Do business drivers thumb noses at safety training?
July 27, 2009 by Jim BurgerPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Research on safety, Safety training, Transportation safety
The highways aren’t getting any safer for American workers. In fact, the tragic numbers are mind-numbingly consistent year in and year out.
Between 1994 and 2007, between 1,343 and 1,442 American workers died in highway-related incidents in each and every year. That’s according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And 2007, which provides the most recent data, was right in line. The final tally: 1,414.
Why aren’t the numbers improving? One reason may be that business drivers are at best, apathetic about safety, and at worst, downright resistant.
A recent study suggests that more than 40% of those drivers would not be open to road safety training — or at least that their managers think they wouldn’t be. And less than a quarter of managers thought their drivers would “definitely be willing to take part in road safety training.”
The study was done in England, but based on the discouraging yearly numbers here, it’s reasonable to wonder whether we have the same problem.
What do you think? In your experience, how do business drivers respond to safety training? Is there a way to improve the numbers? Share your thoughts in the Comment Box below.
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Tags: highway deaths, Safety training
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July 27th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I think insurance companies should offer a discount for businesses to send their drivers to this type of program/training. If smaller companies had more incentive to do this sort of thing it would definitly be easier to convince management of the benefits.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I don’t think the issue is that driver’s don’t want to participate in highway safety training. Every driver I know wants to drive safely, and is doing all they can to be careful on the road. I think that these statistics point to having honed safety training so well that this is as low as it can go. You’ll never have zero accidents no matter how hard you try. Keep in mind that other drivers can cause a good portion of these wrecks. I have seen many cars pull out in front of a truck driver not realizing how much room a truck needs in front of it causing the truck driver to slam on his brakes. Sometimes the truck driver can’t brake fast enough, and accidents happen.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I tend to disagree a bit with the above comment. Most if not all accidents are avoidable. I’m currently teaching my daughter how to drive “defensively”. Assume you are going to be cut off, assume that driver in the other doesn’t see you, etc. Too many people drive with a sense of entitlement and its these drivers that pose a risk to others. I drive with a following distance of at least 5-6 car lengths, which invites many others to cut in front of me… but I account for it in my driving. I run our safety program here at work and stress to all employees that ALL accidents are preventable. Too long we have believed that some accidents are just part of doing business.
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:54 am
After 10 years as a driving instructor, I became a taxi driver and now head my company’s safety and training program.
People drive according to their own convenience. Jason’s 5 – 6 car lengths of following distance is still tailgating; the proper distance should be AT LEAST 3 seconds. (When the vehicle ahead passes something stationary, count “one-thousand one…” and you should reach “one-thousand three” before you’ve passed the same marker. Using seconds also accounts for increased stopping distances at higher speeds.) Also, traveling slightly slower than the rest of traffic helps to maintain that following distance as well as to reduce the likelihood of being struck from behind, a surprisingly common accident for taxi drivers. Route selection, too, can be critical; approach a destination from the direction of best visibility (to see and be seen).
Nevertheless, the problem remains of getting drivers, especially experienced drivers, to change their old habits and to accept responsibility for their failure to consider unfamiliar factors in crashes.
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I have observed what seems to be a bedrock solid belief on the part of many ‘professional’ drivers that they are better than the average driver. I find the opposite to be true. The average ‘professional’ driver gets more practice that most commuters, but what are they practicing? The saying that practice makes perfect is a huge lie. The truth is that perfect practice makes perfect. Anything else just makes bad habits worse!
The other twist is that the professional driver has a huge risk exposure because they spend so much time on the road. In order to spend 2 or 3 times as much time on the road, and emerge undamaged, one must be nearly perfect in their defensive driving!
‘Professional’ drivers need to take safety very seriously, and they need to do everything in their power to hone their skills and keep them at the very top level.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Has anyone factored in the number of accidents that occur because of foreign drivers. There are a significant number of drivers from Mexico crossing into the US every day. However, these drivers equipment does not meet our safety standards a large percentage of the vehicles would not pass our safety inspections. In many cases the drivers are workig extended hours and do not have to adhere to DOT standards of training..
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
To an extent, Mr. Stimpson’s second paragraph contradicts his initial claim. Taxi drivers routinely spend 7 to 10 times as much time in the traffic stream as “civilian” drivers. In addition to safe car-handling techniques, they understand time-of-day variations in traffic patterns, peak demand periods, and the use of alternate routes. The need to get from pick-up, to drop, to next pick-up safely and efficiently is not lost on us who make our money on the number of trips we run rather than on the hours we drive. Long-distance truckers, for example, can easily settle into a fog of “highway hypnosis” without the variety presented by a taxi driver’s changing passengers, destinations, payment styles, and social needs. But these same “virtues” can also be unwelcome distractions.
While I have to wonder what “perfect practice” might look like, I can’t take serious exception to the rest Mr. Stimpson’s post.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I have been in the courier business for over 30 years and conclude that most drivers, especially professional, carry an arrogant belief that they are above learning anything more about safety.
I particularly remember a rainy day where I advised a driver to slow down and be careful as he left our office, pointing out the slick road conditions he’d be facing.
The driver responded that he was always careful, and within 20 minutes was calling on the radio that he had spun out due to hydroplaning.
Until someone has had the “fear of God” put in them by a close call, they just aren’t going to get anything out of training. That isn’t to say we shouldn’t try. But the challenges are enormous.
As for foreign drivers and tourists alike, they don’t know where they are going, they are trying to use maps as they drive, they don’t know the rules of the road here. They are always a danger and there is little to do about it.