Driver safety is vital to your delivery service, whether your driver fleet is on the road daily, or only a few times a week. In either case, keeping your business safe on the road should be a top priority.
Just one accident can put your business at risk. And knowing who is liable can be challenging. Is it your driver? Is it the driver of the other party in the accident? Is it you?
Answering these questions can help you keep your business safe, drivers covered, and your business at a decreased risk of legal action. So who is liable? Let’s take a deeper look, and cover a few top tips to keep your driver’s safe.
Liability in a Business Employee Vehicle Accident
There is quite a bit involved when it comes to figuring out liability when one of your drivers gets into a vehicle accident. Some of the factors include:
- Driver action at the time of the accident
- The driver’s employment status
- A company vehicle or the driver’s personal vehicle
- Insurance of the driver
- Operation procedures in place
In most cases, if a driver is working at the time of the accident, the employer is liable. This liability extends to your employee and the other party in the accident.
For instance, if your employee is a delivery driver by title, it would be considered a workplace accident, regardless if the accident was out of the office (respondeat superior).
The Role of the Delivery Driver Matters
When these cases are examined legally, the role of your driver plays a role in dishing out liability. For instance, if your driver is independently contracted, they may have more liability then your business. This simply depends on what they were doing at the time of the accident.
However, company policy can be a big issue for liability after an employee vehicle accident. For truck drivers, there are specific driving guidelines they must follow under the direction and supervision of the business they drive for.
Now that doesn’t mean business policies are strictly enforced. There is a lot of truck driving accidents per year. These accidents can be deadly for the driver and passengers of the vehicle involved in a tractor-trailer accident.
“When a truck hits a car, the occupants of the car are often killed or suffer very serious injuries, such as brain and spinal cord injuries, while the truck driver walks away from the accident unharmed,” a truck accident attorney in Los Angeles explained.
The following tips may keep your drivers safe on the road, and help you and your business avoid potential legal action if an accident does occur.
Put Strict Safe Driving Policies in Place, and Enforce Them
Driver policies are a great way to keep drivers safe on the road, and protect your business. For instance, if an employee driver gets into an accident and wasn’t following company driver policies, you may have little to no liability.
But this does mean that you need to enforce these policies. Hold monthly safety meetings, and even do a ride along with your drivers to check how safe they really are on the road.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
Technology can be an asset in safe driving and ensuring your drivers are doing what they should be doing while on the road. Many businesses have delivery vehicles equipped with GPS location devices to track employee drivers.
There are also intelligent tracking devices that can show you what employee is driving what vehicle, where they are, and how they are driving. The data of these intelligent trackers include:
- Fuel efficiency
- Braking
- Acceleration
- Driving speed
- Cornering speed
Emphasize Vehicle Maintenance
Driver safety and the safety of other drivers on the road aren’t always about the driving habits of an employee. Sometimes accidents are caused by poor vehicle condition. This makes vehicle maintenance essential to safe driving for your business.
Encourage drivers to take ownership of the vehicles they drive by implementing preventive maintenance checks before and after their shifts. They can check things like, lights, fluid levels, tire pressure, potential hazards in and around the vehicle, and brake performance.
How Safe is Your Business Fleet and Drivers?
Whether you have three delivery vehicles or a large operation of 25 or more vehicles, safe driving needs to be a priority. It keeps your employees safe, as well as protects your business from liability. How can you make your business safer?
