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Massachusetts Companies Ban Employees from Using Cell Phones & Driving

Posted on Jun 04, 2009

Following the tragic trolley accident in Massachusetts, more employers are starting to ban employees from using cell phones while driving. The trolley crash showed the risks of distracted driving.

There have been many companies that have been sued because of their workers’ negligent driving behavior, which has been a major reason for employers to ban cell phones. In 2005, AMEC, a global engineering firm, banned cell phone usage and text messaging while driving on company time. This ban prompted skepticism and employees complained that they would be less productive. However, many AMEC employees began to see the benefit of this ban and 84 percent reported that they have stopped or cut back on talking or text messaging while driving even off company time.

Numerous companies have followed AMEC’s lead by enacting their own cell phone bans. Some employers have simply tightened their own policies to also ban text messing or even hands-free cell phone accessories during company hours.

Over the past few years, employers have had to pay millions of dollars in cases where their employers were talking on their cell phones or text messaging while driving on company time. In one of the biggest cases, Dyke Industries Inc. paid a $16 million settlement for a lawsuit brought against a salesman who was driving and using a cell phone when he injured an elderly woman.

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