Despite the warnings and public health campaigns, many of us are still guilty of distracted driving, whether that means eating lunch or checking text messages behind the wheel. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed that distracted driving was responsible for 3,166 deaths in 2017. More specifically, the National Safety Council estimates that cell phone distracted driving is responsible for more than 25 percent of auto collisions in the U.S. with the insurance industry reporting more than $33 billion annually in claims — a startling figure.
Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM) recently partnered with LifeSaver Mobile, a company dedicated to changing the culture of distracted driving, to help our insureds improve driver safety.
Through this partnership, we are hoping to curtail the frequency of accidents caused by distracted driving by encouraging driver accountability and by stopping cell phone distracted driving at the source: the phone
The LifeSaver app offers employers and fleet managers access to complete distracted-driving data for each driver. The app logs each attempt at distracted driving by company drivers and stores the data on the dashboard. This dashboard displays real-time driver compliance and offers employers the option to receive daily exception reports via email. Drivers are scored based on their overall distracted driving behavior, which can be used by fleet managers to find their most at-risk employees and take action if necessary. This service promotes a healthy, distraction-free driving environment as drivers know their actions are visible to their managers and, as a result, drive with safety in mind.
The service itself depends on an app for Android and iOS mobile devices. The app runs silently in the background on drivers’ smartphones and automatically protects the driver through visual intervention if the phone is unlocked at driving speed. While doing so, it also utilizes the latest in battery consumption technology to minimize the amount of battery used while running.
PLM’s partnership with LifeSaver Mobile offers:
- A 10 percent preferred discount for PLM policyholders
- An easy-to-install mobile application that teaches new driving behavior
- No hardware to purchase, install, or update
- A personalized fleet dashboard that helps fleet managers identify risky and safe drivers
- Flexibility to manage your LifeSaver account settings. Settings can be established to allow for review of a company’s LifeSaver usage and compliance by an individual or customizable group, all through the fleet dashboard.
Safety is our priority at PLM, and we’re confident that this partnership will help significantly reduce driver-related incidents. Too many companies, employees and bystanders are currently at risk. Distracted driving threatens not only workplace and community safety, but product orders and deliveries. LifeSaver Mobile will allow fleet managers to ensure that their staff members are practicing safe and healthy driving and not putting their own lives, the lives of others or the company at unnecessary risk.
To learn more about this program, please visit https://www.plmins.com/loss-control/distracted-driving-phone/ and complete the registration page for access to the discount. For more information, please contact LifeSaver Mobile at info@lifesaver-app.com or (833) DONT-TXT.
