In a recent police crackdown in England, named Operation Tramline, a man was caught using a laptop and drinking a hot cup of coffee while driving. Another man was seen eating a pear with a knife while driving while a third motorist was seen writing down the answers to a quiz on the radio.
Distracted driving has become a real problem. Not only is it illegal, but it is dangerous. “I hear, almost daily, accounts of people who are injured while texting,” said Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Gardner said “It has stopped being an oddity when we hear that someone was texting and has a wreck. Now it’s more of a fairly common occurrence…While sending out a status update during a leisurely drive may seem innocuous, it only takes a moment for distracted drivers to become vulnerable.”
According to Sgt. Paul Diamond, 84 vehicles in Operation Tramline were stopped due to offenses being witnessed, and of these 55% were commercial vehicles, according to BBC News.
For businesses with mobile employees, this is quite disturbing. In order to comply with recent cell phone and text messaging laws, and to encourage safer driving habits, many companies have chosen to integrate a fleet management system. By using a Garmin integrated fleet management system, businesses can significantly reduce instances of distracted driving.
Dispatchers can send and receive information through a driver’s GPS system, eliminating the need for text messaging. Directions are delivered through the GPS navigation device, installed on the dashboard, both audibly and visually. This eliminates the need to use a cell phone while driving and significantly increases driver safety.
FieldLogix was one of the first fleet management systems to offer the integration between GPS fleet tracking and Garmin turn-by-turn driver navigation systems. FieldLogix fleet management systems are installed in thousands of vehicles across the U.S., helping them to improve efficiency as well as increase driver safety and legal compliance.