In recent times, distracted driving has become one of the most common causes of car accidents in numerous countries all over the world, particularly since cell phones are so widely used and popular now. These days, many motorists drive while using a mobile app, talking or texting on their phones. Whenever a driver is distracted, the odds of them causing an accident will significantly increase as they are focused on their phone rather than on traffic signals and other vehicles out on the road. An Alabama distracted driving accident lawyer is here to help you hold these drivers accountable.
Currently, in Alabama, there is a very high demand for texting accident attorney services against individuals who have caused accidents due to them using their cell phones while they were driving. Alabama, like numerous other states, has put measures into place to discourage people from using their cell phones while driving to help prevent accidents as well as accident-related injuries. If a driver has damaged your property or you were injured due to them texting while driving, then contact our Montgomery personal injury attorneys at Vance Law Firm to receive legal advice and assistance.
How Can The Vance Law Firm Assist You?
Almost twenty-five percent of all of today’s recorded car accidents are driving-while-texting accidents. Therefore, it is clear that this problem has turned into a modern epidemic. When a driver uses a phone while driving it not only affects their concentration but it also slows their reaction time or speed down by around 20 percent. It is worth noting that a majority of distracted driving accidents have a tendency to have very serious consequences and frequently cause injuries that are life-threatening.
Driving while texting accident victims usually have a difficult time dealing with their severe injuries, which can often result in long-term disabilities. They also are faced with serious financial hardships at the same time due to medical bills, continuous care, and lost wages.
If you or a family member has suffered injuries that were caused by a motorists’ negligent actions, contact our car accident lawyers in Montgomery at The Vance Law Firm today for help. When you do this early, it will give yourself enough time to get an effective and compelling means to seek the compensation that you need and deserve.
Our highly-skilled and professional lawyers in Montgomery have all of the necessary experience and resources to investigate your accident and gather all of the documents that are required, which frequently include cellphone records that are needed to help prove your case. Our lawyers will provide guidance on all of the options that are available to you and which steps you should take as you move forward.
National Statistics on Texting and Driving
There is plenty of evidence that shows that driving while distracted is among the lead causes of auto accidents in the United States. Although a driver can be distracted by many things while they are driving, talking or texting on a phone while driving has proven to be a serious problem. Distracted driving frequently results in serious injuries that can cause permanent disabilities or at times could even result in death.
An accurate and easy-to-understand analogy is provided by the NHTSA of some of the most serious dangers that are presented by texting while driving.
Reding a text, texting, or talking on your phone involves visual, cognitive and manual distractions all at the same time. Reading or sending texts means a driver needs to take their eyes away from the road for around 4.5 seconds. When you do this while driving at 55 mph it is similar to driving blindfolded down an entire football field.
Another thing that has been proven is that nearly 20 percent of auto accidents that occur each year could be avoided if drivers would avoid using their phones while driving and paid closer attention to the road. That is a very shocking statistic, especially when you consider that using a phone to call or text while driving is illegal in all 50 states in America. Using a phone or texting while driving is considered to be a negligent act when it causes a car accident.
How Dangerous is it to Text and Drive?
Today, there are thirty-four states that have laws and regulations in place to discourage drivers from texting while they are driving. Out of those, it is considered to be an infringement of the law in 31 of these states. It is such a serious matter that police officers in those states have the right now to pull you over if you have been using your phone while driving. Unfortunately, people still do use their phones while they drive. The NHTSA released a document in 2011 that showed that the number of drivers who use their phones or text while driving increased to .9 percent in 2010 from .6 percent in 2009.
For example, in July 2011, phone use or texting while driving was made a major offense in New York. By mid-September, the Department of Motor Vehicle issued more than 4,600 tickets for this same crime.
Keeping those statics in mind, the main question is: just how dangerous is texting while driving?
It is actually quite dangerous. The NHTSA document shows that the chances of getting into an accident due to texting or using your phone while driving goes up by 2,300 percent. It was also shown by the research hat more than 500,000 individuals are injured, and around 6,000 die each year from distracted driving. Most deaths are part of truck-related accidents.
It is well-known that truck-related accidents have a higher chance of involving fatalities due to trucks being so large and heavy. The report showed that distracted truck drivers using their phones have a 23:2 high chance to cause an accident compared to drivers who pay close attention to the road while driving since they are able to see hazards more quickly.
There are very real dangers associated with driving while distracted. This has caused technology developers to find ways to fight this menace. A new phone app called Text Zapper is a great example. This app has been designed to disable a cell phone, which makes it impossible to send or receive a text message while the driver’s car is in motion. Trakker GPS technology is used by the app, which tracks the car’s position and the speed it is traveling at. However, for this app to work, first it needs to be downloaded by the driver.
Young Driver Cellphone Use
There are concerning statistics that show that most drivers who use their phone or text while driving are actually young drivers who are 16 to 25 years old. The Pew Research Foundation conducted research that showed that a high percentage of drivers 16 to 17 years old admitted that they text or talk on their phones while driving. By regular standards, drivers who are 16 to 25 years old are inexperienced and therefore are at a greater risk to cause an accident. When distraction is combined with inexperience, this combination can become disastrous. Research also shows that teen passengers of a texting driver tend to not speak up about it.
How Do Distractions Impair Driving?
Although it is well-known that it is dangerous to text while driving, it is always good to remind people of why it is so dangerous and distracting. There are three ways that texting while driving is hazardous:
Manual
When you are driving and one of your hands is using your phone, it is more difficult to steer the wheel of your car if an emergency arises. In general, it is unsafe to drive with one hand on your lap or phone and the other one on the wheel of your car.
Visual
It is critical to focus on what is ahead of you and keep your eyes on the road while you are driving. When your eyes are on your phone constantly, it is more difficult to focus and your reaction time is reduced.
Cognitive
If you are focused on replying to or reading a text, the chances of you being involved in an accident dramatically increases.
Rather than placing your life and other people at risk, it is a lot more reasonable and safer to wait until you pull over or wait until you get back home to send or read a text message. Unfortunately, every year there are thousands of texting while driving car accidents that are reported. If you were involved in a car accident that distracted driving caused, it can be very helpful to have a car crash attorney in Montgomery help you.
How Can You Prove That The Other Driver Was Distracted While Driving?
It can be difficult to find evidence that provides that the driver was distracted, particularly if you do not have any video evidence available. Although you might have eyewitnesses that can testify they saw the other driver was texting while driving, it often can be difficult to find individuals who saw what happened. If you don’t have any witnesses, what can you do? Fortunately, with technological advances, having eyewitnesses is not absolutely necessary. A Montgomery car accident lawyer can subpoena the other driver’s phone records and this information can be used to determine whether or not the person was using their phone when the accident took place.
With this evidence, it is a lot easier for jurors to take the victim’s side, especially when you were not texting while driving. So if there is evidence that shows that the other driver was distracted while driving, then you have a high chance of receiving compensation.
Call An Alabama Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer Today
If you were involved in an accident that a distracted driver caused, call our Alabama car accident lawyers for help. Our attorneys are highly skilled professionals who have extensive experience dealing with cases that involve texting while driving. As professionals who have handled many of these cases, we understand what type of evidence is necessary in order to prove your case and figure out how much compensation you can seek. Call The Vance Law Firm for assistance with your case at 334-333-3333 for your free-of-charge, no-obligation consultation.
