How To Create A Safe Driver Program

What Is A Safe Driver Program?
Simply put, it is a rewards-based system designed to motivate safe driving. It provides tangible rewards for chauffeurs and drivers. The program can include anything from a lapel pin to cash rewards, trips or other prizes. The system could involve benchmark rewards such as driving one million miles accident free or more frequent awards such as a 100,000-mile accident-free bonus. You can reward annually, quarterly or monthly based on your average driver miles.

How Do You Get Started?
First, figure out how often you will recognize your drivers and then set up standards of excellence. To instill a culture of safe driving, try to make sure award levels are achievable based on your business model. For instance, you may want to offer a level for part-time drivers such as accomplishing 100 trips accident free so they don’t feel left out on mileage-based awards for full-time drivers. Next, determine what you will award for each level of success such as a pin, plaque, trophy, check or gift certificate. There are many places online that offer inexpensive awards to support your program such as positivepins.com. You can buy lapel pins for as little as $4.

Benefits
Every accident has expenses connected to it that are unexpected and costly. The most obvious is the deductible on a claim. If your driver is found at fault and the insurance company has a payout on a claim, you can expect your insurance rates to rise for several years in most cases. If your employee is injured and a separate worker’s comp claim is filed, you can expect that policy to go up as well. There may be loss of use of your vehicle, meaning loss of income. There may be costs of subcontracting work either the day of the accident or during vehicle repairs. There may be a cost of refunding your client for the trip in progress. By preventing accidents, you eliminate all these expenses while appearing to show your drivers how much you appreciate them.

Things You Should Know
Someone dies in a motor vehicle crash every 12 minutes. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death and injury for all ages. Crashes on the job have far-reaching financial effects on employers. Motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion annually in medical care, legal expenses, property damage, and lost productivity. They drive up the cost of benefits such as workers’ compensation, Social Security, and private health and disability insurance. In addition, they increase the company overhead involved in administering these programs.

Driver reward programs are intended to change driver attitudes, improve behavior and increase skills to build a safe culture by encouraging safety-conscious behavior. They help make better employees and demonstrate you care about them.

Online Sources For Awards
     • thesafetyawardstore.com
     • positivepins.com
     • ASAPawards.com
     • lapelpins.com

Getting Started
1. Decide what awards you will bestow on your drivers
     • By miles traveled accident free
     • By trips performed accident free
     • By length of service to the company accident free
     • Best collision avoidance caught on dash cam

2. Decide what you will award your drivers
     • Lapel pin
     • Belt buckle
     • Trophy
     • Plaque
     • Check
     • Gift certificate for dinner, amusement park, etc.

3. Decide how often you will give awards out and where you will do it.

4. Promote your program weekly and remind drivers of the program.