Lloyd Pest Control Races to a Solution for Distracted Driving

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A recent survey of business executives found that 85 percent are concerned about employees’ use of mobile technology while driving – an eight percent increase from just a year ago.

To separate from this growing national trend, San Diego-based Lloyd Pest Control put its team members behind the wheel – or on three wheels to be exact – to reinforce the company’s decision to ban the use of both handheld and hands-free devices while driving a company vehicle. 

At the company’s recent annual training events in San Diego and Riverside, all team members participated in the Lloyd Pest Control Grand Prix of CellFreeZonia. Staff were divided into eight teams and had to complete two laps while navigating the grand prix style racecourse, which featured ‘street’ names like Bait Station Parkway and Right Address Avenue, all while riding adult-sized tricycles. Watch the races here.

On the first lap, a smartphone with wired earphones was mounted on the handlebar and riders were in communication via text and phone call with a ‘home office’ representative.

Team members were given instructions to find a certain address, repeat back the code that they received in a text or to go to a bait station while avoiding obstacles and distractions including playground balls in the street near the Kids at Play Zone and life-sized animals in the Wildlife Crossing zone.

On the second lap, the phone distraction was removed from the equation, and team members were given ‘route’ instructions ahead of time. Each race was timed, and scores were recorded for each rider, and time penalties added for incorrectly followed instructions or ‘collisions’ with obstacles.

Not surprisingly the second laps were much quicker than the first – almost 30 percent faster - and with a lot less penalty time added.

“The goal of CellFreeZonia was to address a serious topic in a fun and engaging way,” said Efrain Velasco, Lloyd Pest Control’s technical director and one of the racecourse designers. “We wanted to show the ‘the fallacy of multi-tasking’ while behind the wheel and how even the slightest distraction could lead to a dangerous outcome.”

Lloyd President Scott Crowley said the event underscored the reality that cell phones subtract from our performance - they don't improve it.

"Our team members had a really great time on the course, except when they were struggling to juggle the phone calls and assigned tasks while trying to race a tricycle," said Crowley. “We knew we needed to do something dramatic to raise awareness to the hazard of distracted driving.”

Lloyd Pest Control’s management team starting with CEO Jamie Ogle, know that measuring the impact of the decision to ban handheld and hands-free devices will take time but early indications are that it’s working.

“Our preventable accidents are already down almost 25 percent year-to-date since we adopted the cell free policy,” said Ogle. “Cell phones have become a way of life for many of us and we feel compelled to stay connected. The truth is, however, that our brains cannot handle two tasks simultaneously that require thinking. None of us want to explain that my call or text caused a serious injury or death of someone’s loved one. This risk just isn’t worth it.”