Managing risks for employees on two wheels can be particularly challenging. Considered \u201cvulnerable\u201d road users, motorcycle and moped riders face different risks on the road to road users in other vehicles; mainly due to their size, speed and positioning on the road. Two-wheeler riders are also more vulnerable than car occupants as they have less protection in a collision.<\/p>\n
Yet, in many countries, two-wheelers are the primary means of transport. For fleets that include drivers and riders of two-wheel vehicles, that means developing a safety policy specific to these vehicles. What to include? eDriving Executive Vice President \u2013 Fleet Ed Dubens suggests the following:<\/p>\n
Clarify the reasons that riding a two-wheeler is riskier than using a car<\/strong> including they\u2019re less visible, have less protection and their speed is often misjudged by other road users. \u201cTwo-wheeler riders might also take risks on the road that car drivers wouldn\u2019t \u2013 or couldn\u2019t \u2013 such as overtaking in riskier places and weaving in and out of traffic,\u201d says Dubens. \u201cThere are also risk factors such as speed, other traffic and impaired riding that it\u2019s helpful to raise awareness of.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t assume that employees will automatically be aware of the laws of the road<\/strong> or that they\u2019ll obey them. Make it clear what\u2019s expected in terms of license and abiding by local and national regulations. It\u2019s also helpful to define any riding restrictions, such as riding during specific hours.<\/p>\n Prohibit riders from traveling while impaired by alcohol, drugs, medication<\/strong> or other forms of impairment such as fatigue and illness.<\/p>\n Specify company requirements for helmet wearing<\/strong> including disciplinary action that will be taken for failing to comply. \u201cThe importance of wearing a helmet cannot be overstated,\u201d says Dubens. \u201cMany of the organizations we work with require helmets to meet relevant safety standards and they specifically set out additional requirements to employees such as the helmet having a reflective strip or chin guard. Making disciplinary action clear \u2013 and most importantly, enforcing it \u2013 is a key recommendation.\u201d<\/p>\n In the event of a collision, safety clothing is the only thing that can protect riders from injury.<\/strong> That\u2019s why it\u2019s crucial to establish company rules that require appropriate clothing to be worn at all times.<\/p>\n Require riders to produce proof of servicing for their two-wheeler<\/strong> at least twice every year. \u201cFleet managers need to know employees are heading out on the road on vehicles that are safe to ride,\u201d says Dubens. \u201cThe safest fleets I know perform unannounced vehicle checks to verify that two-wheelers are in working order.\u201d<\/p>\n Conduct risk assessments for two-wheeler riders<\/strong>, just as you would for any employee traveling for work purposes. Providing appropriate training on commencement of employment, periodically and on a prescribed basis can particularly help to lower risk.<\/p>\n Introduce a policy banning mobile phone use while riding. <\/strong>\u201cPhone distraction is fast becoming one of the biggest problems facing all road users,\u201d concludes Dubens. \u201cEven if the law doesn\u2019t prohibit employees from doing it, riding requires full concentration at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Managing risks for employees on two wheels can be particularly challenging. Considered \u201cvulnerable\u201d road users, motorcycle and moped riders face different risks on the road to road users in other vehicles; mainly due to their size, speed and positioning on the road. Two-wheeler riders are also more vulnerable than car occupants as they have less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motorcycles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}