Cell Phone Use & Driving Impact on Employee Safety, Productivity and Employer Liability Janet...

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© 2012 National Safety Council

Cell Phone Use & DrivingImpact on Employee Safety,

Productivity and Employer Liability

Janet FroetscherPresident & CEO

National Safety Council


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The National Safety CouncilThe National Safety Council saves lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the roads, through leadership, research, education and advocacy.

• Preventing injuries and saving lives since 1913• Partnering with businesses, government agencies, elected officials and the

public• 15+ years serving more than 100 countries• 51,000 member company locations reaching 8.5 million employees


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Celebrating 100 Years of Safety

• Since 1912, the death rate has been cut in half

• Nearly 6 million lives have been saved through collective efforts of the safety movement

• Today, safety is a humanitarian and economic necessity


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We’ve come a long way

• Imbed video of San Francisco street here….


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Preventable Injuries and DeathsAt WorkDeaths

3,909Medically consulted injuries

5 million

On the RoadsDeaths


3.7 million

At HomeDeaths


18.8 million


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Why Workplaces are Safer Than Our Roadways

• Businesses have been leading the culture of safety in our country for decades– Example, seatbelts

• Businesses willing to prioritize safety

• Comfortable making decisions with limited data


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Today’s Sobering Facts on Motor vehicle crashes

• 1 million people have died in motor vehicle crashes in last 25 yrs• 35,000 deaths each year in the U.S.• #1 cause of workplace fatalities• Leading cause of on and off-the-job unintentional deaths in U.S. • Leading cause of death for people 5- to 24-years-old• Cost to society = $100 billion per year• Society appears to have grown complacent, accepting these

deaths and injuries• All are preventable


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Understanding Crash CausationVehicle maintenance factors

– Definite cause 10% of the time– Probable cause 13% of the time

Environmental factors– Definite cause 20% of the time– Probable cause 33% of the time

Human error– Definite cause 70% of the time– Probable cause 93% of the time

Source: Auto Alliance


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Crashes and Cell PhonesRisk – how risky is the distraction

Reading 3.4xReaching for a moving object 8.8xTurning around in a seat 8.8xTalking on a cell phone 4xTexting 8-23x

Prevalence – how often is it happeningManipulating a wireless device 0.9%Talking on a cell phone 9%

Lower risk behaviors include eating while driving and listening to the radio


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Crashes and Cell Phones• 21% of all crashes involve cell phone conversations, that’s 1.1

million crashes per year

• 4% of all crashes involve texting, that’s 213,000 crashes

25% of all crashes involve cell phone use


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Cell Phone Use and Driving

• Likelihood of crashing increases by 4x

• Cell phone distracted drivers have slower reaction times and were more likely to crash than drivers with a .08 BAC

• Risk was raised irrespective of whether or not a hands-free device was used


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Prevention Challenges• Nearly everyone recognizes risks of texting

• Fewer realize that cell phone conversation distracts the brain

• When drivers do recognize danger, they see it in other drivers, not themselves

• False sense of security because nothing bad happens during most trips

• Hands-free seen as solution, believed safer than handheld


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Three Types of Distractions• There are three types of distraction:

Visual: eyes on roadMechanical: hands on wheelCognitive: mind on driving

• Much more than “eyes on the road, hands on the wheel”

• Visual and mechanical distractions are short lived – cognitive distractions last much longer


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Multitasking is a Myth• When brains are overloaded by two cognitive tasks, people switch

attention without realizing it

• Driving becomes impaired when it becomes a secondary task• “Switching” causes slower reaction times

– Fractions of seconds are lost but they add up– Vehicle traveling 55 mph travels length of football field before

stopping– About 21 car lengths


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Hands-free and Crash Risk • Hands free devices do not reduce crash risk:

– National Safety Council– National Transportation Safety Board– World Health Organization– Insurance Institute for Highway Safety– Governors Highway Safety Association

• 30+ studies reported substantial negative effects of cell phone use on driving for hands-free and handheld phones

• Hands-free and hand-held have similar effects in reaction time and speed


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Inattention Blindness• “Looking” but not “seeing”

• We think we see everything in our surroundings but our brains actually analyze very little information

• Drivers talking on cell phones less likely to see:– Exits, red lights and stop signs– Navigational signage– Content of objects

• How much info can we miss seeing? 50%


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“Tunnel Vision” of a Driver Using Hands-free

Where drivers not using a hands-free cell phone looked

Where drivers using a hands-free cell phone looked

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Thursday (2-2-2012) evening I was in my car, stopped at a traffic light. After the light turned green, but before the car in front of me had time to start through the intersection, I was hit from behind. In talking with the woman who hit me, I found out that she was on her phone – but she assured me that she was driving safely because she was using her built-in, hands-free system in her Lincoln SUV. She said that she saw the light was green, but guessed that she didn’t notice that the cars weren’t moving yet. Fortunately, nobody was hurt seriously.

When the police got there, she showed them all the “safety features” of her in-dash phone system, and they seemed impressed - she didn’t get a ticket!

Debby Young, NSC Staff

A Personal Account


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A Decrease in Brain Activation• Regions of the brain pull from shared, limited resource• Seemingly unrelated tasks – like conversation and vision – can

pull from same area• Listening to sentences on cell phones decreased activity by 37%

in the brain’s parietal lobeDriving only Driving with sentence listening

Source: Carnegie Mellon University


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Passenger Conversations• Adult drivers with passengers have lower crash rates• Adult passengers share awareness of driving situation, a

safety benefit– Co-pilot– Can adjust conversation • Cell phone talking is different– Social expectations – silence is weird– Envisioning person on other end of phone• Passenger conversation can be distracting


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A Common MisperceptionIf talking on a cell phone is so dangerous, and cell phone use has exploded in the last 10 years, why haven’t we seen a spike in crashes and fatalities?

