Distracted driving claimed 3,275 lives in 2023.
Even minor distraction-related violations often signal bigger risks ahead, making early intervention key to preventing crashes and keeping roads safer.
Distracted Driving Violations Help PREDICT Future Crashes
You can take control of your risk if you know what types of behaviors and habits to look out for.
Our crash prediction study correlated MVR events with insurance claims. The results give a clear indication as to which distracted driving violations are the best leading indicators of claims. For example, receiving a violation for failing to signal a lane change, a sign that someone was likely distracted, increases the probability of a claim within the next year by almost 113%! 
To effectively reduce and prevent incidents caused by distracted driving across fleets, companies need to track and act on these violations proactively. How can you improve your process for preventing distracted driving violations? Find out where you fall below and how you can strengthen your approach.
Step 1: Outline Your Company Standards in Your Safety Policy
Before you can monitor and reduce distracted driving behavior, your expectations need to be clearly defined. Providing a clear and comprehensive outline of your policies will help eliminate confusion and ensure that all drivers have a shared understanding of your safety guidelines.
Spell Out What Counts as Distracted Driving
Address the types of distractions— visual, manual, cognitive and auditory —including specific examples on your standards surrounding mobile phone use, eating, adjusting in-cab devices, etc.
Make the Consequences Clear
Set expectations for what happens after a distracted driving violation or risky behavior is reported (e.g. warning, remedial training, potential disqualification).
Encourage Driver Acknowledgement
Require drivers to review and sign your distracted driving policy as part of onboarding and regular safety refreshers. This reinforces awareness and creates documentation of compliance.
Make It Actionable
Pair your policy with a plan: how you’ll monitor, what tools you’ll use and how you’ll intervene.
Need help improving your policy? Download our driver safety policy drafting guide.
Step 2: Continuously Monitor for Distracted Diving Violations
You need visibility into the distracted driving violations and behaviors across your fleet, so you know who and what to target. How are you currently identifying risk? Below, we break down the different approaches companies take to identify risk, starting at the bare minimum.
The Bare Minimum: Compliance
Many fleets run a one-time Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check when hiring and follow up with annual MVR reviews to stay compliant with FMCSA rules. But between these scheduled checks, they often rely on drivers to self-report violations—creating a huge visibility gap where incidents can go undetected for months. This lack of visibility means missed chances to step in before a minor issue turns into a serious crash. On top of that, traditional MVR monitoring is typically a slow, manual process, adding unnecessary hassle while leaving fleets exposed to hidden risks.
Adequate: Periodic MVR Checks
The above, plus potentially running multiple MVR checks a year to reduce blind spots. Many teams still rely on a manual, time-consuming process at this stage, which becomes even more difficult to manage when repeated multiple times a year. While this approach is an improvement over annual reviews, it still falls short of being truly proactive, leaving significant gaps in risk management. To effectively mitigate risk, companies need continuous, real-time insights that provide a clearer picture of driver behavior and emerging threats.
Better: Continuous MVR Monitoring
Implementing MVR monitoring enables fleets to receive ongoing license status updates and continuous alerts for new violations, including distracted driving. This approach closes the visibility gap between annual reviews, ensuring that violations don’t go unnoticed for months. With real-time insights, companies can immediately respond to new incidents and take corrective action, reducing distracted driving risks through early intervention. By shifting from periodic reviews to continuous monitoring, fleets can better protect drivers and assets while boosting overall road safety.
Best: A Comprehensive View of Risk
Combining MVR monitoring with telematics monitoring provides the most comprehensive view of driver behavior, allowing fleets to proactively address risks before they escalate. This approach helps capture distracted driving behaviors—such as hard braking, lane drifting and mobile phone use—before they result in violations. By identifying unsafe habits early, companies can intervene before they lead to crashes, creating a safer driving environment. Additionally, holistic driver profiles give fleet managers deeper insight into which drivers need the most support, fostering a stronger culture of safety and accountability across the organization.
Step 3: Act on Identified Risk with Targeted Intervention & Ongoing Education
Targeted, Remedial Training
Addressing violations and behavioral alerts promptly is key to correcting unsafe driving habits before they become ingrained. A personalized approach to remedial training allows companies to target specific issues observed in individual drivers, making interventions more effective. Assigning training after a violation reinforces accountability, emphasizing the seriousness of the issue while ensuring drivers take responsibility for their actions. Beyond correction, this training equips drivers with the skills and knowledge needed to improve their driving behavior and avoid future distractions. Reinforcing the consequences of distracted driving and the importance of safety can help prevent repeat offenses and foster a culture of responsibility on the road.
Ongoing, Proactive Training
Regular driver training sessions play a crucial role in keeping the dangers of distracted driving top of mind for drivers, helping maintain a high level of vigilance on the road. Companies should ensure that drivers are educated continuously, not just reactively. It's important to prevent bad habits from forming, no matter how experienced or safe a driver usually is. By reinforcing safe driving behaviors, proactive training encourages consistent adherence to safety protocols, creating stronger, more responsible habits over time. As new distractions (like emerging technologies) become prevalent, ongoing training ensures drivers are well-equipped to recognize and manage these risks effectively. This commitment to continuous education fosters a safety-first culture within organizations, making responsible driving a core value rather than just a compliance requirement. Ultimately, consistent training leads to a measurable reduction in distracted driving incidents, helping improve overall road safety for everyone.
By implementing both ongoing, proactive training and targeted, remedial training, organizations can significantly reduce the risks associated with distracted driving and promote a safer driving environment. To learn more, discover how tailored distracted driver training can help prevent violations.
If you're looking for more information on what your company can do to prevent crashes caused by distracted driving, download our white paper, "Distracted Driving: 5 Strategies for Refocusing Your Drivers on the Road" today!