California’s invisible workplace: The road

In many jobs today, having a driver’s license is no longer optional. Employers increasingly expect workers to move to clients or across a service area. As businesses try to respond faster and keep customers satisfied, more work happens on the road. For technicians, delivery drivers, contractors and sales representatives, a large part of the workday now takes place behind the wheel.

Speed and efficiency help businesses keep pace with a fast-moving economy, but they also carry risks that are often overlooked. Transportation incidents account for nearly 37 percent of workplace deaths in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet despite how common work-related driving has become, road safety rarely receives the same attention as hazards in traditional workplaces.

A job duty with little regulation
A moment of inattention on the road can change lives in an instant. It was also the case of a driver who crossed a double-yellow line and struck a family’s car, killing a 13-year-old girl. The driver was working at the time, meaning the tragedy occurred in the course of employment, not outside it.

Incidents like this are often described as traffic accidents, the result of a single driver’s mistake. But when driving is part of the job, the risk does not exist in isolation from the workplace that puts the driver on the road.

Even with so much road traffic operating for professional purposes, safety rarely comes up in the conversation. Traditional worksites operate under clear rules and regular oversight. Driving for work rarely receives the same attention.

Because most vehicles can be operated with a standard driver’s license, the activity is minimized. But work schedules, delivery targets, and the pressure to keep services moving all shape what happens behind the wheel.

California is one of the most economically dynamic states in the world, with a vast range of services supporting its economy. As purchasing power grows and businesses compete to reach customers faster, mobility has become essential to how those services operate.

OSHA’s framework was built largely with fixed job sites in mind, and it does not always capture the realities of work that takes place on the road.

The pressures do not stay behind at the office. Deadlines still matter, service calls are still waiting, and the day’s responsibilities continue while the driver is on the road. That is why the law generally treats work-related driving as part of employment.

When someone is on the road to carry out assigned duties, the activity falls within what is known as the “course and scope of employment.”

In simple terms, the driver is performing the employer’s work. If a serious crash happens, responsibility may reach beyond the individual driver to the company that required the trip.

Cases that follow these incidents often shed light on how the work itself contributes to risk — tight schedules, weak safety policies, or little oversight of how driving is managed. The consequences rarely stop with the workplace. They affect employees and the public who share the same roads.

Putting safety on the road
Preventing crashes cannot begin only after something goes wrong. If driving is part of the job, it deserves the same attention companies give to other workplace risks. That responsibility starts with the employer. Companies set schedules, assign routes, and provide the vehicles, which means they are also in the best position to create safer conditions for the people who work for them.

Long hours on the road inevitably affect how people drive, even if that reality is often overlooked. Practical decisions make a difference — proper driver training, vehicles that are maintained and equipped for the job, and schedules that do not leave workers trying to make up time while exhausted.

Some companies are also beginning to rely on telematics and monitoring systems to identify risky driving patterns. Also, regular risk assessments can examine delivery routes, workloads, and time pressures that may encourage unsafe driving. None of this is complicated. It is simply recognizing that when work takes place on the road, protecting the people doing that work must be part of the company’s responsibility.

For millions of Americans, the workday now unfolds partly on the road. Yet most safety discussions still revolve around fixed job sites, while the risks of work-related driving receive far less attention.

When companies acknowledge that driving is part of the job, prevention becomes part of basic management — not an extra burden. Looking more carefully at training, schedules, and vehicle safety can reduce dangers that too often go unnoticed. The road may be the most common workplace in the country. It should not also be the most dangerous.

About the Author
O’Brien & Zehnder Law Firm is dedicated to helping victims of car accidents and numerous other personal injury cases in Elk Grove and nearby Sacramento County communities.