Safe Communities of Wright County offers a free program called Drive Safely Work Week for employers.
This campaign is an opportunity for employers to address road safety with all employees, not just those in driving-focused roles, and is sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS). Dane Bremer, Director of Employee Safety & Global Business Continuity, Liberty Mutual and NETS Board Chair was quoted saying “Nearly 1.6 million days are lost from work due to traffic crashes and 90% of those are related to off-the-job crashes. This campaign gives employers a ready-made resource to help keep all their employees—and their families—safe on the roads.” Safe Communities of Wright County is excited to offer this program to area employers to promote focused driving throughout their entire organization.
The 2021 Wright County Community Health Survey showed that 73% of respondents considered distracted driving a moderate or serious problem. This statistic shows the overall acknowledgment that this is an important issue, and we believe that’s the first step in addressing it. Respondents of the county survey ranked distracted driving as the #1 issue in Wright County three times in a row, so this is a problem that people in Wright County have recognized for years. Interestingly enough, in 2021, a total of 41% of respondents report reading or sending texts, 76% report making or answering a phone call and 41% report they do other activities such as eat, read, apply makeup or shave. So, even though respondents state this is a moderate or serious concern, the statistics show that quite a lot of those same people still drive distracted. It’s distressing for all drivers when fellow drivers are obviously not paying attention to the road. Feelings of helplessness, panic and the avoidance of driving on roads that are frequented by people who are obviously distracted have been reported to Safe Communities of Wright County board members. We are eager to implement one possible solution to this common danger on our roads.
For this program, the week starts off on Monday with a “lunch and learn” PowerPoint presentation (or a recorded video sent to all employees) with traffic safety information from the Safe Communities of Wright County Executive Director. Just before this presentation, all employees will take part in an anonymous survey. Then on days two, three and four, educational emails, flyers and display boards will be utilized to create more awareness of the importance of driving focused – whether it’s to and from work, during work or anytime! Give-a-ways will occur throughout the week as well. On Friday, employers/administration will work with the SCWC Executive Director to assess policies and the culture that can create safer drivers among the entire organization. Administrators will be asked to sign a pledge (see below) to support safe driving for their employees and each employee can also sign their own safe driving pledge (see below). This will hopefully result in some long-lasting policies, systems and environmental changes with the overall goal being to support everyone in making the best decisions while driving. Then everyone will take a second survey, identical to the first, to assess if there have been any changes in overall beliefs as well as behavior modifications.
The second offering for employers is to display one of Safe Communities of Wright County’s Traffic Safety Signs. They are designed to be placed in parking lots at the exit and simply ask everyone to “Buckle Up” and “Just Drive” as a simple reminder to be safe on our roadways. Contact us at 763-241-9888 to order yours today!
