Traffic Organization: "Employers Must Do More Against Mobile Calls" Now

More than a quarter of companies encourage employees with a leased car to call hands-free or not to use the phone while driving. However, according to a study conducted among others by Safe Traffic Netherlands (VVN), not all companies have such a policy.

In addition, some employers expect staff to respond to e-mails and applications while driving. According to research conducted with thousands of dealers from VVN and the Association of Netherlands Car Rental Companies (VNA).

One in three employees think his boss is waiting for an answer to a phone call in half an hour, even if he's on the road.

VVN and VNA want companies to do more to prevent calls while driving. Currently, 28% of employers take action. They do this, for example, by installing a car kit or by providing information on the dangers of calling while driving.

More than half of lease drivers received instructions

About 52% of lease drivers received instructions for use. from the smartphone when driving professional kilometers. To prevent people from using the smartphone while driving, some companies have installed an app that makes it impossible to traffic mobile phones in the car.

There is still a long way to go, according to VVN and VNA. Organizations believe that the mindset within businesses in particular leads drivers to find normal to react to their smartphone when they drive.

"We must move quickly to a new social norm"

One-third of drivers think it's hard to ignore the smartphone during the trip, write the researchers. In addition, it seems that in the 35% of companies, it is normal to respond within 30 minutes to a message from a colleague.

"As far as I'm concerned, we need to move quickly to a new social standard for distraction in the environment." the traffic and more particularly the use of the smartphone ", declares the director of VNA, Renate Hemerik

" In more than 10% of the cases, the employers judge normal that the employees read and write messages while driving ", says VVN director, Alphons

"There is still a world to be gained, the simplest solution is to simply turn off the smartphone during traffic or put it in your bag at the back of the car . "