Car Accident Attorneys
Distracted Driving

According to the National Safety Council, over one-quarter of all car accidents involve drivers who are using their cell phones. General cell phone use is responsible for 21% of crashes while texting is to blame for an additional 16%. This brings the total of cell phone-related accidents to 37% of all crashes. If you’ve been injured in an accident with a distracted driver, our Northglenn car accident attorneys can help.

While driving distractions are nothing new, technological advancements have certainly enhanced the problem. With modern smartphones, drivers have the internet at their fingertips. They provide us with the ability to surf the web, check email, text friends, tweet, and post to social media- all while behind the wheel. Laws restricting these behaviors have had some impact, however, too many drivers continue to participate in these unsafe behaviors.

Texting: The Most Dangerous Distraction

Talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous, increasing the odds that you’ll be in an accident four times. That is minimal, however, compared to texting while driving, which increases your odds of crashing by an astonishing 23 times.

Why is texting so much more dangerous? Texting involves all three primary categories of distraction

• Visual- keeping your eyes on the road, your surroundings, and checking your mirrors consistently
• Manual- keeping your hands on the wheel, and if driving a manual vehicle, the stick shift
• Cognitive- keeping your thoughts focused on driving and knowing your surroundings

When a person texts and drives, not only are their hands away from the steering wheel, but their eyes are off the road. In addition, their minds are busy reading and processing incoming messages instead of their surroundings. The average text message takes about five seconds to read. If a vehicle is traveling at 55 mph, during those five seconds, it could travel the length of a football field before the driver looks up at the road again.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study in which they discovered that 69% of all drivers ages 18 to 64 had talked on their cell phones while driving in the past thirty days. Furthermore, 31% of drivers 18 to 24 years-old self-reported they had texted while driving during the same period of time.

Distracted Driving Statistics

Of the reported incidents, on U.S. roads each year, distracted drivers kill 3,328 people and injure another 421,000. Many of these drivers are distracted by their cell phones while driving- choosing to put themselves and others in harm’s way despite knowing the odds. While these numbers are alarming, these statistics can only quantify the verified cases, meaning those that go unproven or unadmitted are not accounted for here.

Any one of us can be guilty of being distracted while driving, however, according to the CDC, the highest proportion of distracted-related crashes ending fatally are under the age of 20.

Teaching our children to drive responsibly and that driving is to be taken seriously is something we all need to contribute to. A big step in nurturing that lesson is to lead by example.

Other Forms of Distracted Driving

Driving responsibly and respectfully means giving it your undivided attention. When you’re not paying attention and your eyes are not on the road, you’re not in control. It’s as simple as that. You need to use your senses in their entirety to properly maintain command of your vehicle.

If you’re giving your attention to any of these tasks while driving, you are:

• Putting on makeup, brushing hair, grooming yourself
• Eating or drinking
• Looking at your phone, navigation, or stereo
• Yelling or arguing with children or other passengers
• Trying to control a pet
• Thinking about anything but driving

At Hull & Zimmerman, we have seen hundreds of distracted driving cases resulting in car accidents. Over the past decade, many of those are phone-related and texting while driving-related incidents that lead to injury or death.

How You Can Avoid Distracted Drivers and Being One

The only way to ensure your safety while driving is to stay vigilant, aware, and focused on the task of driving. Doing this will decrease your chances of being in a car accident, however, it won’t eliminate them altogether.

Keeping your eyes and mind on the road and your hands dedicated to driving is going to contribute greatly to your personal successful driving conditions. It’s imperative that you do this because too many other drivers are not doing it.

How to spot a distracted driver:

• Quick and unsafe lane changes or merging
• Turning from the wrong lane
• Running red lights or stop signs
• Slamming on the breaks
• Not following the rules of driving or posted signs
• Swerving

It’s on you to avoid these distracted drivers and in order to do that, you can’t be one yourself.