Distracted driving causes at least 8 deaths per day
Driving on crowded California freeways presents many challenges to drivers. When drivers look at their smartphones instead of the road, accidents become more likely. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that over eight people die every day in car accidents involving distracted driving. Daily injuries from such collisions exceed 1,000.
A representative from the National Safety Council believes that distracted drivers could be contributing to even more deaths. Elusive figures about crashes that result from distractions make accurate counts difficult to obtain. She said that drivers who survive crashes tend not to disclose smartphone usage before the accident. When the NSC studied crash data about accidents involving phone use, the council calculated that roughly one-quarter of car accidents involve this type of distraction.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that a person drives the equivalent of a football field length without looking at the road while reading a single text. A university study of distracted driving found that sending or receiving a text increases a driver’s chance of crashing by a factor of six.
A distracted driver could drift across a center line and cause a head-on collision. This type of accident could produce severe injuries for accident victims. If an injured person can obtain documentation that the driver who caused the crash acted negligently, then a personal injury lawsuit might succeed in collecting damages. An attorney might be able to prepare the lawsuit for the person. By collecting evidence, filing court papers, negotiating with an insurance company or presenting the case at trial, an attorney could enable the person to overcome administrative hurdles. Damages claimed by a victim might include medical bills, lost income or money to pay for long-term disability.