| V8 Agencies' Loss Control Experiences |
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| V8 Re-Focus 2000 |
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V8 agency representatives came together to share their vehicle loss control experience. These are agencies with high vehicle loss potential. Some have had very good results from their efforts to control their driving risks. They have been active in the Vehicle Accident Prevention Project since its beginning in 1997. They have taught us all a lot.
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| Annual Vehicle Report |
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The V8 got a look at the preliminary data. We told them we planned to change the report’s data focus. We asked for their feed back. They told us that directors are concerned about costs. We need to include costly claims. They are concerned about employee, client, and public safety. But some incidents seem to go beyond their ability to control. The reports need to be direct and easy to read.
As a result, we will look again at the type of claim that we include in the Annual Vehicle Report. We’ll be sure they are cost-drivers and have an element of manageability.
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| Incident Trends |
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We talked about the trends we see statewide. Our auto property damage claim frequency has climbed, slowly but steadily, for the past decade. But the cause of the claims remains the same. Lots of trouble going backwards. We back into things that move. We back into things that stand still. Some trouble making left turns at intersections. They hit us. We hit them. And we seem to have a hard time just going straightforward. Could it be we travel too close to the car ahead?
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| Agency Actions |
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The V8 agencies have been busy addressing driver safety and crash prevention.
- DHS has just issued it’s department wide Driver Standards Policy. It replaces their old, "safe driving" policy. It combines the policies of the many different divisions. It’s posted on their web.
- UO requires a specific supervisor report. They report on costs to their managers. They add in the time away from work to investigate, complete the paper work, and attend remedial training, if necessary. It gives a fuller picture of the real costs.
- Lottery, who could not attend, analyzed their claims. They had lots of backing problems in their vans. They added back-up warning signals. They have eliminated backing incidents in the vehicles equipped with the alarms.
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| Police Citations |
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As expected, Police Citations increased. Photo radar captures state drivers running red lights and speeding through intersections. As more jurisdictions install the devices, the only way to reduce this number of incidents will be to obey the traffic laws. But these are the types of driving behaviors that will likely cause injuries. They are not acceptable.
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| Citizen Complaints |
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We gave the V8 a preview of the new letters we will be sending to agency citizen complaint coordinators. Unfortunately, our old "form letters" were getting "form responses". The questions are now more direct. They are asked in a way that will prompt more agency action. And, hopefully, will result in better solutions for poor driving.
A troubling agency response to complaints of speeding is, almost routinely now, "just driving with the flow of traffic". We must insist that employees drive legally. That means at or below (if conditions warrant) the posted speed limit. Our risk here is more damage to our public image than injury. But it is an important risk to address.
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| Trauma Nurses Talk Tough |
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We ended the program with a presentation by Joanne Fairchild, a trauma nurse specialist from Emanuel Hospital in Portland. Joanne had also presented at our Annual Risk Seminar in November (see RisKeyNotes Fall 2000 Vol. 14, No. 1). Her powerful message puts our concerns into perspective.
She tells us the leading cause of death for young men in Oregon is speeding. Not drinking and driving – just going too fast. More drivers are impaired by anger or by the TV image of fast cars and open roads than by drugs or alcohol. She tells us that the "radar detector" generation has the false impression that its OK to break the traffic laws, as long as you don’t get caught. But she reminds us that once badly broken in a vehicle crash, even the best of modern medicine can’t "fix" you as good as new. And the laws have been passed, not just to protect ourselves but the others who, when we drive, have the ability to kill or maim.
Our concerns about driving are not trivial. They are serious. We must be serious in our attention to them. James Hall, retiring head of the National Transportation Safety Board has said publicly that he is pleased with NTSB’s record on plane crashes. He just wishes they could have made the same progress on highway safety.
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| What can you do? |
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Consider sponsoring a presentation by the Trauma Nurse Team. Make sure everyone is up to date on the defensive driving skills. Take citizen complaints seriously. Check with your agency Safety Advisors to find out how you can limit vehicle accidents and improve driving performance.
Winter 00, Vol 14, No 2
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