There are more mobile devices to distract the modern vehicle driver than ever before. Despite state legislation which forbids the use of most of these devices, they are increasingly the cause of car accidents.
Texting while driving is probably the single most common cause of car accidents in which distractive driving is a factor. If you have been involved in a car accident which was somebody else’s fault and you suspect that they were using a mobile device when the accident happened you should contact a car accident attorney as soon as possible to help you file a claim for damages against the driver.
1 in 5 adults text while they drive
While texting is often thought of as a teenage habit, it has been estimated that 1 in 5 of all adult car drivers text while driving at some point. This is a shocking revelation as any one of those texting incidents could be the cause of an accident. The advice by all concerned authorities is that mobile devices should either be turned off during a car journey if you are driving alone or should not be answered unless you are able to stop safely, pull over and use the device. A hands free set is not entirely risk free either as the actual conversation can distract the driver at a critical moment.
Texting while driving is far more dangerous than using a cell phone to make a voice call. For a start, both hands need to be used to text properly. If one hand is used to control the wheel and the other to text it simply means that the time taken to text – and therefore the dangerous period in which the car is not being controlled effectively is prolonged.
Drivers who text four times as likely to have a crash
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has come out with figures from their research which shows that any driver who uses a mobile device to text while driving is about four times as likely to have a crash – a figure which seems hardly surprising.
If you have had an accident and have suffered from injuries as a result of somebody else’s careless driving, then you have a legal right to claim for damages form the person at fault. Every driver needs to have taken out adequate insurance to cover for the eventuality that they cause harm to either people or property as a result of their actions, so it is a matter of negotiating with the driver’s insurance company.
Your accident attorney may look for texting evidence
Although any driver who has caused an accident because they were texting while driving, it is not necessarily that easy to prove that they were doing so. This is something that you will have to discuss with the car accident lawyer when you go through the accident circumstances. It is quite possible that an investigation into the driver’s mobile phone usage can be checked by the appropriate authorities, if a texting incident is thought to be responsible for the crash, so any accurate details that can be remembered or if there were eye witnesses who can verify seeing the driver actually using his or her device would be valuable.
Whatever your injuries, remember that accidents can lead to large, unexpected bills. Not everybody has taken out insurance to cover themselves for sudden situations like a car accident. You should not have to bear the consequences of somebody else’s mistakes by yourself.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident, learn how to protect your rights with a free consultation. Contact an experienced Car Accident Lawyer.
