National Safety Month rolls into its second week (June 7 through 13) with a theme the National Safety Council frames as “Staying Safe on the Roads.” The Council’s message is simple: safer roads start with safer choices. For most employers, that lands as a reminder to buckle up and put the phone down. For dealerships, it should land a lot harder, because few businesses put as many people behind the wheel, in as many unfamiliar vehicles.
Here is the statistic that frames the whole conversation. According to the National Safety Council, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of work-related death in the United States, and they rank first or second as a cause of death in every major industry group. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics attributes close to 40 percent of on-the-job fatalities to incidents on the road. NSC analysis of the most recent federal data counts more than 1,100 workers killed in roadway incidents involving motorized vehicles in a single year.
There is no single OSHA standard titled “driving.” That absence sometimes lulls dealers into treating roadway risk as a personal matter rather than an employer obligation. It is not. Under the General Duty Clause, an employer has to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm, and a crash during work driving is squarely within that duty.
How Much Driving Your Store Really Does
NSC spends National Safety Month reminding employers that roadway risk is workplace risk. Few employers prove the point better than a dealership. Between the showroom and the service drive, your people are behind the wheel all day, often in vehicles they have never driven, frequently with a customer or coworker in the car. Most of that driving happens with no policy, no training, and no record that any of it occurred.
Walk the operation and count the driving:
- Test drives. A customer who has never sat in the vehicle takes the wheel, often with a salesperson in the passenger seat and zero control over the brake.
- Lot movement. Porters and lot attendants reposition inventory constantly, in tight rows, backing repeatedly, with customers and coworkers walking the same pavement. Backing incidents are one of the most common and most preventable crash types in any operation.
- Service road tests. Technicians take vehicles out to confirm a repair, sometimes a vehicle with a condition that has not been fully diagnosed.
- Shuttle and courtesy transportation. An employee drives customers to and from home or work while their vehicle is serviced, with passengers aboard.
- Parts delivery. Wholesale parts drivers run frequent stops on a clock, the classic recipe for a rushed, distracted trip.
- Dealer trades. Someone drives a vehicle, often a long way, to swap inventory with another store.
- Mobile service and home delivery. A growing share of dealers now send technicians and vehicles directly to customers, which means more employees driving more miles to more unfamiliar addresses.
Every one of those is your workplace in motion. And when the workplace is a moving vehicle, the same duty of care you apply on the shop floor follows the employee out the door.
A Roadway Safety Program a Dealership Can Actually Run
The good news is that the controls are practical and most of them cost nothing but discipline. Build the program around a few anchors.
Put a driving policy in writing.
Cover who is authorized to drive for the dealership, seat belt use as a non-negotiable, and a clear distracted driving rule. Distraction is the contributing factor NSC returns to year after year, and a dealership is full of phones: salespeople texting customers, parts drivers checking the next stop, porters glancing at a message. A written, acknowledged cell phone policy is the single highest-leverage document most stores are missing. NSC offers a free sample distracted driving policy and a “Just Drive” pledge that are easy to adapt.
Qualify your drivers.
Anyone who shuttles customers, delivers vehicles, runs parts, or drives dealer trades should clear a motor vehicle record check on a set schedule, not just at hire. Define who may accompany customers on test drives and who may not.
Control the lot.
Set a posted lot speed limit, designate pedestrian paths and vehicle paths, and train porters on backing procedures, including using a spotter in tight situations. This is where customers and employees share the most ground and where backing crashes happen.
Maintain the vehicles you put people in.
Shuttle vans, loaners, and parts vehicles need a real inspection and maintenance cadence. Tires, brakes, and lights are not someone else’s problem when they are your vehicle and your driver.
ComplyAuto Safety Can Help
A strong roadway safety program depends on clear policies, consistent training, documented inspections, and accountability when issues arise. ComplyAuto Safety helps dealerships manage those moving parts in one centralized platform, so your store can better protect employees, customers, and vehicles on and off the lot. Schedule a demo today to see how ComplyAuto Safety can help.
Sources: National Safety Council, National Safety Month 2026 materials and Injury Facts; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Center for Motor Vehicle Safety.