ASSE's Distracted Driving Committee Seeking Participants

Guest Post by Allan Kaufman & Nancy Bendickson
Co-chairs, ASSE Transportation Practice Specialty Distracted Driving Committee

Safety professionals are aware of the problems with distracted drivers. Motor vehicle incidents remain the leading cause of employee/worker injuries and deaths in the U.S. And despite the fact that more than 80% of people consider distracted driving a hazard and “very dangerous,” more than 60% say they have made a call or texted someone while driving in the last 30 days.

In September 2012, ASSE's Transportation Specialty Practice Specialty formed the Distracted Driving Committee to bring together transportation safety professionals from various industries and NHTSA to examine this growing problem.

Distracted driving has emerged as a major contributing factor in the increase in traffic crashes/collisions/events, and deaths for the last ten years. The devastating impact on lives, families, and company finances requires drastic action to reverse this trend.

The mission of this group is to gather, review, disseminate and promote best practices in the prevention of distracted driving in the business environment. Our goal is to provide ASSE members with the tools needed to effectively manage and enforce prevention of distracted driving in their workforce.

The distracted driving problem has grown so fast that DOT issued a final rule in 2011 prohibiting interstate truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles. Despite this prohibition, as recently as July 30, 2013, a bus driver was using his cell phone when the vehicle jumped a curb on a buy New York street and struck a lamppost, sending the pole crashing down onto a baby stroller and killing an 8-month-old girl and narrowly missing her mother.

The committee has formed a speakers bureau and submitted a proposal for a panel discussion on distracted driving at ASSE's Safety 2014 in Orlando, FL. In addition, the committee is focusing on several topics:

• New technology to help companies with fleets monitor cell phone use. 
• Guidance on developing policies for electronic device use. 
• Reports on an increase in pedestrian distracted incidents. 
• Information on distraction in other modes of transportation, including airplane, boats and railroads. 

If you are interested in joining this committee, contact:

• Allan Kaufman at allan.d.kaufman@questdiagnostics.com 
• Nancy Bendickson at nancy.bendickson@aon.com