WHAT DOES AN ON-THE-JOB ACCIDENT COST EMPLOYERS?
- $56 Billion – Cost of motor vehicle accidents to employers in 2017
- 53% of vehicle accidents caused employees to miss work
- $760 – Out of service costs for fleets per vehicle per day (up to)
WHAT IS NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT?
Negligent entrustment, is the act of entrusting an automobile to a driver who the owner knows could use the vehicle to cause harm to others based on previous behavior.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN THE REAL WORLD?
A 2016 wrongful death verdict against a fleet for $22.7 million shows how a safety policy that is deemed “insufficient” can weaken a fleet defendant’s case. The driver for a food refrigeration company rear-ended a stopped vehicle, killing the driver of that vehicle, and injuring the driver of another truck. The fleet driver was found to be driving under the influence of numerous narcotic drugs and alcohol. The company had a drug screening program, but had not identified the driver as a potential risk.
In addition to the $22.7 negligent entrustment &wrongful death verdict, the company was also found liable for the injuries of the driver in the other vehicle that was involved in the crash. That driver received a verdict of $12.3 million. The fleet driver was also facing criminal charges. Prior to the accident, the driver had an identified history of speeding tickets, a red flag that a continuous MVR monitoring program would have caught.
SuperVision & a continuous MVR monitoring program can help you avoid negligent entrustment liability, stay ahead of the problems and keep your drivers on the road.
A program that can be demonstrated as successfully identifying risky drivers, enforced alongside a solid safety program, will help the company’s defense team build the case that the company’s drivers are not only safe, but the entire fleet operation is run in a safe manner. Continuous MVR monitoring is the foundation of establishing the safety culture, and shows that the company acts proactively to any MVR violation. As part of its safety program, the fleet should have a program to take corrective action following an MVR red flag. It is crucial that the fleet manager is the catalyst to move his or her company out of this “good enough” inertia when it comes to monitoring driver records. Work with a continuous MVR provider, such as SuperVision, to help sell leadership, safety, HR, and other stakeholders on the importance of continuous MVR monitoring.
A comprehensive fleet safety and performance portfolio, the SuperVision® product suite includes continuous driver MVR monitoring, CSA risk-score management and business performance solutions. With cloud and webbased infrastructure, fleet & safety professionals can easily optimize driver & fleet safety with streamlined access to up-to-date analytics & reporting. With the industry’s easiest-to-use web-based application and straightforward nationwide pricing, we’ve simplified driver license monitoring. No other service monitors more drivers, provides faster alerts, or matches SuperVision’s infrastructure, expertise and customer service. See how easy it is to discover driver violations with the only driver monitoring service to cover all 50 states, D.C. and Canada.