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Loss Lessons
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AGRESSIVE DRIVING
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PestSure Members,
Our greatest potential exposure to loss in pest control is
placing an employee in a company vehicle and sending them
out on the roadway. In one PestSure auto accident, a pest
control driver crossed a solid white, no passing zone, center
line and collided with two other vehicles. The first vehicle
our driver struck was trying to avoid being hit head-on and
veered to the right but was still struck in the rear quarter
panel and was spun around eventually rolling the mini-van.
This rolling minivan then struck another vehicle in the opposing
lane of traffic and sent a third driver off the road into
the ditch to avoid being struck. With these three vehicles
out of the way, our insured driver then struck another vehicle
in the oncoming lane.
Our driver made the decision to pass a line of cars that were
slowed in traffic even though it was a no passing zone with
limited visibility. This accident resulted in four injured
people including our insured driver, and three total loss
vehicles. The investigation revealed that our driver was 100
% liable for the entire multi-car accident.
Lesson:
- Tailgating, constant lane changing, excessive
passing, hard braking, and jack-rabbit starts are all
indicators of aggressive driving behaviors.
- If your drivers are currently attempting to constantly
make up time during their workday drive time, they will
very likely be involved in a traffic accident.
- Discuss alternative planning strategies with your
drivers to teach them to work more efficiently. Teach
them to do a better job of route planning, and teach pre-departure
planning to alleviate time wasted by getting lost or having
to return to the shop for supplies.
- Your technicians will never make up enough time
in one day of aggressive driving, to fit in another service
on that day. The risk they take with your business by
driving aggressively, is tremendous.
In this case, the technician made a decision to violate a
traffic law in order to make better time in slow, backed-up
traffic. He never intended to cause an accident that injured
three other people and resulted in extensive property damage.
His impatience and haste on this day caused an accident that
affected his well-being and that of three other people. Take
time to discuss this accident and the hazards of aggressive
driving with your people. Please share and discuss this Loss
Lesson with your entire team so they can apply the knowledge
in the field and we can all learn from this event. .
Linda Midyett
Area Manager
Safety and Loss Prevention, PestSure
Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, Inc.
14241 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75254
972.663.6199
800.326.6203 |
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