Despite the warnings and public health campaigns, many are still guilty of distracted driving, whether that means eating lunch or checking text messages behind the wheel. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving was responsible for 3,166 deaths in 2017. 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.
As distracted driving continues to cause such severe damages to businesses across the country, it’s become increasingly important for the insurance community to offer solutions for our customers.
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. Each time a driver attempts to unlock their phone at driving speed, the LifeSaver app visually intervenes to block access and/or remind the driver to get off their phone screen, logs the attempt as a distracted driving incident and reports the data on the employer’s dashboard. Drivers are then scored based on their overall distracted driving behavior, which fleet managers can use to determine which of their employees are most at-risk and require further training. The dashboard displays real-time driver compliance and provides employers with the option to receive daily exception reports via email. 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. The company can allow for review of LifeSaver usage and compliance by an individual or customizable group, all through the fleet dashboard.
What you can do
Safety is our priority at PLM, and we know you share that priority. Please discuss the LifeSaver Mobile solution with your customers as an effective tool to ensure their drivers are practicing safe and healthy driving behavior and not putting their own lives or the company at unnecessary risk.
To learn more about this program, visit https://www.plmins.com/loss-control/distracted-driving-phone/. When you share this link with customers, please have them complete the PLM/ LifeSaver Mobile registration page for access to the discount. For more information, please contact LifeSaver Mobile at info@lifesaver-app.com or (833) DONT-TXT.