Crashes have actually decreased 9% since 2000 and fatalities have also trended downward.

How can this be?


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2% cell phone use

10% cell phone use


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How do we solve this problemof 1.3 million crashes per year

involving cell phone use and texting?


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NSC StrategiesEducation: Educate the public about the risks and crash involvement of cell phone use and the special risks of texting/email/internet use

•Business Policies: Work with employers to enact cell phone bans for all employee use

•Build public awareness about the special risks of texting/email/internet use

Legislation: Work with legislators to enact texting bans. Seek the first state to enact a total cell phone ban

Technology: Seek engineering and technology solutions


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What we learned from seatbelts

0% 14% 60% 80% 86%

Public Education 1966-1981

State Laws 1982-1996

Enforcement1997-2007

Current Usage


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The NSC Cell Phone Policy Kit

http://cellphonekit.nsc.org

Employee education• Myth busters• Top 10 reasons• FAQs• Tips to drive cell-free• Voice mail greetings• Parking lot signs• Posters• Family stories• Much more!

http://shop.nsc.org/Product.aspx?ProductId=2222&CategoryId=39


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Companies with Policies • Exxon/Mobil• DuPont• Halliburton• Shell• Chevron• BP• Enbridge• AstraZeneca• Spectra Energy• CA Office of Traffic Safety

• Abbott• EnCana• Cargill• CSX Intermodal• Schneider National• Sysco Corporation• Time Warner Cable• Potash• Owens Corning• NTSB


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What about productivity?Survey of AMEC employees one year after corporate cell phone driving ban•97% agreed talking on a cell phone impacts a person’s ability to drive safely•96% felt responsible companies should discourage use of wireless communications while driving•95% did not experience a decrease in productivity as a result of the ban during work hours•83% reduced or quit using wireless devices while driving outside of work hours


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Case Study: GPIC Implements Corporate Cell Phone Ban

• President Jawahery launches GPIC Mobile Phone Ban Campaign being the first to sign the policy

• NSC materials and car stickers distributed to employees reminding them to switch off their phones before driving

• President Jawahery sent letters to public officials, trade associations, other leading companies and vendors urging them to implement bans in their organizations

• Brought campaign into shopping malls and local universities to bring message to the public


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Case Study: GPIC


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Employer LiabilitySmall sample of employers who were held liable for their employees involved in cell phone distracted driving crashes:$21 million - A soft drink beverage truck driver was using a hands-free headset, in compliance with a handheld ban, when she struck another vehicle and injured the driver. A jury awarded $21 million in damages to the injured driver

$18 million: A transport company in Alabama was ordered to pay damages to the plaintiff who was left unable to walk or talk after a crash caused by one of their drivers distracted by a cell phone

$2.5 million: State of Hawaii agreed to pay as its share of liability in a crash involving a state employee who was talking on her cell phone when she hit a tourist

$1.5 million: City of Palo Alto has agreed to pay the victim of a vehicle crash involving a city worker who was using his cell phone while driving


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NSC Leading the Way


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Recognize Distracted Driving Month this April

www.nsc.org/ddmonth• Video series• Posters• Fact sheets• Social media posts• White papers


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Current Legislative LandscapeHandheld cell phone bans for all drivers

10 U.S. states the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from talking on handheld cell phones while driving.

Source: www.iihs.org/l

Updated: June 2012

http://www.iihs.org/laws/maphandheldcellbans.aspx


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Text Messaging Bans39 states and the District of Columbia have a text messaging ban for all drivers.

Source: www.iihs.org/Updated: June 2012

http://www.iihs.org/laws/maptextingbans.aspx


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Novice Driver BansIn 32 states and the District of Columbia ban all cell use by novice drivers.

Source: www.iihs.org/laws/maptextingbans.aspxUpdated: November 2011

http://www.iihs.org/laws/maptextingbans.aspx


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Technology as a Solution• Signal jamming

– Jamming device in vehicle– Limited geographic reach– Currently illegal

• Smartphone app without vehicle integration– Uses phone’s GPS to trigger “driving condition”– Sends calls to VM, stores texts and emails

• Smartphone app with vehicle integration– Sensor plugs in to vehicle OBD port– Communicates “driving” to phone via Bluetooth

• Wireless network solution– “Thin client” on smart phone signals network of “driving condition”– Network applies call management tools


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Public Support2012 NHTSA Survey on Distracted Driving Attitudes and Behaviors•Nearly three-fourths of respondents supported bans on handheld cell phone use•94% supported texting or email bans

2012 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Study •66.4% of drivers support laws banning handheld cell phones for all drivers.

2010 Quinnipiac University•63% American voters support ban on cell phone use while driving, even while using a "hands-free" device

2009 Nationwide Insurance “On Your Side Survey” •57% drivers support a ban on all cell phone use while driving


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What You Can Do• Personal example – stop using cell phone when

driving (change no answer greeting)• Don’t talk with people who call you while they are

driving• Educate employees, drivers, parents, friends and

family• Implement cell phone driving bans• Support legislation and enforcement• Hold offenders accountable


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Erica Forney – Nine year old killed by a cell phone driver while riding her bicycle home from school. (November 2008, CO) “My name is Michelle. I am 36 years old. On Nov. 25, 2008, I accidentally struck Erica Forney. Although I do not have a clear memory of the accident, the police tell me I recently finished a cell phone call and may have been distracted...

Jay & Jean Good – Killed when hit by a tractor-trailer that swerved to avoid a minivan that ran a light, 18-year-old minivan driver talking on a cell phone. (May 2008, PA)


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12 year old killed by cell phone distracted driver

Joe Teater 4/12/91 – 1/20/04


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Questions?

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