while driving could cost a company literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.

AB: Yeah, that's crazy. So, what do you recommend employers do?

SC: Well, we recommend that companies have a written cell phone policy, require employees to put their phone on Do Not Disturb while they're driving, which blocks calls and text messages, while their car is in motion, and train drivers using the Safety One Distracted Driving Online Course.

An effective fleet safety program minimizes further insurance increases, but most importantly, could also save a life.

AB: And that's really the most important part of this. And, to learn the essential points of a fleet safety program and defensive driving skills, listeners can actually register for our fleet safety webinar by visiting RanchoMesa.com or clicking on the link in the episode notes that we'll include.

So Sam, if listeners have questions about their commercial auto risk, what's the best way to get in touch with you?

SC: They could either email me at S. Clayton at RanchoMesa .com or give me a call at 619-937-0167.

AB: All right. Well, Sam, thanks for joining me in StudioOne.

SC: Thanks, Alyssa.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne. For more information, visit us at RanchoMesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.