Fleet drivers face a lot of hazards with winter driving. Ice, snow, slush, and fog can make road navigation hard and this can result in costly accidents. Over 5.8 million accidents occur each year, according to a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report. Twenty-one percent of these accidents are related to the weather. To avoid possible fleet vehicle crashes and other potential road mishaps, it’s essential you prepare your fleet drivers. Below are four winter fleet driving safety tips to help ensure your drivers’ safety this winter.

1. Reinforce Common Wintertime Safety Habits

Implement training and a policy to reinforce common wintertime safety habits. Because winter driving poses safety hazards, just looking at data from the past isn’t enough. You need to be proactive with enforcing your fleet safety policy and training. A whole training program should focus on your drivers being able to navigate different scenarios like icy routes, thick fog and vehicle breakdown.

Place emphasis on:

• Distracted driving
• Speeding
• Intoxication while driving
• Aggressive and defensive driving
• Safe following distances

You’ll also want to touch on common events like making quick stops, skidding, encountering ice on the road and taking corners.

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Vision Zero is a type of strategy for eliminating all severe injuries and traffic fatalities, while increasing healthy, safe, equitable mobility for everyone. Vision Zero was originally implemented in the 1990s in Sweden, was proven successful all across Europe and is now gaining traction in major cities of the United States.

Every year, over 40,000 individuals are killed needlessly on U.S. streets. Thousands of individuals are injured. This is being called “suffering traffic accidents”, but realistically, traffic accidents can be prevented.

Severe injuries and traffic deaths are unacceptable and they can be prevented. Safety needs to be the most critical consideration on all streets.

 How Vision Zero Cities Differ from Other Cities

A city needs to meet certain requirements to become a part of Vision Zero. These requirements include:

• The mayor must commit to Vision Zero publicly
• Vision Zero and a strategy have been implemented
• The goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries has been set
• Public transportation, health and other substantial city departments are on board and committed

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Many drivers have gotten behind the wheel drowsy after a poor night’s rest or long day and think they’re fine. The problem with drowsy driving, particularly if you drive a lot, like fleet drivers do, it can be dangerous.

As a fleet manager, it’s important you implement strategies that can help your fleet drivers to stay awake while they’re driving. It’s not hard to understand the dangers of drowsy driving since each year there are 100,000 vehicle accidents due to drowsy driving, according to the National Safety Council. Here are five ways you can help your fleet drivers stake awake while driving at night.

1. Spread Awareness

Awareness is the perfect place to start if you’re looking to protect your fleet drivers from dosing off while driving. Spread awareness through regular fleet training and make sure your drivers know and understand the risks associated with drowsy driving.

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