Employers continue to be concerned about the risk and liability posed by employee use of mobile devices while driving on the job. Seven in 10 companies in the U.S. and Canada surveyed for this report have adopted written policies designed to curb employee distracted driving, but only 32% are confident that current enforcement methods are effective, according to Aegis Mobility’s third annual survey of 547 fleet safety and risk management professionals.

Key survey findings include:

·  “Hands-Free” and “Zero Tolerance” are the most popular policies.  45% of existing employer policies prohibit all use, except hands-free.  41% prohibit all use, no exceptions. 12% prohibit texting, emailing and browsing.

·  Efforts to enforce distracted driving policies remain steady. 86% of companies report taking some steps to enforce distracted driving policies.

·  Confidence is lacking in current policy enforcement. Confidence in current enforcement efforts is limited. Only 32% report they are “very confident” that current methods are effective. 60% are “somewhat confident,” while 8% are “not confident.”

·  Interest in policy technology continues to grow. 22% of companies plan to evaluate either device-based software, device analytics or in-vehicle cameras within the next 12 months to better enforce compliance with distracted driving policies. 

·  Android and iPhone smartphones are fast growing, while Blackberry and Push-to-Talk (PTT) phones are hanging in.  Android and iPhone continue to grow rapidly and now represent 61% of corporate-liable smartphone devices. BlackBerrys have decreased, but remain prominent with 30% market share and appear to have good prospects to maintain share based on customer interest in the new BlackBerry 10 devices.

·  The tablet wave is coming to commercial fleet vehicles. A full 27% of respondents currently equip employee drivers with some form of tablet computer. Of those, 73% are iPads and 27% are Android. Prospects for continued growth appear strong since 8% of total respondents indicate plans to deploy tablets to employee drivers within the next 12 months.

“The year-over-year results of our survey show that fleet operators continue to recognize the serious risks associated with employee use of mobile phones while driving,” said Aegis Mobility CEO Paul Zimmerman. “Further, the survey results show that employers lack confidence in current enforcement methods and seek technology solutions to automate compliance with mobile device use policies.”

To download the full survey analysis, click here. 

Aegis Mobility is a leading provider of patented software for mobile devices to prevent workplace distracted driving. Designed specifically for corporate customers, FleetSafer enables employers to proactively promote safe and legal use of mobile devices while employees are driving on the job. 

For more information, visit www.aegismobility.com.