We all know change is hard, especially when it is a behavior that has evolved into an everyday habit. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average age of most automotive fleet and commercial drivers is 55 years old, meaning they have spent more than 30 years behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle. With that amount of time on the road, it’s possible that these veteran drivers have developed poor, self-taught driving habits of which they are unaware. They may deem their habitual driving actions, like braking late for an approaching red light, speeding or rolling through a stop sign, as safe, because they have never endured any penalty or consequence from their actions.

Fleet operators are perplexed. In the past few years sizable investments have been made in equipping vehicles with the newest safety technologies, implementing telematics, perhaps trying predictive analytics, increasing the frequency.

If advanced-driver-assist system (ADAS) technologies are installed on all vehicles, it could potentially prevent more than 2.7 million crashes, 1.1 million injuries and nearly 9,500 deaths each year according to a report by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. However, it also warns that many drivers are unaware of the current safety limitations. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety notes that lack of understanding or confusion about the proper function of these technologies can lead to misuse or over-reliance, which could result in deadly crashes.

Producing a business plan and budget requires time, effort, forward-thinking, compromises, and multiple revisions in accomplishing a yearly forecast. Each year, companies identify key projects which they hope will bring value to their organizations and customers. One of the responsibilities of leaders is to challenge management on what the Return on Investment (ROI) will be for these new projects. From here we prioritize and decide which ones to pursue and implement in the coming year. The ROI consideration underpins so many of the final decisions on how to proceed. In many, if not most, corporate cultures this will shape the business strategy along with decisions made during the upcoming year. It will also have a significant influence on how managers and employees conduct themselves.

The rear-end collision is the most common type of automobile crash.  Almost 40% of the six million accidents that happen each year are rear-end collisions. Furthermore, almost 87% of the crashes were caused from drivers not paying adequate attention to the road.

Each year Driving Dynamics trains thousands of drivers across the country. During these classes instructors ask trainees to ‘raise their hand if they feel they are above average drivers. Invariably, most students do raise their hands and make comments such as: “You bet I am, I haven’t had an accident or a fender bender in over 20 years.” Hey. I know everything there is about driving correctly. As a matter of fact, I just taught my kid how to drive.”

Picture this scenario: You, an experienced driver, are traveling through the city at the posted speed-limit. You find yourself negotiating busy intersections, changing traffic patterns―then all of a sudden your phone rings. What is your next move?

By now most of us have seen media reports regarding the troubling crash statistics related to different types of distracted driving, especially one's influenced by cell phone use. What is it about this activity that causes a driver’s performance capabilities to diminish? While there are many causes of distracted driving, here we are focusing on understanding the physiology of how phone calls and texting dramatically reduces the amount of information a driver can process in order to safely operate a vehicle.

During the past decade, a collective approach for reducing crashes has been essentially to scold or persistently urge drivers, to the point of annoyance, about why they should not drive while distracted.  In other words: nag, nag, and nag. Now, nagging to effect change has been a go-to method used throughout history by parents, spouses, the press and government regulators. And as crashes caused by distracted driving have reached epidemic levels, fleet management has also now become a prolific practitioner of nag-o-nomics, if you will, as a tool to deter distracting behaviors by their drivers.