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Shift engaged-driving team partners with businesses
to reduce risky behaviors

How do we partner with businesses to reduce distracted driving and increase engagement behind the wheel? That's the question the Shift Idaho team set out to answer at the recent ITD Leadership Summit.

Check out the video of the team's opening pitch.

The team has spent the last year working with Idaho Power to figure out new ways to reduce distracted driving through the workplace.

“Partnering with Idaho Power makes so much sense — their fleet logs millions of miles each year,” said ITD Office of Highway Safety manager John Tomlinson. “They have an amazing safety culture, so we thought between our two organizations we could move the needle on safety.”

The goal of the two partners is to develop tools and strategies that employers can use to influence employees to put away distractions and just drive.

“We believe that the behaviors and habits we develop at work continue even when we’re not at the office,” Tomlinson said. “In the workplace we have an opportunity to more directly impact behavior than we can through traditional media campaigns.”

The combined team from ITD and Idaho Power used a design thinking method to identify the best tools and tactics for employers. In the end, the team adopted the strategy of creating a safety “treasure box” where partners can share their safety cultures with other organizations.

The two partners will make the first deposits in this “treasure box,” which will include sample policies, graphics, training videos and even a virtual-reality experience. The team’s goal is to launch this program statewide during Distracted Driving Awareness Month next April, at which point they will recruit additional partners.

“We can all do much better,” Tomlinson said. “We all have a part to play in making our roads and communities safer and together we will make a difference.”