Tips for How to Avoid Distracted Driving for Truckers
Truck driver distracted driving can lead to accidents, injuries, and fatalities. If you’re a commercial truck driver, it’s important to take steps to avoid distracted driving.
As a truck driver, there are many things you can do to protect yourself and others on the road. Knowing the regulations and taking proactive steps to stay focused can help you have a successful and safe truck driving career.
Distracted Driving Causes Accidents
The FMCSA states that a significant percentage of commercial truck accidents are linked to driver distraction.
- In 2023, over 3,275 people lost their lives due to distracted driving.
- Between 2018 and 2020, 756 large trucks were in fatal crashes involving driver distraction.
Most of us think of using a cell phone when we imagine distracted driving, but there are many ways drivers can become distracted. The top 10 truck driver distractions have been listed below:
- Reaching for an object
- Reading
- Adjusting/monitoring devices integral to the vehicle
- Removing/adjusting clothes
- Adjusting or using an electronic device (other than an electronic dispatching device)
- Reaching for a food or drink-related object
- Adjusting or using an electronic dispatching device
- External distraction
- Tobacco use
- Eating
Many of these distractions are within the control of the driver. To avoid being distracted while driving, consider the list above and take steps to avoid these distractions.
Never Use a Cell Phone
FMCSA has commissioned research that shows the odds of being involved crash, near-crash, or an unintentional deviation from your lane are 6 times greater when dialing a mobile phone.
To dial a phone, drivers must take their eyes off the road for almost 4 seconds, or longer. If your vehicle is traveling at a speed of 55 miles per hour, this means you may travel the length of a football field while not looking at the road. This is why the FMCSA prohibits the use of a cell phone while driving commercial vehicles.
What Does It Mean to Use a Cell Phone?
Here’s what qualifies as using a cell phone:
- Dialing a number
- Using the phone with one hand while driving with the other
- Maneuvering your body to reach for a cell phone
Tips for Avoiding Cell Phone Use
As a driver, there are things you can do to avoid cell phone use while driving.
- Never pick up your phone, even at stoplights.
- Put your cell phone in “do not disturb” mode while driving.
- Communicate with friends and family that you are unreachable when driving.
- Consider turning off your cell phone while driving.
Avoid Other Distractions
Beyond cell phones, drivers may become distracted in other ways as well. Common distractions include using a GPS device, eating or drinking while driving, updating driver logs, and engaging in personal grooming activities. None of these activities is worth the potential cost, considering what’s at stake. Distracted driving can take lives.
Know the Consequences
In addition to causing accidents, there are other consequences of distracted driving.
- Injuries and fatalities: The size and weight of commercial vehicles can cause serious damage to other vehicles on the road. When a large commercial vehicle is involved in an accident, people are often injured or killed.
- Fines: Penalties for using hand-held mobile devices can lead to fines of up to $2,750 and up to $11,000 for employers that require drivers to use hand-held communications devices while driving.
- Disqualification: If you’re a driver who receives multiple violations while using a hand-held mobile phone while driving, you may be disqualified by the FMCSA.
Be Aware of Regulations
The FMCSA promotes safe driving practices through awareness campaigns and regulations, especially regarding texting and mobile phone restrictions. Texting while driving is not allowed. Texting includes manually entering or reading text from an electronic device, even when emailing, instant messaging, and so on.
Drivers are also not allowed to hold a mobile phone to conduct a voice communication, nor may they dial by pressing more than a single button. Drivers are not allowed to even hold a phone or press more than one button while driving.
Want to know what else you can do to be a safe driver?
- Be aware of all FMCSA regulations to avoid distracted driving.
- Take regular driver training classes or pursue certifications to learn about new safety considerations and ways to stay safe.
- Take advantage of safety incentives like the Barr-Nunn safety bonuses. Drivers who do things like maintain a clean driving record and adhere to safety laws can earn cash bonuses and paid time off.
- Maintain a safe vehicle. Getting regular maintenance checks helps ensure that your truck is road-worthy.
- Always follow the laws. FMCSA regulations aren’t the only laws that drivers have to follow. Know local and state laws that apply to you. Know the laws and follow them.
Avoid Penalties
Violations of distracted driving regulations can result in fines for drivers and carriers, as well as potential driver disqualification. Worst of all, it can lead to fatalities. Truck driver distracted driving just isn’t worth it. If you’re serious about safety, Barr-Nunn has opportunities for you. Contact us to learn more about our truck driving jobs.
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