Each year, nearly 50 million car accidents occur around the world.
If you own a business that uses delivery vehicles on a daily basis, your main goal should be increasing safety. Failing to take driver safety seriously can lead to accidents and lawsuits occurring. Lawyers like the ones at The Clark Law Office handled a number of personal injury cases each year involving car crashes.
Some of the main causes of these car crashes are things like a lack of vehicle maintenance or distracted driving. If you are looking for a way to decrease the chance of delivery vehicle accidents, check out the helpful tips below.
- Only Used Licensed Drivers
While only using licensed drivers may sound like a no-brainer, you would be surprised to learn how many companies ignore this rule altogether. If the delivery vehicles you have are larger, it may require a driver to have a special type of license, like a CDL, to operate it. Checking the guidelines of your state’s DMV will give you all the information you need to figure out what type of licenses your drivers need.
Not only will ensuring drivers have the right credentials to operate your vehicles help you avoid fines, it can also help you minimize the chance of accidents occurring. Drivers who have specialized training in the operation of larger vehicles will have an easier time staying safe behind the wheel.
- Make Sure All Equipment on a Delivery Vehicle is Secure
Do the delivery trucks you own routinely carry various materials around? If so, making sure these materials are secure before hitting the road is important.
There are a number of crashes each year caused by debris falling out of the back of delivery vehicles. The drivers behind these vehicles will have to swerve out of the way to miss the debris, which puts them and the other motorists on the road in danger. Using tools like cargo straps to properly secure the materials in your delivery vehicles will reduce the chance of these types of accidents occurring.
- Just Say No To Distracted Driving
A recent report claimed that nearly 1,000 people a day are injured in the United States due to distracted driving. There is no denying that smartphones are one of the biggest distractions most drivers have while behind the wheel. Instituting a zero tolerance policy for distracted driving is a good way to keep your employees from participating in this dangerous activity.
If crew members are driving in the same delivery vehicle, assign one of them to handle all electronic devices. When drivers are all alone, you need to advise them to pull over to answer any phone calls or texts they may receive while on the clock. Being smart about distracted driving is essential when trying to increase driver safety.
- There is No Need to Speed
Another very common cause of car accidents in this country is speeding. Delivery drivers are usually on a very tight schedule, which puts them at a greater risk of speeding. Being somewhat flexible with delivery times can help to eliminate this problem.
Installing GPS systems on all of your delivery vehicles is also a smart idea. With these trackers, you can get information about how fast delivery drivers are going and whether or not they are taking the most efficient routes to their destination.
While increasing the safety of your delivery vehicles may be costly, it is money well-spent. With the right upgrades and training, you can significantly decrease the chance of vehicle accidents occurring.
