Tag Archives: driver safety

General Safety Issues

Travel Safely With These Construction Zone Tips

Travel Safely With These Construction Zone Tips


It is very much important to get save while traveling through the under construction area respectively. Most of the people do not take care of these safety precautions signs on the road. If we look at an average of 700 incidences occur in the work zones every year. In this case, the pedestrian and the vehicle drivers need to get careful while crossing the road construction area respectively. It is also very much important for the traffic control department to change the route for the heavy trucks and the buses to provide the best chances to the small vehicles and the cars to move easily without getting stuck in the huge traffic.

This is a major fact that large trucks are the main cause of the major accidents on the road construction areas are areas. Here we will discuss some important points regarding the safety of the construction zone and how you have to move under the circumstances?

  • Pay complete attention to the road

It is very much important to have complete attention on the road respectively. You should have to plan your route first. Make sure not to get the route where construction work is under process. If you don’t have the idea about the construction of the site, get pass the area by maintaining some specific distance from the vehicles as well as the construction site respectively. You will surely get pass through the area in a better way without getting hurt or loss.

  • Slow down the speed of the vehicle

Obviously, it is the basic factor to slow down the vehicle on the construction site. As we all know very well due to traffic rush it is important to slow down the speed of the vehicle at a limited speed which will also mention on the signboard of the construction area. It is also your duty to take care of the workers of the site by maintaining the sufficient distance from them respectively. Do not approach the workers to get a side; you can ultimately get the sufficient space to drive the car in a limited speed.

  • Only move into the open lane

If you are passing through the road paving area you have an idea that you should have to pass through the open lane. Driveway paving contractor has already prepared the way for your ease to get pass the area easily. You should have to maintain a specific distance while crossing the lane. Make sure to drive the vehicle according to the mentioned speed.

  • Follow the signs of the construction area

It is also mandatory to follow the visible signs on the construction site. These signs will let you know the further condition of the road by displaying the specific message on it. It is your duty to follow the signs strictly and to save the workers from any type of mishap respectively. As we all know very well that crashes of the cars are very much common on construction sites. The basic reason is to not follow the signboards of the site and also people hate to control the vehicle speed while they are in hurry. It is also mandatory for the vehicle driver to provide the sufficient room to the worker on the construction site. You should have to respond quickly when you see the open lane with much space to pass through the area.

Conclusion:

After discussing these important points finally, we get the best idea to utilize the strategy while the road or building is under construction. It will be the best thing to follow the signboards of the construction site well and maintain the sufficient gap between the vehicles to get save and reach save to the destination.

General Safety Issues

BOOSTING TRUCK DRIVER SAFETY PERFORMANCE (GUEST POST)

Most companies in every industry agree that it’s crucial to have a safe working environment. But assessing safety and maintaining it across the board and over time can be challenging in certain types of businesses.

For instance, freight transportation outfits—the companies that hire truckers to haul food, fuel, livestock and other goods all over the country to ensure that store shelves are stocked and tanks stay full—often have a tough time keeping tabs on the behavior of drivers on the road. Are the trucks running well? Are drivers well-rested and alert? Are routes hazardous or being hit with dangerous weather? A fleet management company must find ways to answer these questions to ensure that drivers are working safely.

Instinctively, you may look at ratings provided by the U.S. Transportation Department, but these don’t seem to accurately reflect a company’s highway safety performance. According to Bloomberg, a Wells Fargo Securities study indicates no correlation between a company’s official safety scores and the number of accidents on its record. The federal scores don’t just rate accidents; they also consider things like paperwork violations. But they don’t factor in wellness considerations such as how much exercise a driver gets or the food choices she makes.

Among the 28 safety management components identified by the Federal Motor Carrier Association are driver’s training, communication between managers and drivers, on-board safety monitoring, fatigue management (hours driven versus break time) and driver health, wellness and lifestyle. These considerations are separate from vehicle maintenance and inspection issues.

