Tim Clemente drives home safety on the road
September 22, 2020
We are excited to announce that Tim Clemente has joined the CoolSys Safety team to help drive safe behaviors throughout the company.
“I’m so very pleased to start this great opportunity at CoolSys. Having managed safety for fleets in excess of 10,000 vehicles, I can tell you that our issues are virtually the same,” Tim shares. “Distracted driving and not maintaining sufficient distance between ‘us’ and the vehicle in front are major causes of at-fault vehicle accidents.” To help CoolSys team members on the road, we offer the following reminders and guidelines:
Safe Driving Reminders
Whether at a stop light or sign, in heavy traffic or navigating on/off ramps, not keeping a safe distance between our vehicles increases the likelihood of collision. You may be the safest driver on the planet, but you don’t know what the other driver is going to do! So, when a vehicle pulls into your lane, open up that space… just give it to them.
Driving your personal car and driving a company vehicle are two very different experiences. Most of our personal cars are smaller and have fewer blind spots. We use our rear-view mirrors and back windows to assist us in looking for the traffic, pedestrians and objects around us. Our company vehicles are much bigger, and we don’t have the ability to use our rear-view mirrors or look out our back windows. This means that it’s up to us to take additional precautionary steps to reduce the risk of an accident. When we reverse, we may need to get out of the vehicle to make sure we have enough clearance to continue. Take a few seconds to conduct a circle of safety every time you drive. Simply walk around your vehicle before getting in and look for obstructions and check the condition of your vehicle. Once we have done this, we can cautiously move out of our parking stall or from the curb.
We can help prevent rear-ending the vehicle in front of us by scanning ahead eight to12 seconds to monitor what traffic in front of us is doing. Then we make sure we have a four to six second cushion between us and the vehicle directly in front of us. After these two steps, we need to place our focus on driving and not let the outside forces distract us. When we do this, it won’t matter that traffic stopped without warning — we will be prepared to stop in time.
What to Do If You’re in an Accident
When you’re in a vehicle accident, be sure to:
- Call the EHS Hotline (844-772-7233) and your manager to report your accident.
- Contact the authorities to get a police report.
- Take pictures of your vehicle, the other party’s vehicle and the scene of the accident. Exchange information with the other driver.
- If your vehicle can’t be driven, you will need to contact ARI or the towing garage your company uses.
If you are at fault, the safety Department will arrange for an Uber to pick you up and take you to and from your drug and alcohol screening. Depending on how busy the clinic is, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. If you are at fault, your manager will go over your accident with you and there is a good chance you will be signing a corrective action form. Finally, if your vehicle needs repair, you’ll need to move your tools into a spare vehicle or a rental vehicle while your company vehicle is being repaired.
Stay focused while driving, use caution and give yourself a cushion.