On March 13-14 a team of approximately 20 people from various lines of business within PG&E attended a workshop facilitated by Dave Teater of the National Safety Council at their headquarters in Itasca Il. on distracted driving.
The workshop was very useful in understanding some of the issues related to trying to multi task such as driving and talking at the same time. An example that was given is: How well do you hold a conversation with someone and read at the same time? Defensive driving demands 100% of the driver’s attention as things can change rapidly and any delay in the driver’s response could prove deadly.
Several companies across the country have already put policies in place that prohibit the use of any communication devices while driving. This team was tasked to look at some of the policies, try to envision how a policy would look if PG&E implemented one, as well as try to identify the problems that would need to be addressed in the different lines of business associated with such a policy.
Members of Local 1245’s Safety Committee saw Teaters’ presentation last October at the National Safety Councils Labor Division meeting and a report was given on that presentation by Richard Lane. That report can be found on the IBEW web site at: //ibew1245.com/2013/06/04/distracted-driving-1-killer-of-youth/