A new white paper released by the NSC, “Employer Liability and the Case for Comprehensive Cell Phone Policies,” was released this week. It details the why and how of protecting employees even when they are in their car, but especially when they are in their cars on duty.

According to a press release from the NSC:

“Business leaders owe it to their employees to put safety first – especially when employees are on the roads,” said Janet Froetscher, NSC president and CEO. “Employers should know a policy that prohibits handheld and hands-free cell phone use by all employees while driving is not only a best safety practice but also contributes to the bottom line.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimate on-the-job crashes cost employers more than $24,500 per property damage crash. The cost rises to $150,000 per injury and to as much as $3.6 million per fatality.

Also this week, the NSC updated their existing white paper, “Understanding the Distracted Brain: Why driving while using hands-free devices is risky behavior” which focuses on helping employers understand the dangers of cell phone distracted driving, the need for cell phone policies and what a comprehensive cell phone policy should include.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been asking all states to emphasize the dangers of distracted driving and enact laws meant to curb the use of handheld devices by drivers. So far only 36 states have comprehensive bans on the use of these devices by drivers, and in states without a ban, the problem is expected to continue.

For employers, whether or not there is a state ban, they need to focus on employee safety regardless.

The Idaho ban on texting by all drivers goes into effect July 1, 2012. Violators will face an $85 fine.

The West Virginia law, which includes a ban on the use of all hand-held devices by drivers goes into effect July 1, 2012. Violators will get a citation for $100 on the first offense, with subsequent infractions increasing. If you get caught a second time the fine rises to $200 and if you are dumb enough to do it a third time the cost goes up to $300. Plus three points will be assessed against the driver’s license on the third and any subsequent violations.

Text messaging will be a primary offense in West Virginia, effective July 1, while driver hand-held cell phone use will be limited to secondary enforcement until July 1, 2013, when it becomes a primary offense.

It is significant that both these states chose to pass their laws during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, when national attention is (hopefully) being focused on what has become the leading threat to anyone who rides on the roads.

In December the National Transportation Safety Board released a report which showed that statistically speaking, distracted driving is responsible for more traffic fatalities that driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The NTSB suggested that every state immediately pass complete bans on the use of hand-held devices by drivers. Some states already had bans in place. Some states banned texting and driving, while others forced drivers to use hands-free devices for their cell phones, or completely banned the use of any and all devices by drivers.

with the addition of Idaho and West Virginia, there are now just 13 states which continue to allow drivers to use hand held devices, even text and drive. These states are facing mounting pressure to wake up and recognize that distracted driving is a serious threat to public safety, but so far, they are still sleeping.

The hit Fox show ‘Glee’ has an audience composed mostly of teenagers and they are using their platform to send a message: Distracted driving is dangerous, so don’t do it.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. This coincides with the season premiere of ‘Glee’ which will be picking up its story line from last season which ended on a cliffhanger that had distracted driving at the crux of the plot: Lead character and admitted drama queen Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) was in a hurry, driving to get to her ex-boyfriend’s wedding. She was also texting and driving. Suddenly her vehicle is sideswiped by a truck and the screen faded to black, leaving viewers to ponder her fate. It was also a great opportunity for parents to start a dialogue focusing on the dangers of letting anything interfere with a young drivers concentration on the skill of driving.

Distracted driving is not limited to texting and driving. A car load of friends is also a serious distraction for young drivers (or any drivers) as is adjusting the radio buttons, checking your hair in the mirror, or doing anything which takes your eyes off the road. It only takes a split second for something drastic to happen: a child runs into the road ahead of you or the vehicle in front of you stops suddenly. Road conditions can change at a moment’s notice and you need to be ready for the unexpected to happen just when you least expect it to.

Hopefully teens will get the message and learn the lessons we are all trying to teach them about the dangers of distracted driving.

The temptation to use these devices is overwhelming for some drivers, but now, following a recent report by the National Transportation Safety Board, police are being empowered to cite them for taking their eyes off the road.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and police around the country are steeping up efforts to cite drivers who they find are allowing themselves to be distracted from something other than their driving. All but 15 states have enacted some sort of distracted driving ban. These laws run the gamut in terms of what is permitted and what sort of punishment is meted out for violators.

In some states, such as New York and California, drivers are not permitted to use cell phones while driving. In other states drivers can use their hands free devices, but texting is not permitted. Fines for violations range from $50 to more than $150 for first time offenders. But there is a steeper price to paid for those who violate the many and various distracted driving laws: death.

According to the NTSB and numerous other studies, including ones completed by AAA and Berkley University, distracted driving is now the most common cause of highway traffic fatalities. Drivers who are distracted while tooling down the highway are less safe (that’s LESS SAFE) than drivers who are operating their vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Not only that, but in most states DUI offenses have been on a steady decline while distracted driving crashes have been steadily on the increase.

This month do yourself, and everyone who shares the road with you, a favor and keep your eyes on the road.

The NHTSA has been working in conjunction with automobile manufacturers to limit the ability of drivers to access in-car electronics such as navigation systems, access to the Internet and even text and cell phone calls. This move is being hailed by proponents of safe driving who point to a recent NHTSA study showing distracted driving fatalities now exceed deaths caused by drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They say that any changes made to prevent people from accessing electronics while they are driving their car should be made immediately; there is no time like the present to address this increasing threat on American roadways.

