Distracted Driving Awareness Month: The True Dangers of Texans’ Driving Habits
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is continuing a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. The habit of distracted driving is becoming increasingly more common and dangerous and has caused in increase in traffic crashes and fatalities over the past several years. In Texas alone, there were just over 90,000 traffic crashes in 2012 which were caused by distracted drivers. These resulted in 18,468 injuries and 453 fatalities.
What is Distracted Driving?
Driver distraction is known as any activity which limits a person’s attention to the road. It is involved in 20% of all crashes occurring in Texas. The use of cell phones (calls, texting, etc.) while driving is perhaps the most easily recognizable distraction, although any type of in-vehicle disturbance is dangerous. Car accidents resulting from a distraction can lead to serious injury, or in more severe cases, death. Other common distractions include:
Reading/writing e-mails
Eating or drinking
Using navigational system
Dangerous and Deadly
Cell phone use and text messaging are considered the most dangerous distractions due to the manual, visual, and cognitive attention necessary to perform the task. As much as we would like to think that our brain is capable of multitasking, the fact is, it is not. The combination of driving while talking or texting causes your brain to switch rapidly, dividing your attention between the two. It is a deadly combination and drivers seem to be completely unaware that they are placing other motorists in danger with their negligence.
Negligence Behind the Wheel
TxDOT campaigns shedding light on the dangers of distracted driving are effective; however, some drivers continue to engage in distracted behavior when behind the wheel. The Greenway Law Firm is all too familiar with this form of negligence. The firm has handled numerous cases where victim’s lives have been put on hold due to the long periods of physical recovery they must endure due to another driver’s careless act. A personal injury lawsuit can be effective in collecting the monetary damages you deserve to get your life back on track.
Protecting the Rights of Victims
Distracted driving is a much too common incident in Texas. Know that in Austin, a firm protecting your rights as a victim is available to help. A personal injury attorney as experienced as John Greenway can help you collect the maximum amount of compensation to alleviate the financial and physical burdens you’ve been dealt with after a car accident.