Distracted Driving: Employer Liability and Insurance

“Without an enforced ban [on cell phone use including hands free] the company is left to defend something that is in-defensible” – Plaintiff’s Attorney, Todd Clement.

• Please click here to watch a two minute and fifty second video from National Safety Council – Why Your Organization Needs a Cell Phone Policy to hear more from Todd Clement regarding employer liability.

At Lyons Companies we continually strive to educate our clientele and the communities we serve to better understand the risks they face and provide strategies to manage and mitigate those risks. This final post for Distracted Driving Awareness Month concludes with an introduction to the legal and financial liabilities employers face concerning distracted driving:

Cell Phone Laws and Defensibility

Using a cell phone while driving may be legal, but those laws may not protect the driver and the organization in a court of law when facing criminal charges or a civil suit, stemming from a collision where the driver was distracted by a cell phone. Once distraction has been established as contributing to a motor vehicle collision, proving negligence or violation of safe driving laws becomes less difficult and providing a suitable defense, as stated by Attorney Todd Clement and the National Safety Council, may be impossible.

Cell phones are rarely referred to as dataloggers or “black box” recorders, but in part, that is exactly what they are. All phone calls, text messages and use of the Internet are recorded and stored in the phone and by the phone service provider. This information can be legally obtained and used by prosecuting attorneys after an automobile accident.

Insurance Market Trends

The commercial auto insurance market has and continues to be negatively affected, in part, by cell phones and technological advances in motor vehicles. Cell phones plus infotainment and other in car technologies are increasing driver distraction and vehicle damage, due to technology, is becoming more expensive to repair. Additionally, nuclear verdicts and increased litigation financing continue to have a significant impact on commercial auto insurance prices, which has also affected the umbrella insurance market.

LyonsEDU Webinar – Distracted Driving: Devastating Effects in the Workplace

For additional information, please join us for an educational webinar on April 29, 2021 about what your organization can do to protect your employees and lessen both the financial and personal risks of distracted driving.

Bob Sabol, Vice President, Risk Management Advisor, and Matt Forest, Director, Risk Control Services, will share their expertise, insight, and strategies on:

• The effects of distracted driving on the commercial auto and umbrella insurance markets
• Reducing your risk and liability as an organization
• Establishing corporate distracted driving policies
• Educating and influencing safe driving behaviors
• Using technology to your advantage

Register for this important webinar today by clicking here.