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I know you know what I’m talking about…the person driving in front of you makes an abrupt right hand turn without using their blinker, they’re using one hand to drive and one hand to talk, and no hands left to use the blinker.  The driver next to you on the highway is swerving slightly.  It’s the middle of the day so the assumption would be that they are not drunk.  Then you inevitably pass them in the slow lane, because they forgot to accelerate because they were texting on their cell phone.  You’ve seen this before and it may or may not frustrate you as much as it frustrates me on a regular basis.  I live in a state, Connecticut, which was one of the forerunners to ban cell phone use while driving, unless you use a hands-free device.  Despite this law being on the books for almost 4 years now, nobody seems to pay attention to it because every call they get is much, much more important than the laws prohibiting it.  It still amazes me how we were ever able to leave home or drive a car without a cell phone for so many years.  If you didn’t catch what I did there, please turn up your sarcasm meters.

New York also has a ban on using a cell phone without a hands free device while driving.  I believe they were the first state to adopt this law, but prior to last week, hadn’t “cracked down” on it.  The man power just isn’t there to pull over every Tom, Dick, and Harry who can’t wait 5 minutes to get to their destination to make a call, so violators are rarely prosecuted for breaking this law.  So back to last week, in one day, throughout the 5 boroughs, 9000 people were ticketed for using cell phones while driving.   LINK

Looks like New York’s finest are ready to put an end to behind the wheel chatting, and I for one, am 100% for this.  Hang up and drive.

Oh ya, let’s tie this into insurance and risk management real quick.  Remember the train conductor that crashed a train last fall?  Remember when he killed 25 people?  Remember when it was found out that he was on his phone when the crash happened? Train Crash Linked to Cell Use The technology is there to trace when any calls/texts are placed and received.  If one of your employees hits and kills a pedestrian while driving a company truck, during business hours who do you think picks up the tab?  You, the employer will through your GL and Auto policies.  The precedents are out there.  Contractors have been successfully sued for neglect when their employees cause accidents, and the accident is caused by inattention by the driver due to cell phone usage.  Your agent or broker should be able to explain this to you with a few examples.  If they can’t give me a call at the office(860-618-1116 ask for Dan) and I can walk you through the steps you need to take, to put in place a successful “no cell phone usage” clause in your employee handbook.  If your employees know that they will be picking up the bill for injuring someone because they were on their phone, it might make them think twice before answering their phone the second it rings next time.