If your employees drive for work, their driving record is part of your risk. One bad crash can turn into a lawsuit that costs far more than any hire is worth.
SambaSafety’s 2026 Telematics Report — based on a survey of 740 fleet, insurance broker, and insurer professionals — found one clear theme: the more ways you look at a driver, the clearer their risk becomes. Here is what the report found, and the searches we recommend to help you stay ahead of it.
What the 2026 Report Found
Driving risk is getting more expensive, and insurers are paying close attention.
- Distracted driving and lawsuits are the top threats. 84% of insurers and brokers named each one as a major risk to profits.
- Lawsuits are huge. In trucking cases tied to a driver using a phone, about two-thirds ended in “nuclear” awards, with a median award of $25.3 million (ATRI research cited in the report).
- Insurers lean on driving records. 95% of insurers and brokers use MVRs (driver history reports) to judge risk, and 44% also check license status.
- A driving record is a snapshot. It shows if a license is valid, expired, or suspended on the day it’s pulled. A suspension next month won’t show up until you check again.
- A few drivers cause most of the risk. The riskiest 10% of drivers often account for more than half of a fleet’s total risk.
Does This Apply to You?
You don’t need a fleet of trucks for this to matter. If anyone drives on the clock, you have driving risk. That includes:
- Healthcare and home care staff driving to patient visits
- Schools with bus drivers, van drivers, or coaches driving teams
- Nonprofits with volunteers or staff transporting clients
- Contractors and trades with work trucks and vans
- Sales and service teams using their own cars for work (insurers call this a “grey fleet”)
If a driver causes a crash and you never checked their record, you can be blamed for putting them behind the wheel. That’s called negligent entrustment, and about 1 in 4 brokers and insurers in the report named it as a concern.
The Searches We Recommend for Anyone Who Drives for You
Think of these as layers. Each one fills a gap the others miss.
Our recommendation:
- Every driver: MVR at hire, plus a criminal background check
- Regular drivers: add ongoing MVR monitoring so you hear about changes right away
- Experienced driver hires: add employment verification to confirm past driving jobs
For Connecticut employers, we search CT criminal records going back to the late 1980s, with same-day turnaround on most searches.
Doing It the Right Way
Driving records pulled for hiring fall under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). That means a few steps are required:
- Give the driver a clear written disclosure and get their signed permission first
- If you plan to monitor records over time, make sure the permission covers ongoing checks
- If something in the report affects your decision, follow the adverse action steps before you act
Let’s Make Your Drivers a Strength, Not a Risk
CT Background Checks has helped Connecticut employers, schools, nonprofits, and healthcare groups hire safely since 1996. No contracts, no minimums, and fast results that plug into your ATS or HRIS.
