Injuries account for a considerable percentage of health-related expenses. Safeguarding employees from automobiles crashes makes good sense for businesses; traffic crashes cost companies and employers billions of dollars in direct crash-related costs, such as medical care liability, lost productivity and property damage. Cost-conscious companies and employers would be smart to control costs by providing comprehensive driver safety programs, promoting safe driving practices through sound driver policy and enforcement, educating employees to the dangers of distracted driving, whether or not employees are on the clock. Safeguarding employees from motor vehicle crash injury can be a profitable investment of time and resources.

Employers cost associated with motor vehicle crashes fall under two categories – health fringe benefit costs and non fringe benefits costs.

Health fringe benefit cost: are the costs of fringe benefits paid on account of illness and injury of employees and their dependents. They cover contributions to workers compensation, medical and disability insurance, health insurance, sick leave, social security disability insurance as well as insurance administration and overhead.

Non fringe benefit cost: consist of motor vehicle, property damage and liability insurance, crash-related legal expenses, and the cost of unreimbursed vehicle damage and replacement. Employers also lose productivity when employers sustain injuries preventing them or their co-workers from working at full capacity. Recruiting and training workers to replace fatally injured or permanently handicapped employees raises the bill employers pay for injuries.

Employer costs stretch beyond the company door. Employers pay for injuries that occur to their employee on and off the job and to their dependents. They also pay for harm caused to non employees involved in work related crashes (crashes involving a vehicle on employer business). In 2013, motor vehicle crashes killed 1,620 people and injured an estimated 293,000 while they were working. Over half of the injuries forced people to skip work.