Abuse of Cell Phones Taken More Seriously
19 July 2012 - By Eugene Herbert - The RAC Group
Hi Folks… Earlier in 2012, a Texas jury handed down a $21 million verdict against Coca-Cola USA in a lawsuit brought after an August 2010 distracted driving crash involving one of Coca-Cola's employees. At the time of the crash, that employee was using a mobile phone. While Coca-Cola did have a policy pertaining to employee cell phone use while driving in place, the plaintiff's lawyers successfully argued that the company had not done enough to enforce its policy. Sadly this is something we see to often – Companies paying lip service to road safety. So what can other companies (including South African) learn from the mistakes of Coca-Cola and other employers held liable for millions of dollars as a result of crashes caused by employee cell phone use while driving on the job? To reduce crashes and minimize risk, there needs to be an employee cell phone use policy implemented and adequately enforced! While we know and accept that “Hands Free” is Legal in SA the question is often posed as to “how safe is it”. Instead of answering from a Defensive Driver Training perspective rather read the article below sharing latest research. Till next time – Think Driving, Not Phoning!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The team at MASTERDRIVE http://advanceddriving.co.za |