Distracted Driving A “Major Problem:” USDOT

I’ve been writing about the dangers of using cell phones while driving — and filing suit when people crash into my clients when they are not paying attention to the traffic around them — for many years.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released a study showing that almost all drivers would do that.

And drivers don’t think it’s dangerous when they drive and dial/text – – only when other drivers do.

32,855 motorists were killed in 2010. Distracted driving killed at least 3,092 people of them, according to the study. (Of course, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to know exactly how wrecks happen, especially when a fatality is involved.)

The USDOT’s research shows that a driver is 23 times more likely to be involved in a wreck if he or she is texting.

Why is this legal?

Why do 50%/25% of drivers polled said that making a cell phone call/texting made no difference in their driving performance?

Almost every one (90%) said that when they were passengers, they felt “very unsafe” when their driver was texting?

Pennsylvania became the 35th state to outlaw texting while driving.

Think our roads could be safer here? I sure do.

But Texas is one of the few states that doesn’t ban texting/cell phoning while driving, thanks to Gov. Rick Perry ‘s veto of a bill that would have banned the practice. He was the first U.S. governor to do so. However, he said that texting from behind the wheel is “reckless and irresponsible.”

I have had to represent an increasing number of injured drivers whose crashes were caused by other motorists driving while texting or talking on their cell phones, and I believe that this practice is clearly dangerous and should be banned.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle collision, please contact my office and I will subpoena the other driver’s cell phone records in court to see if he was on the phone or texting.

Share This Post