ADTS: In The News

Tackling The Fleet Safety Challenge

by Phil Moser
Public Risk
March 2001

The variety of vehicles and driving environments creates unique safety risks for public fleets.

In 1999, public fleets experienced more accidents per miles driven than any other industry segments. According to an annual study conducted by the National Association of Fleet Administrators, public fleets reported an average accident rate of 22.96 collisions per million miles driven, while private industry fleets reported an average accident rate of 11.30 collisions per million miles driven. With the average fleet accident costing as much as $14,000 in repairs, injuries, workers compensation claims, and other costs, the higher-than-average accident rate should be a real concern for risk managers in charge of public fleets.

The NAFA findings underscore the increased likelihood of a public fleet accident, but they don’t address the larger challenge: the increased risk created by the diverse makeup of most public fleets.

In the corporate world, fleets are often homogeneous in terms of driver type, vehicle type, and driving conditions. Some are made up of sales representatives who drive full-sized sedans over relatively large territories, while others include primarily service technicians who drive light vans or pick-up trucks and make frequent stops. When a fleet’s make-up is consistent, as in these cases, the job of managing the associated safety risks isn’t as involved.

For public fleets, the scenario is much different. It’s likely that your fleet is composed of many different types of vehicles, a vast array of driving environments and a significant variation in the types of driving to which your organization is exposed. Your challenge, then, is to effectively allocate a finite set of resources – including staff, budget, and time – across a fleet that may have infinite safety needs.

The key to success lies in identifying the distinct segments in your fleet, understanding the driver safety risks of each, and implementing appropriate safety interventions. By reviewing the most common public fleet driving scenarios and specific strategies for addressing each, you can take steps toward establishing a successful fleet safety program.

Temporary/High-Turnover Positions

High-turnover jobs always create operational challenges, but when those positions represent a portion of your fleet, the challenges and risks increase exponentially. Unfortunately, public entities are likely to have a number of fleet drivers in temporary or high-turnover positions. One common situation is a state college or other agency employing college interns on a per-semester basis. Drivers in these jobs are particularly at high risk of a vehicle accident, for three primary reasons:

Age

Younger drivers are statistically at greater risk of an accident than others. According to the National Safety Council, drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 were involved in 10.1% of the fatal crashes in 1999, but represented only 5.2% of the population. In any year, young drivers are involved in fatal crashes at twice the rate of the rest of the population.

Unfamiliarity

Temporary drivers have minimal time to become familiar with the job and the driving territory, leading to driver distraction and a greater risk of collisions. It’s not surprising, then, that many fleet accidents occur within a driver’s first 12 to 18 months on the job.

Type of Vehicle

Short-term drivers often operate smaller vehicles. While these may be fuel-efficient and easy to maneuver, they are also more prone to damage in an accident. Even a low-speed incident can result in injuries and high repair bills.

Cost-Effective Safety

One of the most cost-effective ways to improve the safety of a temporary driver – while reducing your liability exposure – is to institute a fleet safety certification requirement. The certification also can provide your agency with some protection in the event that an incident does occur and negligent entrustment issues are raised. As part of the certification process, many organizations require short-term drivers to review a safety tutorial and take a corresponding test to establish a baseline level of driver safety knowledge. Successful completion of the test certifies the driver to operate a fleet vehicle. When you administer such a tutorial and test via the Internet or on CD-ROM, you can achieve good results without a substantial time or budget investment. If you take this approach, be sure that the tutorial and test cover the most common driver safety problems and provide practical advice that drivers can apply immediately.

"High-Risk" Drivers

In any fleet there are a disproportionate number of accidents caused by a small group of drivers. It’s not unusual to find that that as many as 80% of the collisions are caused by approximately 20% of the drivers. If you can identify these high-risk drivers and provide training that’s specific to the problems they’re experiencing, you can significantly reduce your accident rate and the associated costs.

To identify your high-risk drivers, begin by reviewing each fleet driver’s motor vehicle records and accident history. (Remember that non-reportable accidents won’t show up on a motor vehicle record, so you should establish some mechanism for drivers to report such incidents internally.) Before checking driving records, always obtain the driver’s written consent.

To quantify a driver’s risk based on the person’s records, many organizations use a system of points based on the nature of each accident or violation, and assign a specific training intervention to each risk level. For drivers with the fewest points, a videotape or CD-ROM combined with a test may make a sufficient impact. For drivers at slightly higher risk, a behind-the-wheel training program may be needed to erase bad habits. Drivers who demonstrate the greatest risk – those with a history of repeated violations and/or collisions – will likely need the individualized attention of an intensive one-to-one training program. Such sessions tend to be highly effective, because they demonstrate the serious nature of the problem and your efforts to correct it. This tailored approach also allows the trainer to focus on precisely those driving issues most pertinent to a particular driver.