In the meantime the NHTSA is struggling to convince state law makers to enact bans on the use of any handheld devices by drivers, whether for texting or talking or something else. Many state legislators have said statewide bans go too far and these decisions are better left up to municipal lawmakers on a city by city, or community by community basis. This does not sit well with safe driving proponents who feel now that the threat has been identified (and the NHTSA study is not the only one to point out the dramatic rise in fatal crashes caused by distracted driving) law makers should be doing everything in their power to prevent it from getting any worse.

Despite opposition from some law makers the NHTSA is moving forward with its efforts to convince automobile manufacturers to work with them to give drivers no choice about whether or not to use their electronics while driving. After all, traffic school can help you remove the points from your license, but it simply cannot bring you back to life if you’ve been killed by a distracted driver.

The UC Berkely Safe Transportation Research and Education Center studied traffic crashes during the two-year period before the ban took effect and compared them to the number and cause of traffic crashes during the two-year period after the ban took effect. They say there was a significant decline in crashes across the board and a decline in crashes specifically involving drivers who were using either a handheld or wireless device while driving.

The study was requested by the California Office of Traffic Safety which said they suspected there was a lower number of crashes and wondered if it could be attributed to the new ban.

The National Transportation Safety Board recently announced that crashes involving distracted driving had eclipsed the number of crashes involving driving under the influence of alcohol. Their report came with admonishment that all states should seek to ban the use of handheld devices, if they hadn’t already. This announcement was met with skepticism by lawmakers in states like Texas who said they felt the decision was best left to local municipalities.

Since the NTSB report was released late last year, states such as Florida, which had also been resisted to a handheld devices devices, have since reversed course. Lawmakers there are finalizing a bill to make a partial effective perhaps as early as this summer.

Regardless of whether or not a ban on handheld devices is enacted in your state, remember the lessons you learned in traffic school about paying attention and driving defensively. You will be glad you did.

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But you would be wrong.

A recent study shows that while men comprise less than half of all registered drivers in the state, they also represent more than half of all traffic citations handed out for texting while driving. In fact, last year male drivers in Connecticut got nearly 16,000 tickets compared with women who received 13,690. The prior year, 2010, Connecticut men received 25,392 and female drivers in Connecticut only received 21,346.

The Connecticut law prohibiting distracted driving has been in effect since 2006 and men have consistently received more than their fair share of traffic citations as a result. And Connecticut is alone in this disparity between the sexes. In fact, a 2010 report by the Pew Research Center showed that 51 percent of men who use text messaging admitted sending or reading text messages while driving. This is markedly higher than the results for women in the same poll which showed only 42 percent of women admitted doing the same. When it came to regular cell phone use the numbers were also markedly different with 78 percent of men reportedly talking on the phone while driving, and only 72 percent of women doing the same.

Now, surely some readers will say that people don’t always admit it when they do something they know is wrong (hence the poll results) and that police show favoritism to emotional women, but with every state reporting the same results and the same statistical difference between the sexes it seems safe to say men are inherently more likely to text or talk while driving than women.

This might have something to do with their nature, or maybe it has something to do with the type of work that they do, but whatever the reason, men need to aware they are no less at risk of having a crash due to distracted driving than women.

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But handheld devices, cell phones, text messaging systems and other types of technological marvels are a global phenomenon. People all around the world are using these devices to communicate; work and play; conduct business and make their lives easier. The fact that distracted driving seems only to be a problem here in the U.S. is more to do with national pride than statistical fact.

A recent survey conducted in Australia, on the opposite side of the globe, shows that drivers there are no more immune to the effects of distracted driving than drivers here in America.

A 2011 Survey of Community Attitudes to Road Safety found that 54 percent of drivers admit to receiving calls on their cell phone while driving and another 25 percent admit to answering them. Shockingly, more than 33 percent of Australian drivers admit to reading a text message while driving and another 14 percent admit they have actually sent a text message while driving.

Here’s the most shocking result of their survey: More than 85 percent of drivers surveyed said they believed using a cell phone while driving increased the risk of having an accident.

Even though they knew better; admitted they knew better, they still did it.

This is what makes distracted driving such a danger. The idea that we think we can do it and get away with it. Not just that it is legal, but that it is ok to do; safe driving. By fooling ourselves into believing we can drive distracted we impose an even greater risk on ourselves and everyone who shares the road with us.

It doesn’t matter if you live in the U.S.A., Australia or any point in between, distracted driving is a sure way to get yourself killed. Whether it happens the first time you do it or the last time, the danger is very real.

The best way to avoid a crash caused by distracted driving? Just don’t do it.

Image: Bill Longshaw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

That’s right, insurance companies are reporting that rates have been going up primarily because of the increase in vehicle crashes caused by distracted driving. Every time someone slams their car into a tree while Tweeting their friends about the bad day they had at work, an insurance company has to pay. If an insurance company has to pay they pass that “loss” on to all their members, thereby raising rates ever so slightly.

If this happens often enough, rates can go up significantly. And if you consider that distracted driving is now more dangerous and more likely to cause a traffic fatality than driving under the influence, it is no wonder rates are going up.

According to a recent report by 4autoinsurancequote.org the number of crashes caused by drivers using their cell phones for one reason or another have doubled since 2005. This increase in crashes is having an impact on insurance rates. That means drivers who don’t use their cell phones while they are behind the wheel are paying the price for those drivers who do.

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, 25 percent of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 29 say they make a habit of using their cell phones while driving.

This might be why the National Highway Transportation Safety Board saw a marked increase in the number fatalities related to distracted driving since 2008.

There really is no excuse for distracted driving. All you have to do is not use your phone or any handheld device and concentrate on the skill of driving to decrease your chance of having a fatal accident, yet people continue to do it.

Now we are all paying the price for other driver’s reckless behavior.

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