Car Accidents Caused by Texting While Driving
Car accident lawyers are seeing more and more injures caused by texting drivers. The distraction that is caused by trying to do two things at once destroys the chances you have of getting through them. One of the best examples of this is the use of cell phones while driving.
Many people use cell phones while driving and this is responsible for a large number of car accidents in the United States. The fact that cell phones have become more affordable over time is what has caused nearly every US citizen to owning one. When someone uses a cell phone while driving, he or she tends to ignore road signs and fails to keep a watch on the road, both of which are recipes for a disaster.
The primary source of driver inattention is use of a cell phone, and, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at any given time, more than ten million drivers in the United States are talking on cell phones. Driver inattention is a primary or contributing factor in a significant number of car accidents, and driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity that is being used to focus on driving by about 40%.
People who text while driving are 23% more likely to be in a car accident, and studies have found that using a cell phone while driving causes a 400% increase in time with eyes not watching the road. Psychologists from the University of Utah have developed a study showing that people who talk on cell phones while driving a car are as impaired as drunk drivers. The study also found that hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as regular cell phones because the actual conversation - not just the use of a handheld cell phone - is what distracts drivers from the road. The study found that compared to undistracted drivers, drivers who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slower, took longer to hit the brakes, showed more variation in following distance because their attention switched between driving and talking, were slower to return to normal speed after braking and were more likely to cause a car accident. People who use a cell phone while driving are about six times more likely to get in a car accident. Texas is one of 45 states that does not prohibit a driver from using a cell phone while driving. This law should extend to all 50 states because, like driving while intoxicated, driving while using a cell phone is causing fatal car accidents and is preventable. If involved in a car accident in which the driver at fault was using a cell phone, one should contact car accident lawyer as soon as possible.
