At TRUCE, we know that mobile devices are essential to the way work gets done, but they aren’t without risks. With distracted driving being the second leading cause of fatal commercial accidents, stopping texting and driving not only makes the nation’s roadways safer but also leads to improved safety and profitability. There are many partners that share the mission and vision of ending the epidemic of distracted driving and keeping roads safe for all people. Check out the websites of these ten organizations committed to stop texting and driving.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
“One text or call could wreck it all” is the federal government’s cautionary message. Distraction.gov is the NHTSA’s official website for facts and resources about distracted driving. It’s loaded with information to help educate employees and employers about the dangers of distracted driving and promote distracted driving awareness. The agency leads initiatives to prevent distracted driving, including banning texting and mobile device use for commercial drivers, encouraging states to pass tougher laws, and raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving while operating a vehicle.
Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS)
NETS is a collaborative group of employer road safety professionals whose objective is to advance road safety for employees, their family members and members of the communities where they live and work. Members help one another improve road safety and reduce losses through fleet safety bench-marking and sharing proven, best practice approaches, including efforts to stop texting and driving. NETS membership includes global traffic safety leaders across private industry and government, whose fleets range from fewer than 100 cars or other motor vehicles to those with more than 50,000 vehicles.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
OSHA, a federal agency, established in 1970, regulates health and safety in the workplace. OSHA’s mission is to “assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.” The organization has a litany of resources on workplace safety and training, including the guide for employers on reducing commercial vehicle crashes.
National Safety Council (NSC)
The NSC offers extensive research on distracted driving, with facts about commercial drivers, motor vehicle crashes, cognitive distraction, state laws, and texting and driving. This is a helpful resource for both employers and their employee drivers.
European Transport Safety Council (ETSC)
The ETSC is a Brussels-based independent non-profit making organization dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries in transport in Europe, established in 1993. ETSC seeks to identify and promote effective measures on the basis of international scientific research and best practice in areas that offer the greatest potential for a reduction in motor vehicle crashes and casualties.
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
The organization’s mission is to identify traffic safety problems, promote research that seeks solutions and publish information and educational materials. While many of its initiatives touch the consumer market, the research the Foundation supports and conducts can be very valuable to companies. The AAA Foundation has helpful information about texting and driving.
THINK!
THINK! is a UK road users campaign, supported by the Department of Transport. This campaign provides road safety information for road users and people wanting to learn about bad driving habits. Their aim is to encourage safer behavior and safe driving to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads every year. There have been an increasing number of drivers in the UK who admit to driving while distracted because of a mobile device; here are the penalties for this distracting driving. THINK! is here to create awareness of these dangers and help provide helpful information to remove these dangers.
Download our Distracted Driving White Paper to Learn More About This Growing Epidemic & How To Stop Texting And Driving
Drop It and Drive (DIAD)
This organization’s stated mission is to stop distracted driving by raising public awareness to the point that talking and texting while driving becomes as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving; showing the extreme dangers that distracted driving and drunk driving share. The group provides seminars and presentations for all types of groups, from elementary-age children to corporate and community groups.
The DIAD provides links to driving simulators that can help your employees see how distractions like mobile device usage negatively impact their driving skills and safe driving abilities. The driving simulator helps demonstrate just how easily a brief distraction from a device while operating a car or other motor vehicle, can lead to distracted driving crashes affecting both drivers and passengers of vehicles on the road.
Road Safety Authority
The Road Safety Authority of Ireland aim is to save lives and prevent injuries by reducing the number and severity of collisions on the roads they are Working to Save Lives.
End Distracted Driving
End Distracted Driving was created by the parents of Casey Feldman after she was killed in 2009 by a distracted driver. The group is committed to raising awareness and creating action against distracted driving; it provides speakers for school, workplace, and community presentations, as well as a comprehensive website offering useful resources on a variety of distracted driving topics, including stopping texting and driving. Due to the increased amount of electronic devices in one’s vehicle, distractions, such as texting, incoming calls and social media updates, the need for solutions to distracted driving is increasingly more critical each day.
Leading Causes of Employee Distracted Driving*
