StopTexting While Driving - Copy

The Importance of Fleet Communication

Fleet managers rely on sending regular updates to their drivers, and text messaging has become the go-to source of communication for nearly every fleet company. Whether it’s a delivery update, rerouting notification, distribution priority or merely any other message, fleet companies have come to rely on text messages to stay in contact with all of their drivers.

Being able to communicate with drivers is imperative, but ensuring driver safety is of the utmost importance. And sending text messages while driving puts any driver in a vulnerable position.

Dangers of Texting While Driving

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that each day nine people are killed and over 1,000 more are injured in accidents that involved a distracted driver. The main types of distraction are visual, manual and cognitive-based tasks that drivers perform while behind the wheel. Of all the different types of distracted driving, text messaging has proven to be the most dangerous because it combines all three factors.

Performing sub-errands like these, in which a person reaches for a phone or tablet when they should be focused on driving, increases the risk of being involved in a crash by three times, according to the CDC. In fact, the CDC also reported that sending or reading a text message takes a driver’s eyes away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, which, at 55 MPH, is the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.

Two-Way Messaging Can Eliminate Risks

Nearly every state has banned texting while driving along with operating hand-held devices to make the roads safer. Still, drivers often reach for their phones and tablets. To ensure the safety of your fleet’s drivers, consider switching to a two-way messaging device.

This way drivers and dispatch never lose touch without sacrificing driver safety. The dashboard mounted tablet’s split-screen display shows incoming messages and turn-by-turn directions without having to fumble through a device. Drivers are safeguarded by not being able to respond to messages until they have come to a complete stop, at which point they can inform dispatch of arrivals, departures, availability, customer information and job details.

The added safety of two-way messaging ultimately leads to increased driver efficiency all while complying with state laws. So keep your drivers, along with the rest of the road, safe by reducing the huge risk of texting while driving by implementing an innovative two-way messaging fleet management solution.