Driving with a mobile phone: why businesses need to secure mobile devices on the road

Using a mobile phone while driving has become one of the leading causes of road accidents worldwide. Checking a message, answering a call, or interacting with a business application can be enough to cause a serious accident.

For organizations that employ mobile workers such as drivers, delivery personnel, taxi operators, field technicians, and other road-based professionals, distracted driving represents a major challenge. It impacts employee safety, operational continuity, company reputation, and overall business performance.

Fortunately, some mobile device management solutions now include dedicated driver safety features designed to reduce mobile-related distractions on the road.

Mobile devices: essential business tools with safety risks

In many industries, smartphones and tablets have become essential to daily operations. Drivers rely on mobile devices to access routes, follow GPS navigation, communicate with dispatch teams, confirm deliveries, complete service reports, and exchange real-time information.

The issue is not the device itself, but the interactions it encourages while driving. Even a quick action such as reading a notification, replying to a message, or changing a music playlist can divert attention from the road for several seconds. These distractions significantly increase the risk of accidents.

Implementing a mobile safety policy is not simply about reducing violations or enforcing company rules. It also demonstrates a proactive commitment to workplace safety. Employers have a responsibility to protect their employees, including those who spend significant time on the road. Reducing unsafe smartphone usage can help decrease accidents, injuries, vehicle damage, operational disruptions, and the costs associated with road incidents.

It is also an effective way to raise awareness among employees and promote a culture of responsible driving. In the long term, these measures contribute to protecting a company’s reputation, particularly when branded vehicles are visible to customers and the public.

Businesses therefore face a complex challenge: how can they provide mobile devices that employees need to do their jobs while minimizing the risks associated with their use on the road?

Improving driver safety with mobile device management (MDM)

Rather than relying solely on awareness campaigns and safety reminders, many organizations are now choosing to technically restrict unsafe device usage while employees are driving.

TinyMDM, a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, includes a Road Safety feature that allows administrators to define a speed threshold beyond which touchscreen interactions are automatically disabled.

In practice, the smartphone screen remains active so that essential functions such as GPS navigation can continue to operate, but touch input is blocked once the vehicle exceeds the configured speed. This approach helps maintain critical business functionality while significantly reducing dangerous interactions during driving, minimizing distractions and helping prevent accidents.

This feature can be particularly valuable for:

• Transportation and logistics companies, where drivers constantly rely on route management, tracking, and communication applications.
• Delivery services, where employees often face time pressure and frequent notifications while on the road.
• Taxi, ride-hailing, and passenger transport operators, who need access to navigation tools while remaining focused on driving.
• Emergency response teams, ambulances, and intervention services, where driver concentration is critical during urgent operations.
• Field service organizations whose employees regularly travel between customer locations.