Whether a business has a fleet of trucks or a few salespeople on the road, driver safety and negligent entrustment pose a multi-million dollar threat.
Many companies do not realize they have an important duty of care to do all they can to ensure they put only safe drivers on the roads. If they fail to do so, they could face costly lawsuits because of an accident.
Negligent entrustment occurs when a dangerous article, in this case a vehicle, is entrusted to somebody who is reckless, inexperienced, or incompetent. If the entrusted individual has an accident, the injured party has the right to bring a case against the individual’s employer.
In order to find fault with the employer, all the plaintiff needs to show is:
• The organization entrusted the vehicle to the driver
• The driver was reckless, incompetent or unlicensed
• The organization knew – or should have known – that the driver was reckless, incompetent or unlicensed
Fleets and companies have an obligation to ensure their drivers are properly licensed. They also must monitor their drivers’ safety and behavior and take immediate, corrective action for any violation that a driver accrues. A once-a-year MVR pull is not enough. Continuous MVR monitoring is one of the best precautions that a company can take to prepare for potentially defending themselves in a liability lawsuit.
In combination with a fleet safety program and other behavioral monitoring tools, continuous MVR monitoring is ideal for fleet managers to effectively monitor drivers’ risk profiles, ensure compliance and safety, reduce liability, and scale down business losses.
Find out more about negligent entrustment, who is at risk and what an organization can do to protect itself in our latest white paper, “Negligent Entrustment: The Risk of Overlooking Driver Safety”.
Negligent Entrustment: The Risk of Overlooking Driver Safety
