April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, are you ready to spread the message with your drivers and employees?
VML Insurance Programs wants to remind everyone that driving distracted can be deadly by sharing the message of DRIVE SMART Virginia: “Buckle Up, Phone Down.”
Whether the distraction is a cell phone, or whether it’s eating or changing the radio – the results can be deadly.
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that 80 percent of all crashes and 65 percent of all near-crashes in their recent study involved driver inattention within three seconds of the crash.
“We are urging drivers to put their phone down, or turn it off when they are in the car,” says Beth Rosenthal, director of safety services for VML Insurance Programs. “Plan ahead and make all of your adjustments before you start driving – like programming your GPS or changing the radio.”
Check out the statistics below to see how these behaviors increase the risk for a crash:
Punching in a phone number takes just a few seconds – but at 55 mph you will travel the length of a football field with your eyes on your phone. That’s dangerous. Even talking on the phone increases the chance of a crash by four times.
When the phone rings, leave it alone.
Join VML Insurance Programs and DRIVE SMART Virginia in sharing this message. Sign the Distracted Driving Awareness Month pledge form, plan an activity to share this message, tweet about it, and most importantly share this message with your employees. For more information visit the DRIVE SMART Virginia Website.
VML Insurance Programs also offers a number of resources and programs to help our member entities train their employees on driving and distracted driving. Check out the Distracted Driving: Real Accidents, Real Stories DVD available through the Multimedia Library, or consider participating in our Where the Rubber Meets the Road defensive driving campaign.
VMLIP offers more than just coverage. We are partners in risk management. How does your insurer stack up? Having all lines of coverage with VMLIP ensures that your organization is receiving comprehensive coverage and a wide variety of value-added services tailored to Virginia’s local governmental entities. Call for a quote today: (800) 963-6800. For more information on VMLIP visit: www.vrsa.us or follow us on Facebook.
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