Injured by Distracted Drivers: Preventing Further Tragedies
By Fred Pritzker
In 2008, approximately 6,000 people died and 500,000 were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers, according Consumer Reports. By any standard, this is a shocking and needless tide of human carnage. Simply put, cell phone use, texting, and tweeting are incompatible with driving a motor vehicle.
As car accident attorneys, we see firsthand the real-life consequences of such seemingly harmless behavior. When people are texting while driving, they’re not thinking about the cautionary news stories in which people have been injured or killed in a car accident caused by a distracted driver. They’re more focused on texting or talking than on the road. Such was the case with the driver in the head-on collision that seriously injured one of our clients.
“Given the extreme wreckage and inexplicable loss of control, police at the scene immediately suspected that the other driver had been intoxicated. Upon investigating, police found only that the other driver had been texting.”
According to recent research, use of a cell phone while driving (handheld or hands-free) delays reaction time to the same degree as driving while intoxicated. Thus, a distracted driver using a cell phone is just as dangerous as a drunk driver. A texting driver is even more dangerous. Despite the death, injury and destruction associated with driving while distracted, there are no federal laws prohibiting it.
Only seven states and the District of Columbia ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving, and 20 states and D.C. prohibit texting while driving. Whether state or federal law, much more legal protection is required – and quickly. Sadly, legal reform is already too late for the many clients we represent whose lives have been devastated by distracted drivers.
Prevent accidents caused by distracted drivers
- Parents should talk to teens and new drivers about the responsibility of focusing on the road, not on cell phones
- Drivers should recognize that texting and talking on cell phones are not the only types of driver distraction. Things as commonplace as changing music, grooming, eating, drinking and talking to other drivers can be serious distractions.
- Visit www.distraction.gov for more information, including ways you can stay informed about the latest research showing how dangerous distracted driving can be, and the latest developments in state laws that regulate this behavior.
Tags: Car Accident Lawyer MN, Cell Phone Accidents, Distracted Driver Lawsuit, Killed by Distracted Driver
