Distracted Driving
Fleet Management: The Cars or the Drivers?
There are many publications, trade shows and job titles that are about "Fleet Safety or Fleet Management". Some years back we thought, "this is great, these people really care about crashes." Well, the answer is "sort of".
It is all too common for "fleet" to mean really only the cost of the vehicle, gas costs, leasing terms and other asset management metrics. I'm not saying those aren't important but they never seem to include the driver involved. Your employee, the one with the family that faithfully does their job every day. Where is the department that takes the same amount of time and attention to the employee as the key "asset" they need to protect? At this point we can divide up a typical large company. HR responsible for the people? Nope, not when it comes to driving. Fleet safety? Nope, they buy, sell, maintain and repair vehicles. Risk management (sounds right doesn't it), no chance except to the extent it affects insurance policies. You would think "legal" would care since multimillion dollar lawsuits are not uncommon in traffic related deaths. Never once hear of them focused on avoiding the crashes that created the liability. Worse yet, companies that DO have some driver training offer it to only those who "drive for the job". These are the same companies that often offer gym memberships; wellness programs; CPR courses and other services that are focused on keeping employees happy and healthy. And yet, a significant reason for an employee to miss work for an extended period of time is related to themselves or their family member being in a car crash.
Where is the driving wellness initiative?
by Bob Davis, CEO & President of Virtual Driver Interactive Virtual Hazard Detection: Corporate Fleet Driver Safety Training [embed]https://vimeo.com/112231426[/embed]
Vehicle crash costs can be the difference between making and missing the number. So it’s not enough to provide the information – employers must be certain that the drivers learned crash avoidance and hazard detection skills necessary to protect the fleet.
Evaluating Training Choices:
Behind the Wheel: Behind the Wheel can be valuable in specific circumstances such as when an employee operates a specialty vehicle with unique characteristics like a garbage truck, semi-truck or bus. It is very valuable for novice drivers learning the basic handling of a car. But for normal adults driving for their jobs, there are much more effective ways of building their skills and keeping their attention. Behind the wheel training cannot be conducted for the higher risk situations that lead to crashes such as fog, night, snow or distracted driving scenarios.
Online Courses: While web training is simple, do “read and click” web-based courses truly translate to improved driving skills for adults? Online training is useful for novice drivers and is an effective, scalable way to deliver that information.
Driving Simulators: There is a long history of scientific justification for simulators and their value for training. Air Force, Marine Corps, the Army and Navy have trained their airmen, sailors and soldiers in the rules of engagement, judgment, combat, marksmanship and indirect fire on simulators. Likewise, driving simulators put drivers in dangerous situations and measure what they do to ensure competency. Also, there is compelling evidence that simulator-based instruction provides a high transfer of learning rate on new and experienced drivers.
US Post Office Case Study
In 2015, Andrea Maddicks, Transportation Manager at US Postal Office in Queens, NY/Triboro District, recognized the need for driver safety training for her fleet of drivers. She turned to VDI to implement an innovative approach in reducing accidents in a cost-effective and engaging method. After recommending and purchasing a VDI desktop driving simulator with the Virtual HD program, the Triboro District recognized a 7% reduction in 2016 in MVS driver motor vehicle accidents and has continued to see a reduction through May 2017.
“VDI’s driving simulators have proven to be a cost-effective and engaging way to provide refresher training before and after accidents to our Postal Carriers and Tractor/Trailer Operators", said Andre Maddicks. "More importantly, the simulation-based driver safety training has considerably reduced accident rates in the Suncoast District during our trial period compared to the same period last year. In fact, we have had only one backing accident since we got the simulator in Tampa compared to last year when there were 26!”
Last week the Governors Highway Safety Association released a report stating that 2017 pedestrian fatalities were at a 25-year high. What’s notable is that in recent years, the number of pedestrian fatalities has increased 28% while during the same time period other traffic deaths decreased. Speculation for this alarming pedestrian death toll is linked to the growth in Smartphones nationwide.
Cellphone use among walkers and drivers is on the rise and so are the safety issues related to distracted walking. We are all well aware of the deadly consequences of distracted driving. But distracted walking? 
