Today's News by Jack Nerad for Driving Today

A New Take on Phoning It in

Friday, March 5, 2010

“Distracted driving” may have been Webster’s Dictionary’s word of the year for 2009, but in 2010, businesses that give their employees mobile devices should keep another related phrase in mind: “vicarious liability.”  

As Wisconsin becomes the 20th state to ban texting while driving, Zurich, a property and casualty insurance provider, recommends that businesses take the initiative to help protect their employees and themselves from the potential dangers of distracted driving.

According to risk prevention specialists at Zurich, employers could be held vicariously liable if they permit employees to use particular technologies while driving. This could include operating a company-owned cell phone or mobile device while driving. Since 2001, a growing number of jury awards have illustrated that businesses could be forced to pay the price for employees’ distracted driving.

“Not only have businesses put people at risk over their laissez-faire attitude towards technology usage in their workplaces, in most cases, they encourage it if it means increased productivity,” said Zurich's Jim Noble, line of business director, motor fleet. “But companies themselves -- large and small -- are now threatened if suddenly they’re faced with a hefty lawsuit caused by an employee’s negligence with an electronic device.”

A prudent practice for every company is developing an electronics usage policy and implementing it uniformly to help manage this risk in their operations, recommends the insurer. The company should restrict use of all types of technologies (cell phone, BlackBerry, laptop, audio player, etc.) in non-office work areas and enforce rules consistently and fairly with all employees. While electronics usage policies by themselves do not guarantee success in preventing risks associated with distracted driving, they may help reduce exposure, and more importantly, send a clear safety message to employees.

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