Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Marketing & Media Communications Specialist Lauren Stumpf discuss driver safety in the increased “back to school” traffic many of us have experienced, recently.

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Director/Host: Alyssa Burley

Guest: Lauren Stumpf

Producer/Editor: Megan Lockhart

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

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Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa News. Brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network, StudioOne. Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Lauren Stumpf, Marketing and Media Communication Specialist with Rancho Mesa. Today, we're discussing driver safety in the increased back to school traffic, many of us have experienced recently. Lauren, welcome to the show.

 Lauren Stumpf: Thank you for having me, Alyssa.

 AB: So as schools begin filtering back into session, more vehicles flood the roads in the mornings and the afternoons, the rush hour traffic is back in full swing. From construction workers on their way to the job site to parents rushing their kids to school, more vehicles on the road means more risk for accidents and an uptick in auto insurance claims. Lauren, is the back to school traffic something employers really need to think about when it comes to driver safety this time of year?

 LS: It is. The traffic is more than just an inconvenience. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, in 2021, the rate of fatal crashes for large trucks was highest in the months of August through October, with its peak in September. Construction industry vehicles like the ones many of our clients employees drive, typically fall into the category of large trucks. These are 10,000 pound plus trucks. So you can see the data shows that more vehicles on the road means more chances for accidents.

 AB: And this isn't just a warning for our construction and landscape clients driving large trucks. It applies to everyone who's on the road.

 LS: Exactly. We have home health care and nonprofit clients with employees driving personal vehicles and 15-passenger vans on the roads throughout the day, including peak rush hour traffic.

 AB: So what do you recommend employers do to prepare their drivers for the increase in traffic.

 LS: To avoid being included in these statistics, it's a good time for employees to freshen up on driver training. The SafetyOne™ platform offers a library of online driver training courses to ensure drivers are safe on the road. They include driver safety: the basics, driving safety, driving defensively, distracted driving, and commercial driver's license (CDL) defensive driver training. All are available to Rancho Mesa clients, so we recommend assigning the training to all employees who will be driving for the company.

 AB: Absolutely. Let's get those drivers thinking about safety while they're on these more congested roadways. So, Lauren, thanks so much for joining me in StudioOne.

 LS: Thanks, Alyssa.

 AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.