Here are a few tips for improving safety in these categories:

Driving Time

Common sense tells you that if someone drives for too many hours without a break, he’s likely to fall asleep at the wheel or at least become drowsy and slow to respond to traffic and road hazards. Unfortunately, traditional paper logs for documenting driving time and breaks make it easy for drivers to make mistakes or even intentionally fudge the records to wedge in more distance and improve performance. But safety suffers in this situation.

To improve the accuracy of driver logs and remove this burden from drivers, consider installing an EOBR (Electronic On-Board Recorder) on each vehicle. This device automatically records drive time; some will even alert drivers to stop when they’ve been on the road for too long. This device can also help spot problems on the road and notify drivers of other problematic issues.

Vehicle Condition

When a vehicle is on the road, managers can’t easily determine how it’s operating and what condition it’s in unless the driver phones in with a problem. But it’s not too hard in most cases to give the truck a checkup when it stops at the warehouse or hub. Make a point of adding a routine check to these stops. Doing the check when products are being loaded or unloaded means this important safety process can get done without incurring extra down time.

Driver Health

Forgetting about the importance of exercise is often easy when you’re sitting in a truck all day. It’s also tempting to stop at fast food places instead of choosing wholesome food. After all, eating in a sit-down restaurant or walking a mile or two takes time, and most drivers want to complete deliveries as fast as possible. But making smart food choices and fitting in daily exercise is a matter of good health and safe driving.

Consider starting an employee education program to remind drivers that bad habits like smoking and overeating can negatively affect their professional performance. You can also encourage healthier behavior to improve safety by offering specific ideas for healthy ways to eat and exercise on the road.

The safety of long-distance truck drivers is ultimately up to more than just the drivers themselves. Trucking companies need to ensure certain health and safety measures are observed throughout all phases of travel. It’s a natural inclination to want to accomplish as much as possible for the least amount of money, but the safety of individual truckers and others on the roadway is too crucial to be relegated to a secondary concern.

Danielle is a student of the Kelley School of Business, majoring in marketing and supply chain management. In her relatively short time dealing with operations and logistics, she’s witnessed far too many accidents and seen the effects of unhealthy driver lifestyles. By raising awareness of the issues that lead to these problems, she hopes to help decrease truck driver safety performance over time.

General Safety Issues

SOME NEW LAWS FOR TEXANS

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Effective September 1st, there are new laws for Texans to abide by.  State legislators passed several new laws; therefore, we feel it is our duty as good citizens to pass some of them on to our fellow Texans:

  • Handheld cell phones are prohibited from use while in school zones, unless the vehicle is stopped or the driver is using a hands-free set. Fines will not be imposed until June 1st, 2010.  (Hopefully, this will get drivers used to the law and they will stop using them in school zones.)
  • “Click It or Ticket” starts at a new level Tuesday, when all passengers in the vehicle are required to buckle up, even those in the backseat.
  • Children 8 and younger who are shorter than 4’9” are required to be secured in a booster seat.  The same deadline of June 1 for fines applies to this law.
  • Teen drivers under 18 will be prohibited from using cell phones while driving for the first year of their license.  (Previous law was for 6 months.)
  • Penalties will be increased for misusing parking spaces for handicapped or placards for people with disabilities.
  • All applicants under age 18 must take the driving skills exam to receive a driver’s license.
  • Passengers age 5 and younger are outlawed from riding on a motorcycle except in a sidecar or during an emergency.
  • A minor’s driver’s license will be suspended for failing a breath-or blood-alcohol test while operating a watercraft.
  • The license of someone who drives while intoxicated with a child passenger is automatically suspended.
  • Questions regarding rights and responsibilities in relation to bike safety will be added to the driver’s license exam.
  • Convalescent homes, nursing homes and related institutions are required to have an automated external defibrillator (AED), and personnel trained to use one.
  • Restaurants are required to list food and food-handling activities that involve bare-hand contact and to adopt some contamination control guidelines.

While we chose laws that involve the safety of others, we are hopeful that people are aware of these and many other changes, and will respect and abide by them.