As company vehicles increasingly blur the road between work and private use, employers must address child passenger safety, policy gaps, and risk exposure.
Safety is at all times at the center of fleet management. Secure driver training, policies, safety conventions, and safety departments all work together to assist fleet managers keep their drivers protected and sound.
Nonetheless, one aspect is commonly ignored when evaluating and drafting policies and training to make sure a safer fleet. The corporate automobile.
It will not be unusual for corporations to assign company cars to their employees, and people cars often develop into a part of those employees’ family transportation options.
Many fleet managers and corporations have policies to handle liability and safety concerns for workers, but almost none require child safety seats to be installed or offer training for workers to properly install them, creating exposure to liability.
Jenny Harty, a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST), knows first-hand the importance of kid safety seats, having been involved in a violent crash with a logging truck that hit her vehicle after which drove off.
Harty was in her vehicle together with her family when the truck ran a stop sign, colliding together with her vehicle and sending it right into a ravine. Her daughter was saved because she was in a booster seat.
We spoke with the subject-matter expert to get her tackle how fleet managers will be proactive about child safety with company cars.
Q: Your personal experience modified the course of kid passenger safety advocacy in Georgia after a serious crash saved your daughter’s life, due to a booster seat. How did that moment shape your views on broader safety implications for corporations with fleet vehicles?
Harty: A violent hit-and-run with a logging truck modified every part for our family. Madison survived because she was properly restrained in a booster seat. We got here near losing our daughter. That have opened my eyes to something greater: safety isn’t just the presence of a law; it’s the presence of a culture. Even after helping pass the Georgia law named Madison’s Booster Seat Law, I spotted laws is simply one part. True protection requires education, leadership, and systems built to stop a crisis before it ever occurs. Fleet vehicles often go home with employees, giving corporations a singular opportunity to influence the protection of entire families. Child passenger safety isn’t only a parental responsibility; organizations can play a strong role in protecting children, too.
Q: Only a few fleet policies include guidelines for child passenger restraints. Why should corporations adopt explicit CPS policies?
Harty: Three reasons stand out:
1. Protect employees’ families. A take-home fleet vehicle is commonly the family vehicle. Children deserve the identical level of protection that the corporate provides its drivers.
2. Reduce preventable risk and liability. If a baby is wrongly restrained in a company-owned vehicle, the organization could also be exposed even when not in company use.
3. Show true safety leadership. State laws are sometimes shaped by compromises to be passed. Corporations committed to a powerful safety culture must rise above minimums. Selecting the ceiling over the ground sends a transparent message: we care about our people and the families who depend on them. A powerful safety culture is built one step at a time, and that is yet one more meaningful piece of a comprehensive program.
Q: A fleet vehicle going home with an worker becomes a de facto family vehicle. How should fleet safety programs address this reality?
Harty: A whole lot of hundreds of kids ride in fleet vehicles on daily basis. Policies must reflect this reality.
Practical steps include:
- Requiring appropriate child restraints for any child riding in an organization vehicle
- Offering easy educational materials or quick-reference guides
- Incorporating CPS expectations into annual fleet training
- Hosting automobile seat check events with certified technicians
- Placing a CPS reminder or guide within the glove compartment
State law provides the baseline, but families deserve more. Clear policies and hands-on support show employees that their company chooses the ceiling, prioritizing children’s safety with the best standard of care.
Q: Your advocacy strengthened booster seat laws. How do you see that very same sort of advocacy playing out inside corporate safety cultures?
Harty: Once we strengthened Georgia’s booster seat requirements, leading to Madison’s Booster Seat Law, it was rooted in a straightforward belief I carried throughout the method: we have now to guard those that can’t protect themselves.
After our crash, I knew how close we got here to losing our daughter. That motivated me. And it’s the explanation I’m committed to doing every part I can to stop one other family from experiencing the unimaginable.
I see the identical opportunity inside corporate safety cultures. An organization must protect the kids who ride in its vehicles. Adopting best-practice child restraint standards is so essential.
Corporations committed to true safety should operate on the ceiling, not the ground. Leadership is about influence.
Strong, well-communicated fleet policies drive safer behavior and protect everyone within the vehicle. Selecting to exceed minimum requirements builds a security culture that makes protecting families a priority— each time they’re on the road.
Q: Seat installation errors are common, and your CPST certification gives you insight into proper installation. What resources could fleets implement to cut back these errors?
Harty: Most misuse happens because parents were never taught proper installation. Fleets don’t need complex programs to shut that gap.
A couple of easy resources include:
- Short educational installation videos and helpful checklists
- Booster seat readiness guides
- Access to seat check opportunities
- A CPS module in annual training
- Hosting a automobile seat check event
- Automotive seat and booster seat fit videos, guides, education, and data
- Partnerships with certified technicians
- Family-friendly materials like Francie & Fitz Booster Buddies to bolster protected habits at home for your complete family.
Empowering parents with confidence results in safer rides for each child.
Q: What’s one actionable change fleet managers could implement tomorrow to enhance child passenger safety?
Harty: Add strong language to fleet policy: Any child riding in an organization vehicle have to be properly restrained in response to best-practice guidelines, not only state minimums. It immediately elevates safety expectations.
Corporations can amplify their impact with small, meaningful initiatives. Francie & Fitz is a kid’s picture book that gives something fresh and simple for kids to know. Tools like a Family Safety Welcome Kit, a Read & Ride Secure Day with automobile seat checks, or a co-branded edition of the book show employees that their children matter to the corporate.
It’s an revolutionary approach to bring safety into the house, construct goodwill, and position any fleet as a pacesetter in an area the industry has largely ignored, constructing loyalty and connection that’s unmatched.
Selecting best practice over minimum compliance is one in all the only ways a fleet can save a baby’s life
This Article First Appeared At www.automotive-fleet.com
