With myriad hazards around us on the roadways each day, few are more dangerous than distracted driving, which claimed more than 3,000 lives in 2019. While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has imposed strict mobile phone restrictions for commercial motor vehicle drivers, cell phone use continues to be a common risky behavior in the industry. To help improve the safety of America’s roadways, Nationwide is teaming up with NoCell to curb distracted driving among fleets.

Nationwide commercial fleet customers will now have access to NoCell’s distracted driving management platform, announced in a statement. The technology helps remove distraction risks by disabling disruptive apps and cell phone capabilities while drivers are rolling.

“Trucking businesses have more advanced technology and safety cultures than ever before to reduce risks for drivers and the motorists around them, but it continues to be a challenge for risk managers to enforce mobile phone policies,” said Gary Flaherty, senior vice president of E&S commercial auto at Nationwide. “We’re thrilled about this new partnership with NoCell to help hone in on those dangerous distraction risks as we deliver extraordinary risk mitigation for our customers complemented by deep industry expertise to protect them mile after mile.” 

Fleet managers will have the ability to choose which apps their drivers have access to while the vehicle is in motion. The NoCell solution – compatible with both Android and IOS – uses an app on the driver’s device, a non-intrusive NoCell connected to the vehicle, and a back-end system to detect when vehicles are in motion, disable unauthorized mobile phone capabilities, and alert fleet managers when phone handling events take place.

“The commercial driver has never been more important to our economy and country than they are today,” added Sam Inman, CEO at NoCell Technologies.  “We are excited for this partnership with Nationwide and the opportunity to extend the reach and deliver our best-in-class distracted driving mitigation platform to their customers.”