Your company is, in most cases, responsible for the actions of anyone who drives a vehicle for your company. That could include employees, owner/ operators, leased drivers or virtually anyone who drives a vehicle for your business. Many businesses are subject to federal, state or other safety regulations. Regardless of whether your company must comply with specific safety rules, you will probably be liable for your drivers’ actions, particularly if those actions result in an accident.

This would involve virtually ALL types of businesses including passenger carriers (bus, limos, rental car shuttle, taxi, vans, etc), trucks, medical transport, sales vehicles, tow trucks, maintenance vehicles, parts runners, beverage trucks, aggregate haulers, ready-mixed concrete, or simply involving an auto used incidentally for company business.

The following questions might be useful for a management group within a company, to help assess its current program and improve any areas that might become apparent, as a result of the discussions. You might also add some of your own questions:
1. How would you rate the driving behaviors of most drivers today? (consider general driving, including all types of vehicles, all areas including highway, city, etc., all conditions)
2. Would you expect anyone driving for your company to drive better than your answer to the above question?
3. Would your drivers know what your answers would be to the above questions?
4. What has been done in your company that might improve your drivers’ driving behavior?
5. Do you know whether your drivers are practicing good driving techniques?

If your company’s current accident frequency is very low, there must be a reason. But remember that the absence of accidents does not indicate a presence of safety. Change requires proactive steps. Maybe you have already taken some proactive steps, such as allowing only certain drivers to drive. The idea here is to be able to document any steps you have already taken or to ascertain that no proactive steps have been taken to affect any change in your loss (accident) history. Either way, the next step is to outline a plan or to add to those steps already taken.