Drivers need to be prepared, now more than ever, for the distracted pedestrian who is oblivious to traffic around them creating hazards in their path. Typing (texting) or reading a text alters a pedestrian's gait, speed, and walking pattern, according to a recent study. Campaigns such as the The "Digital Deadwalkers" YouTube video distributed in 2016 humorously highlights what can happen when pedestrians focus on anything other than the task of walking.
If drivers are texting and pedestrians have their head down and are unaware of their surroundings, no wonder the rate of fatalities is on the rise. Driver education needs to train on hazard avoidance with distracted pedestrians as a top contender on the hazard list. 
Virtual Driving Essentials is VDI’s teen driving program that includes training on complex driving situations such as intersections where most pedestrian injuries occur. We train teen drivers about the consequences of driving or walking while distracted in a virtual world – which has proven to change their behavior. There is no substitute for the shocking experience of feeling like you’ve accidently harmed another person.
For more information, check out our website or facebook page. By Pam LeFevre, VDI VP of Marketing [embed]https://vimeo.com/139967478[/embed] [embed]https://vimeo.com/108831040[/embed]
What you can do! Look for ANY opportunity to mentor teens, provide guidance and offer training to make them safer. Simulators can't be the only answer but they offer a chance to give extensive experience in situations that are otherwise too dangerous to practice in. Parents! Remember they watch what YOU do when driving so do NOT use your cell phone in the car even when stopped at an intersection. Check out the Resources page on our website for useful links and great articles offering parenting tips.
For more information, visit our website and check out our Facebook page.
All the best and keep your family safe!
Bob Davis, CEO & President of VDI “The climate today is such that the law says a company that entrusts an employee with a vehicle should know if the employee is qualified to drive it.” – Jim Colangelo, VP PHH Arval90% of car crashes are the result of human error. Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the #1 killer of the
American work force1 and are usually more severe in nature than average worker’s comp claims. Additionally, the risk varies by vehicle type with the number of non-fatal injuries being higher for passenger vehicles and the number of fatalities being higher for trucks.
- Negligent Entrustment Lawsuits: Organizations can be liable for millions of dollars for employees’ actions while driving for work, even when driving to and from work on personal time. The more your employees drive, the more exposure your organization has to crashes.
- Workers Comp Losses: Motor vehicle accidents are more severe than average worker’s comp claims. More likely to include lost-time and encompass a disproportionate share of severe claim types.
- Company Exposure: Companies can be liable if an employee has an accident in a company vehicle during work hours but businesses also incur significant productivity and medical benefit losses associated with crashes in personal vehicles when the employee is not “on the clock”.
- Brand Risk: In 2012, a jury in Texas awarded $21M in damages to a woman struck by a Coca-Cola driver who was talking on her cell phone.
- Distracted Driving: Applies to all employees not just company-owned vehicle drivers. Driving to/from work, client appointments, driving clients to lunch, rental cars/business trips, security guards making rounds, delivering equipment or supplies, etc.
Simulation training dates back to 1950s and has proven to be an effective training tool for the military and first responders. Before pilots fly the world’s most advanced fighter jets, they fly first on simulators. Emergency vehicle operators use simulators to learn safe driving maneuvers in emergency response situations without endangering themselves or the public.
So we know simulation works for pilots and military but does it work for training new and experience drivers? YES. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, “Driving simulators allow active learning by making it possible to give immediate feedback on driver performance.” Moreover, a simulator provides a safe place to learn critical errors . . . without causing harm to the driver or others on the road.
We now know that simulation is a viable tool for training drivers, but what about Virtual Driver Interactive simulation training? Does it really work? YES. Both James Madison University and Lehigh Valley Network Hospital recently conducted studies using our simulators and One Simple Decision training program. Both found that the students completing the program stated that they are less likely to text or drive impaired in the future. UPS conducted their own study while having their fleet drivers use our Virtual Hazard Detection (VHD) program and their crash rates reduced 38%. The US Post Office uses VHD as well and has had only 1 backing accident since they implemented the simulator in their Tampa office compared to last year when there were 26.
By augmenting behind-the-wheel training with simulation, it provides endless hours of instruction that's proven to reduce texting and driving as well as avoid collisions – it’s a technology-based tool that works.
For more information, visit our website and check out our Facebook page.
by Pam LeFevre, VDI VP of Marketing 