VIENNA, VA - If you participated in this year's Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW) campaign, you were in good company. DSWW 2010, sponsored by NETS in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation, reached nearly 5,000 unique public and private organizations representing more than 20 million U.S. employees, or 12.5 percent of the total U.S. workforce. 

The theme of this year's campaign was "Focus...Safe driving is serious business."  The DSWW materials were designed to support employer efforts to prepare employees for the launch of a corporate mobile device policy. The campaign's activities, however, could also benefit organizations that were looking to educate employees on the dangers of distracted driving, particularly talking and texting while behind the wheel. 

Of the 4,690 unique organizations that downloaded the electronic tool kit, 88 percent have or expect to have a cell phone policy in place within the next 12 months.  Of the 3,067 organizations reporting they currently have a policy in place, 37 percent restrict the use of all mobile devices (handheld and hands-free) and 62 percent of policies apply to hand-held devices only.  The campaign tool kit was accessed by organizations with employee headcounts ranging from a handful to hundreds of thousands.

This year's Drive Safely Work Week experienced the greatest level of participation in the campaign's 14-year history.  The expanded reach is attributed to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's continued emphasis on combating the issue of distracted driving and the many associations, publications and partners who helped spread the word.

NETS members, many of them fortune 500 companies with large corporate fleets, contribute to the development of the annual campaign as a way to share their knowledge and experience with organizations that may not have a robust fleet safety program or whose safety programs don't reach beyond the company drivers.  "Drive Safely Work Week is our way of encouraging employers to take time to emphasize safe driving to all employees, whether they drive for work or just to and from work," said Jack Hanley, NETS Executive Director.

Although the campaign is recognized nationally each year during the first full week of October, materials are not dated and may be used anytime throughout the year to emphasize the campaign's safe driving messages.  The campaign materials are still accessible via www.trafficsafety.org.