/EINPresswire.com/ Auto Accident Lawyer News Report: It is estimated that distracted drivers are responsible for 500,000 injuries and 6,000 deaths each year. Distraction can come in many forms. Texting behind the wheel and taking a call on a cell phone are perhaps the most obvious forms of distraction, with an estimated 37% of adult drivers admitting to texting while driving, but it seems there are other killers at work on our roads. In November 2011, a HealthDay poll, with nearly 3,000 American adult respondents, found that 57% of drivers ate or drank while driving, 36% have read a map while behind the wheel and, perhaps even more shockingly, 13% have surfed the Internet.
The problem is exacerbated in the case of younger drivers. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that drivers under the age of 20 accounted for the greatest proportion of distracted drivers, with 16% of young drivers involved in fatal car crashes reported to have been distracted behind the wheel. According to Life Before Text, over half of 16 and 17 year-old drivers make and answer cell phone calls on the road with 34% admitting to reading and responding to text messaging. Answering a text takes around five seconds. It might not sound like a lot but at 55 MPH it's long enough to travel the length of a football field. It's not just texting that's an issue. Many young drivers also admit to using Facebook apps and even playing games while driving. Interestingly, most drivers are aware of the dangers posed by calling or texting when driving and as passengers would feel unsafe if the driver was using their cell phone, yet these same drivers are the ones who are indulging in dangerous driving practices themselves. It seems that they feel that the rules of the road and common sense do not apply to them.
The US Department of Transportation does not have the authority to make it illegal for drivers to use their phones while behind the wheel and it is up to individual states to pass laws outlawing cellphone use while driving. Are they doing enough? In some cases it appears not. Some states have not even gone so far as to ban school bus drivers from using their phones at the wheel. Texas legislatures have had enough sense to ban cellphone use in school zones, however, they have not taken the extra step to ban all cellphone use while driving. It seems such a shame that, in the absence of written laws, common sense does not prevail for many drivers.
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By:
Modesto E. Rosales
Personal Injury Lawyer
Sources
Edgar Snyder: Cell Phone and Texting Accident Statistics
http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html
U.S. Department of Transport: Distraction
http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/index.html
Governors Highway Safety Association: Cell Phone and Texting Laws
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
NHTSA: Traffic Safety Facts
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811379.pdf
Life Before Text: Statistics
http://lifebeforetext.com/Statistics.html
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