If you refrain from texting while driving, that is a good thing and will help you stay safer on the roads. Yet not everyone drives in the same safe manner. Many drivers admit that they text or e-mail when they are driving. In fact, the number of those who regularly head out and use their cell phones while driving is on the rise.
Texting while driving splits your focus and diverts your attention from operating your vehicle and being alert to your surroundings. This is very dangerous because when you are distracted you are less likely to notice hazards that may arise quickly like a child running out into the street. Similarly, you will also have reduced reaction time to changing patterns in traffic and in changes on the road. For instance, if you are looking at your phone and traffic begins to slow you may not notice in time to slow your vehicle down and avoid a crash.
Why is Distracted Driving so Prevalent?
As a culture, we have a hard time putting our phones down. Driving is just another activity that we do regularly and so it is common to think nothing of using our phones while we do it. However, texting or sending and checking emails is distracting and distracted driving is a leading cause of car accidents. If you are in a Florida car accident and you have been hit by a distracted driver you should speak with a Florida car accident attorney to determine if you have a strong case to pursue compensation.
No one is immune from a car accident and even the most seasoned driver is at risk of a car accident if they are distracted by their phone. Even though the problem of texting and driving has been widely advertised to the public, the efforts made to motivate drivers to put their phones down have largely been unsuccessful. As high as 88% of all drivers who own phones say that they use their phones for an assortment of reasons while they drive.
New teen drivers have enough to focus on when they are driving alone, including simply getting in more practice and experiencing more traffic situations. The more situations they encounter, the better driver they will become. When these novice drivers use their phones, the risk for a Florida car accident is even higher. According to the study, teenaged drivers are four-times more likely that they will use their phones when driving than their adult counterparts. The Journal of Adolescent Health conducted a study of teenage drivers and they found that almost 40% said they used their phones while they drove.
Taking the time with your new drivers to enforce the importance of staying off their phones when they drive is helpful. It is important to remember that if an accident is the result of your distracted driving or if it can be proven that you were on your cell phone at the time of the crash, it is going to be very difficult for you to deny fault for the accident.
Do You Need a Florida Car Accident Attorney?
The Orlando automobile accident attorneys at the Vaughan Law Group welcome you to reach out to us when you have been in an accident and need legal representation. You deserve compensation after an accident that was not your fault and where you sustained injuries. The Orlando personal injury attorneys at the Vaughan Law Group can assist you. Don’t wait to call the Vaughan Law Group’s team of Florida serious injury attorneys at (407) 648-1426 to schedule your free consultation today.
