Cell phones and other types of mobile telecommunication devices have made it very easy to keep in touch with friends and family, but drivers using them while behind the wheel has led to a sharp increase in cell phone auto accidents. Admittedly, it is a driver’s responsibility to direct his or her full attention to the safe operation of the vehicle, which weighs thousands of pounds. Sadly, though, many drivers on the road fail to take this responsibility seriously, talk and text on their cell phones and put themselves, other drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians at unnecessary risk. In recent months, states have created and toughened laws regarding talking and texting while driving but it is not yet clear if this legislation will reduce distracted driving auto accidents which is why you need a truck accident lawyer Riverside.
Law enforcement officials describe distracted driving as any activity that takes a driver’s attention away from operating their vehicle. Research on cell phone auto accidents has indicated that drivers who talk on their phones while driving are four times more likely to be involved in an auto accident which is why you might need a dui attorney sacramento. This applies to all drivers, including drivers of passenger vehicles, delivery trucks, semi trucks weighing tens of thousands of pounds, buses, and other four-wheeled vehicles. Drivers who sent or received and read text messages were 23 times more likely to cause or be involved in an auto accident.
Of course, cell phones are not the only items and activities that distract drivers from focusing on operating their vehicles safely. Other noted causes of distracted driving auto accidents include eating; drinking; fatigue; reaching for sunglasses, purse, or dropped object; lighting or dropping a cigarette; adjusting the radio or compact disc player; looking at an auto accident; arguing with another occupant of the car; and more. Nevertheless, cell phones are increasingly becoming the single largest cause of distracted driving accidents in the country.business lawyer los angeles
There are many reasons for this increase. First, many people are multitasking to accomplish as much as possible during work hours. They perceive driving as dead time that erodes their productivity. There is also a perception among some drivers that they need connectivity to work and home at all times. Perhaps the biggest factor, however, is that humans are social animals that crave interaction. Cell phones enable and facilitate interaction whether people are in the grocery store, at home, or going down the road at 57 mph in a five thousand-pound SUV. The first two instances of cell phone use are mildly irritating at worst. The last one is potentially lethal.dui attorney sacramento
As of December 2007, there were approximately 307 million people living in the United States. At that moment in time, there were 255 million wireless telephone subscribers in the country or 84 percent of the population. These subscribers talked on their phones for 2.1 trillion minutes and transmitted 363 billion text messages during 2008. From 2005 to 2008, there was an astonishing 23 percent increase in subscribers, a 40 percent increase in minutes used, and a 348 percent increase in text messages sent. These figures come as no surprise to drivers. If they look around while waiting for a light to change, nearly 70 percent of the drivers around them will be talking on their phones or sitting with their eyes directed downward at their phone’s screen reading or sending a text message.giving up for adoption
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute conducted a study recently where they studied the driving habits of truckers by installing video cameras in their cabs. Like the drivers of passenger vehicles, truckers were 23 times more likely to cause or be involved in an accident while texting. While the truck drivers were sending or receiving messages, the study noted how long the driver’s eyes focused on their phones instead of the road. The authors of the study found that immediately prior to an accident or near accident, drivers spent nearly five seconds looking at their phone.
Another study on cell phone use while driving found that more than half of all drivers in the country admitted using a phone while they were driving. One driver in seven admitted to composing and sending text messages while driving. Nearly half, 46 percent, of 16- and 17-year-old drivers say that they routinely send and receive texts while driving. Even more 18- to 24-year-olds, 48 percent admitted sending and receiving texts while driving. More than two in every three drivers, 67 percent, of drivers aged 25 to 34 talk on their phones while driving. Interestingly, the study found that the higher the driver’s educational accomplishment, the more likely they were to talk on their cell phone while driving.
Around the world, 45 countries ban cell phone use while driving, but the United States is not one of them. The costs of using a cell phone while driving measured in lives, injured people, property damage and intangibles continue to climb every year. Legislation alone is not an effective deterrent to cell phone use behind the wheel. It takes a concerted effort of public awareness of the dangers of cell phone car accidents, a societal shift in making this behavior unacceptable, educating children about the perils of distracted driving before they become drivers and a willingness on each driver’s part to take a fresh look at their hyper-connectivity and its costs in lives and money.
Ultimately, the responsibility for preventing cell phone auto accidents belongs to each driver. Only he or she can make the decision to pull off the road or into a parking lot to take or return a call or put off reading a text message until arriving at his or her destination. Distracted driving auto accidents are always something that happens to somebody else, until it happens to you.
