By Stephanie Pratt, PhD and Rebecca Olsavsky, MS

This blog was originally posted on MyCarDoesWhat.org

As an employer, what can you do to help workers understand and learn how to use safety features built into vehicles they drive for work—whether you provide these vehicles, or workers drive their own vehicles?

Newer vehicles have advanced safety features most of us could not have imagined several years ago. These safety features often operate without drivers being aware of them. In certain critical situations, though, some of them trigger the vehicle to take action to avoid a crash. But, research shows that drivers have uncertainty about many of the advanced safety features available today. Additionally, according to a surveyconducted by the University of Iowa, 40 percent of people reported they had experienced a situation in which their vehicle acted in an unexpected way.

Vehicles that are driven for work may have more advanced safety features than workers’ personal vehicles, and workers may not drive the same work vehicle every day. As a result, workers may be unfamiliar with advanced safety features and not understand why their vehicles behave in a certain way. You as an employer can provide workers with resources like MyCarDoesWhat from the National Safety Council and the University of Iowa, a free interactive tool that answers drivers’ questions about safety features.

Did you know…

Automatic Emergency Braking can apply the brakes—either gradually to maintain a safe following distance or even to bring your vehicle to a complete stop—to keep you from hitting the vehicle in front of you.

Drowsiness alert lets you know if you’re drowsy and suggests you take a break when it’s safe to do so.

Blind spot monitors warn you of cars in your blind spots. They may provide an additional warning if you put on your turn signal while there is a car next to you in another lane.

Explore more car safety features from MyCarDoesWhat.

For information on how to select a safe vehicle and how to help your teen be a safe driver, click here to read the rest of the blog post