Deadly Driving Distractions
Keeping eyes and mind on the road can be challenging over a long day or night drive, but for hauliers, staying focused and managing distractions is critical. Driving when distracted can be deadly. In fact, research has found that chatting on a hands-free phone – a typical distraction – can make reaction times 50% slower than under normal conditions.
According to UK government figures over 4,500 accidents were recorded in 2017 where driver distraction was mentioned as a contributory factor. For hauliers, the hours spent on the road can make them especially vulnerable to driver distraction, increasing the need to take steps to ensure drivers keep focused.
Driver Distractions What does ‘driver distraction’ mean? Quite simply it can be anything that takes a driver’s mind off driving, ranging from talking on a hands free mobile, eating or drinking, or looking at an accident on the other side of the carriageway. The list is endless, but driver distractions can be classed in four different categories:
• Cognitive This is where a driver is thinking about something else and can include talking on the phone or mulling over a personal issue.
• Physical Eating, drinking, or reaching for something in the cab are all examples of physical distractions.
• Visual A visual distraction could be something happening on the roadside or within the cab such as a satnav, or anything that distracts from concentrating on the road environment.
• Auditory Loud music, talking or other external sounds can prevent a driver from making the best use of their hearing while driving.
Any of these factors, either on their own or in combination, can lead to slower reaction times, bad decision making, and an overall reduced standard of driving, with possible catastrophic consequences. So, for hauliers, it’s important to look at ways of managing those distractions so that drivers remain focused on their driving. Here are three suggestions:
• Don’t let the technology distract Vehicles are full of technology to help make a driver’s life easier from a hands free mobile, to sat navs, cameras, and telematics. But as well as helping, these systems can also be a source of distraction, so it’s important to consider how to use them in a way that doesn’t affect a driver’s focus on driving. It could be, for example, that settings can be changed like a mobile phone set to silent when the vehicle is in motion. Calls should only be made and received when it is safe and legal.
• Plan a route before you set off Taking a few minutes to consider the best route before driving can reduce the challenges of trying to set a satnav while in motion.
• Education and refresher training Hauliers should look to provide refresher training and education opportunities for their drivers to ensure that driver distraction is recognised as an issue, and drivers have strategies to help them avoid the problem. With driver distraction the cause of so many accidents on the roads, anything that hauliers and drivers can do to minimise the risk is an investment worth making.
For more details on dealing with driver distraction, go to QBE’s factsheet ‘Driver distraction and road safety’.
To discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact the Hauliers Team on 03301 624 992.
This article has been compiled using information available up to 01/02/22. Whilst care has been taken in the production of this document, Aon does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the document or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this document. This document has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication and is subject to any qualifications made in this document.