Mobile phone use can invalidate motor insurance
Commercial transportation fleets are being strongly advised to reinforce and enhance their existing policies and regulations regarding the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices by their drivers while operating company vehicles. These updated and more stringent policies are necessary to ensure driver safety and to minimize the risk of accidents and potential legal liabilities. Failure to implement and enforce these crucial policy changes could result in significant financial penalties and other adverse consequences for non-compliant fleet operators. Therefore, fleet managers should proactively review and strengthen their current guidelines on driver phone use to avoid potential repercussions.
Tightening insurance restrictions could leave fleets without cover if a driver involved in a collision is found to have been distracted by their phone.
A number of insurers in the Netherlands have become the first to invalidate insurance for drivers who cause crashes while using hand-held phones.
The consequence could leave drivers and their employers liable for massive financial claims for vehicle repairs and personal injury compensation.
Alcohol, drugs and phones
Insurers already refuse cover to drivers found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and are now turning their attention to mobile phone use, one of the primary causes of distracted driving.
All European countries have outlawed the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving, identifying it as the greatest risk to road safety. Scientific studies have also shown that hands-free phone use creates a cognitive distraction.
5 steps to stop distracted driving – click here
Academic research proves that texting, browsing, and dialling increase crash risks. Taking eyes off the road for just five 5 seconds at 80kph is equivalent to travelling the length of a football pitch without looking. Data from Austria’s road safety organisation, the KFV, found that using a hands-held phone increases the collision risk for drivers by about four to five times, and texting by as much as 23 times.
Phone abuse is common
Yet the practice is common. A Geotab survey of 3,500 commercial vehicle drivers published earlier this month found that distractions caused by other drivers using mobile phones was the the most frequently noticed dangerous behaviour among road users, cited by 59% of drivers in Italy and 53% in Spain. The findings corroborate an earlier survey of drivers across 20 European countries that found almost half of drivers in some countries admitted to talking on a hand-held phone at least once in the previous 30 days, while up to one third had sent a text while driving.
Insurers get tough
Claims and risk management specialist Van Ameyde, said the tougher line taken by Dutch insurers, including Interpolis, Centraal Beheer, and FBTO, marked a serious shift in how distracted driving is addressed. fleets need to be sure of the small print of their policies and warn their drivers accordingly.
Interpolis said it now equates non-hands-free calling with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. As a result, if a driver causes damage or injury through non-hands-free mobile use, the person will not be insured, meaning any damage to any of the vehicles involves, as well as personal injury claims must be paid by the driver.
Adriaan Heino, traffic psychologist at Interpolis, said the firm’s Mobility Barometer reveals that telephone use in traffic is persistent and even increasing, even though drivers know it is illegal and dangerous. He added that highlighting the financial consequences of crashing while using a phone provides an additional argument to combat distracted driving.
“45% of road users indicate that they do not use their telephone in traffic if they know that damage and injury caused by non-hands-free calling is not insured,” he said.
Fleet action
While these policies are more likely to cover private, rather than fleet drivers, fleets do have a role to play in reducing distracted driving risks.
One fleet manager told Fleet Europe that employers should have a strict fleet policy prohibiting phone use. He said fleets should educate drivers to programme phone-based satnavs before they start their journeys, and to factor in regular breaks in case they need to replan routes, make calls or read messages.
Businesses also need to accept that they should not attempt to contact any employee while they are driving, he added.
Technology solutions
New technology is helping to combat phone use behind the wheel, with driver-facing cameras now able to detect driver distraction and signal an immediate alert to the driver to refocus on the road ahead.
Fleets such as Heineken and G4S have introduced SafeDrivePod, a small device that works in tandem with the SafeDriveFocus app to automatically block smartphone use as soon as a vehicle starts to move. International leasing company Athlon, which has not changed the terms of its insurance policy regarding drivers using their phones, also offers the SafeDrivePod solution to its customers.
Alexander Heijkamp, Sustainability and CSR Director, Athlon International, said: “We see it as our responsibility to put safe company cars on the road and to promote and implement safe and responsible driving. It is our ambition to reduce the number of road accidents caused by an Athlon vehicle (accidents resulting in physical injury to the driver or a third party) to zero.”
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