Highway Drivers

If your fleet includes drivers who spend much of their day on limited-access highways, you’ll find that they tend to encounter a specific set of risks on the road. The most common problems include improper merging techniques, speeding, and following other vehicles too closely. In addition, highway drivers may not understand the risks and benefits of driving in the left, center or right lanes, or the best time to travel in each.

As they tend to travel greater distances per trip, highway drivers also are prone to fatigue. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that some 100,000 police-reported crashes each year involve drowsiness as a primary factor. Besides the risk of falling asleep at the wheel, fatigue fuels other dangerous driving behaviors, including impatience and speeding. To combat drowsy driving, highway drivers need training in spotting fatigue warning signs. They also should be aware of safe, appropriate steps to take if they become sleepy while driving.

Urban Drivers

Somewhere within your public fleet, there are likely to be groups of drivers who spend much of their day driving along city streets. These groups can include road crews assigned to urban areas or public agency employees based in a city. Regardless of their responsibilities, these drivers must be aware of several likely risks:

Intersections

Nearly 20 percent of the fatal crashes and almost 28 percent of all crashes in 1998 occurred at intersections, according to the NHTSA. Red-light running alone accounts for an estimated 800 deaths and 20,000 injuries each year. For this reason, urban drivers need practical strategies for traversing intersections safely – whether they’re controlled by traffic lights, stop signs or other markings. Parking

Parking accidents are very common for all drivers, though particularly so for drivers in congested settings. Whether in a parking lot or on a city street, an urban driver’s parking techniques can spell the difference between high and low risk. Rear-end Collisions

The high volume of traffic in urban areas places drivers in close proximity to each other and creates stop-and-go situations – both of which contribute to rear-end collisions. Teaching them how to maintain a safe following distance is one way to reduce the risk.

Backing Up

The average driver only operates a vehicle in reverse for about one mile annually – making all of us very inexperienced at backing up. On crowded city streets, backing up becomes even more risky. To address highly targeted risks like these four, consider scheduling a series of seminars that provide practical strategies for avoiding the most common city driving hazards. Such seminars are especially effective when conducted on a periodic schedule – giving new hires a chance to attend soon after they start their positions and allowing tenured drivers to take a refresher course every year or two.

Rural Drivers

A major risk for drivers traveling on rural roads is the relatively light traffic volume they often encounter. In low traffic situations, drivers tend to drop their guard because they assume the risk of an accident is low. But studies have shown that accident rates are very high at low levels of traffic congestion, in part because it encourages us to drive faster. Drivers who travel rural roads are more likely to encounter unmarked intersections – which are highly dangerous – and may find animals darting into the road unexpectedly. Severe weather also can prove hazardous for rural drivers, who may find themselves stranded in isolated areas.

For these reasons, fleet drivers who travel on rural roads need training in how to recognize the roadway dangers they are likely to face and how to minimize their risks. Like urban drivers, rural drivers can benefit greatly from periodic seminars on the safety issues most relevant to their driving environments. To combat weather-related risks, consider issuing seasonal driving tips and strategies – not only during the troublesome winter months, but at the start of each season.

Unique Situations

When segmenting your fleet and assessing each group’s risk, be on the lookout for particular job responsibilities that might give rise to unusual risks, such as drivers for a correctional facility. They often operate large, cumbersome vehicles and must maneuver them in tight, awkward spaces, in order to ensure maximum security when transporting inmates. Under these conditions, backing up a large vehicle can be challenging, and this is why backing accidents tend to be common among drivers at correctional facilities.

When a particular segment of your fleet and its risks are well defined, the corresponding safety intervention should be equally well defined. For correctional facilities, you might consider having these drivers participate in a behind-the-wheel program that focuses on specific skill-building exercises. This approach allows you to address specific driver needs. While each public entity and its individual agencies will vary in terms of size, fleet make-up and driving environments, one issue is certain: Public fleets invariably are composed of a diverse group of driver segments and risks. The ability to categorize your fleet based on some of the most common criteria is paramount to the success of any fleet safety initiatives you undertake. By segmenting your fleet carefully, identifying each group’s risk factors and implementing the most appropriate safety interventions, you will take the initiative in reducing your risk and improving your overall fleet safety record.

Phil Moser is National Sales Manager for Advanced Driver Training Services, Inc., a nationwide provider of fleet driver safety training products and services based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.