Anyone with younger children has likely seen the movie Up. There are several scenes where one of the talking dogs is mid-sentence and suddenly whips his head around while proclaiming "Squirrel!" On more occasions than I can count, I've opened the back door to let my dog out only to have him proceed at the speed of light to catch that squirrel across the yard, momentarily forgetting the reason he went out in the first place. Other than a cat, what greater distraction is there for a dog?

For us humans, our cell phones or other electronic devices are the equivalent of squirrels. How many times have you been mid-sentence with someone when a text alert dings on your phone and your eyes are drawn to it? What about when you're in the middle of a Zoom meeting and your email icon lights up—aren't you tempted to go read that email right this second? We just can't seem to help it.

But what happens when we're driving and that text or email alert comes in? How long is too long to let our eyes wander from the road in front of us to check that screen? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), "Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds and at 55 mph, that's like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed."

The World Health Organization states that "Telephone use while driving (whether hand-held or hands-free) increases the likelihood of being involved in a crash by a factor of four, while texting increases crash risk by around 23 percent."

In the United States, April is Distracted Driving Awareness month, a time to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and encourage drivers to reduce or eliminate distractions behind the wheel. NHTSA reports that 3,142 people were killed in the U.S. in 2020 in distracted driving crashes, and worldwide distracted driving fatality estimates are around 2.5 million.

This month, and any month, I encourage you to make use of the many distracted driving prevention resources available such as NETS Distracted Driving Module or the other resources shared below from the National Safety Council and NHTSA.

It's time to remind employees, family members, and even ourselves that distracted driving isn't worth it—that squirrel can wait until we're not driving!

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NETS Annual Strength IN Numbers® Benchmark Now Open!

NETS annual Benchmark process has begun for all NETS Member Companies. The deadline for entering metrics and survey responses is April 15, 2022.

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At its heart is the Mentor by eDrivingSM smartphone app that identifies risky driving behaviors for intervention and safe driving habits for recognition. In-app features include micro-training and coaching, gamification, collision reporting, vehicle inspections, and an individual FICO® Safe Driving Score validated to predict the likelihood of being involved in a collision. Mentor’s integrated automatic crash detection and Personal SOS features powered by Sfara and Bosch trigger a voice call and emergency support, as needed, from one of Bosch’s Global Call Centers supporting >50 countries. Through its five-stage, patented Crash-Free Culture® risk reduction methodology, eDriving helps organizations embrace safety and reduce risk for Sales, Service, Delivery and Warehouse drivers, all within a privacy-first, data-secure environment.

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Mobile device distractions put employees in danger and companies at risk. So why would anyone settle for safety measures that simply report what went wrong, or only work when people remember to turn them on? TRUCE Software automatically suspends distracting mobile apps and functions depending on what your employee is doing, where they are working or even the workgroup they are part of. You define the policy and TRUCE ensures compliance when and where it’s needed. Supporting more than 100,000 subscribers and some of the largest brands worldwide, our patented technology is making workplaces everywhere safer.

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After years of innovation in the world of smartphones, PCs and tablets, there is a new tech gadget leader: the car. In fact, key chip companies that have powered those devices for years - including Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Intel's Mobileye division...

Do you have a particularly successful road safety example to share? NETS Members are encouraged to share best practices, ask questions or contribute their expertise to the NETS Road Safety Leaders Forum, an online discussion forum exclusively for NETS Members and Sponsors. Not yet a member? Check out the benefits at https://trafficsafety.org/membership-info/.