Colorado Governor Bill Ritter today signed a new law making it illegal to send text messages or emails while driving a car. Whether some driving distractions should be illegal while others are not is not the question here. This law is now on the books (though not effective until December) and highlights an important issue for business owners.
Perhaps you, like many businesses, supply cell phones or PDAs to your key employees to promote their efficiency. I have a simple mathematical formula to prove why you should update your employment manual or policies to prohibit texting or emailing while driving:
Employee + employer-provided cell phone + illegal text message + accident = law suit (or worse).
The life (and money) you save may be your own.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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OMG! GOV Rit says txtng may cs reks. As boss, u r resp. 4 empls fones.
ReplyDeleteC me 4 hlp.
Kim Ritter, one of my partners, came up with that teaser for a more substantial piece she did on mobile technology policies. Check it out at http://www.minorbrown.com/news.php
All the more reason for your business to take a stand on this. A study at Virginia Tech shows that texting/emailing while driving raises risk of crash 23 times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/technology/28texting.html?8au&emc=au
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