The potentially fatal myth about speeding
Have you ever been tempted to speed to make that next delivery or be on time for that next appointment?
You had better think again – for your own safety. Speeding to “save time” usually offers little advantage and greatly increases your risk of being in a potentially serious or fatal crash. This puts you and everyone else on the road in harm’s way.
In fact, speeding has consistently been the leading contributing factor to crashes in BC over last 10 years. And crashes are the leading cause of traumatic work-related deaths in the province. Yet in our recent survey, only 14% of drivers told us they believe speeding is dangerous.
The disconnect between reality and perception is life threatening. While speed doesn’t always cause crashes, it can affect the severity of a crash. So even a small difference in speed can mean the difference between life and death.
Speeding doesn’t make sense
Don’t be fooled into thinking “it won’t happen to me.” Many drivers think they drive better than they actually do. They often blame others on the road for crashes.
Again, here’s a reality check. If you drive too fast for the road, traffic, visibility, or weather conditions, you’re putting yourself and everyone else on the road at risk. You won’t give yourself time to absorb and process driving information and respond appropriately.
4 tips for driver safety
Instead of constantly rushing to make schedules work, employers and drivers can change their approach. Consider using phone, text, e-mail, or video calling to do the job.
Sometimes it won’t be possible. So when driving is necessary (or the safest way to get there), here are some tips to help employers keep employees safe behind the wheel:
- Use our Journey Management and Trip Planning Tool Kit and TripCheck tool to help plan trips. Review this journey management video with drivers and instruct them on how to reduce work-related driving risks.
- Set realistic travel times. Drivers may need to allow a little time for construction delays, traffic, weather, etc.
- Direct your drivers to comply with posted speed limits and other traffic laws.
- Have a policy requiring workers to drive at a speed that is suitable to the road, traffic, visibility, and weather conditions. Review the policy with them during a meeting or one on one. Periodically have supervisors check that the policy is being followed by doing ride-alongs.
Resources you can use
Download our safe driving procedures template . It covers trip preparation, driving, and parking. You can edit it to suit your needs.
Use our Preventing Aggressive Driving tailgate meeting guide to share tips with employees. The suggestions can help them stay safe when others speed, and remind them of the danger they create when driving too fast.
Review our other road safety tool kits for best practices, handouts, and policy templates. They can be adapted for organizations of any size.