June is National Safety Month

For millions of Americans, the vehicle is a mobile office in which to read the newspaper, a vanity to apply makeup and a personal phone booth in which to talk to old friends. As harmless as they may seem, the National Safety Council (NSC) reports that these reckless actions that lead to 14 million traffic accidents a year.

For the 11th year, NSC is recognizing June as National Safety Month. The week of June 9–13, 2008, specifically, will be dedicated to making motorists conscious of distracted driving. To that end, the NSC has created a poster which they are encouraging be placed in a prominent place in your office or home. DriveCam supports National Safety Month, and in the spirit of this year’s theme "Making a Difference," asks for your help in decreasing the 43,000 motor vehicle fatalities that occur each year by raising awareness of this important initiative.

For companies, the financial burden of road traffic injuries is a staggering $625 billion a year. In fact, according to the NSC, 42 percent of all accidental injuries occur on the job. To ensure that you and your employees are safe, DriveCam’s safety experts offer the following safe driving tips:

• Always have an out. Keep two to three car lengths between yourself and the vehicle ahead.
• Always use your lights and turn signals.
• When driving, pass trucks on the left. A trucker’s blind spot on the right is the whole length of the trailer.
• Minimize distractions in your vehicle.
• Sleep if you are tired. Caffeine, loud music and cool air won’t prevent driver fatigue.
• Do not overload your vehicle. Overloading creates premature stress on critical vehicle parts, such as brakes.
• Safety and driver improvement programs, such as Driver Risk Management solutions, can help drivers to identify and correct risky behaviors that can lead to serious incidents.

DriveCam’s behavior–based risk mitigation solution helps fleet supervisors identify risking driving behaviors by recognizing and correcting problems as they happen. The feedback helps educate risky drivers and can prevent vehicle collisions. By combining sight and sound, expert analysis and driver coaching, DriveCam has reduced vehicle damages, workers’ compensation and personal injury costs by 50 percent in nearly 100,000 commercial and government vehicles.

To learn more about the NSC and National Safety Month, please visit www.nsc.org.