Risk Management Alert Topic: Driver Selection and Control The safety of the people you transport is very important. Our highway system can be one of the most dangerous environments in the country, an environment over which you have virtually no control, an environment in which you cannot directly supervise your staff. Federal regulations require commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) for drivers of vehicles that are designed to carry 15 or more passengers (several states have enacted more stringent statutes if children are involved). Even if a CDL is not required it is your responsibility to carefully select and monitor those who drive your vehicles so that the passengers are not exposed to unnecessary risk. The following table may help you to select and maintain safe drivers. It should be applied to everyone who drives a vehicle on behalf of the Y...employees' vehicles as well as those owned, leased, or rented by the Y. Motor vehicle records (MVRs) can generally be obtained fromyour state's Dept. of Motor Vehicles or Dept. of Licensing. Individuals who transport people should be at least 21 years old. New hires under 25 should be accident and citation free. There are three types of violations... major, significant, and minor. A major violation should preclude an individual from driving for your association. Significant violations should be used in conjunction with age and length of employment to evaluate a driver's acceptability. Minor violations, unless extensive, do not need to be considered in this process. Statistics have consistently shown increased accident rates for younger drivers and for drivers who are new to an organization. Drivers who exhibit disregard for traffic laws have historically caused or been involved in more frequent and more severe incidents than drivers who obey the laws.
Please call us at 800-463-8546 to discuss this or any other risk management safety concern, or visit our web site at www.redwoodsgroup.com to learn more about YMCA risk management related issues.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Risk Management services are provided by The Redwoods Group to assist the insured in fulfilling its responsibilities for the control of potential loss-producing situations involving their YMCA operations. The information contained is not intended as legal advice; it simply represents trends in the YMCA industry, related industries and/or law. Laws and suggested standards are under constant review by courts, states and trade groups. They can be vastly different in each jurisdiction. For legal advice relating to any subject addressed, YMCAs are advised to seek the services of a local personal attorney. The information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind and The Redwoods Group expressly disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to any information contained, including all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The Redwoods Group assumes no liability of any kind for information and data contained or for any course of action you may take in reliance thereon. |
| released 9/28/05 |