214-948-6464
Email Us
Any personal injury lawyer Dallas TX will know that distracted driving can be many things. In fact any activity that draws the driver’s attention off of the road and operating the motor vehicle properly and safely qualifies as distracted driving. This could be physical, visual, or even mental stimuli.
A simple way of thinking about distracted driving is that it ultimately represents anything at all that gets your eyes off of the road in front of you or takes your mind off of the critical task at hand. If you have been a victim of such negligence, then you need to contact a reliable Texas personal injury lawyer.
Three Categories of Driver Distractions Exist
Cell phone talking and texting is not the only distracted driving culprit. There are three different broad categories of these, including the following:
- Visual distractions – relate to taking off your eyes from the road in front of you to look down at anything else
- Cognitive distraction – happens if your mind gets away from you and you drift off onto a mental topic other than the task at hand
- Manual distraction – happens if you remove your hands from the wheel in order to grab something or take hold of something
There are so many examples of this distracted driving that it is hard to keep them all straight. The more common ones are the following:
- Texting while driving
- Talking on hand held or hands-free cell phone
- Going to social media or writing emails on smart phones
- Engaging with smart phone or vehicle navigation
- Programming a playlist or putting on a song using a phone or musical device
- Eating while driving
- Making videos or taking pictures
- Playing with any hand-held gadget as driving
- Putting on makeup
- Playing with the CD changer or radio station when driving
- Hair brushing, teeth brushing, or shaving when driving
Cell Phones Are Among the Worst Possible Driver Distractions
The world of smart phones has brought mixed blessings. Everyone may be well-connected and free from inconvenience now, but the price to pay has been high. The obsession with texting, social media posts and reviewing them, and smart phones in general has created a potent threat to driving. This distraction driving thanks to cell phones does not show any favoritism from one age group to another, either gender, or any race. It is able to create tragedy victims out of any individuals regardless of how wealthy or poor they may be.
It does not take much to tempt even disciplined drivers to their phones while they are driving a motor vehicle. A flashing Snapchat notification, beeping email or text message, or mesmerizing thrill of seeing a Facebook post or Instagram message appear can all mean the difference between life and death behind the wheel of an automobile. Even a simple ringing phone can cause an otherwise careful and responsible driver to take his or her eyes away from the road for a split second too long.
It is true that no age is able to withstand the allure of this distracted driving anymore. Yet studies have revealed that teenage drivers are the most prone to yield to smart phone temptations as they are operating a vehicle. This could be them adjusting their Apple Music, Pandora streaming song, or Spotify. They might seek out directions off of Waze or Google Maps. They could take pictures or selfies, or shoot off a critical text message.
Any of these activities could cause instantaneous death. It is a cruel joke that daredevil teens now like to snap off selfies of themselves driving the car then post it up on Twitter using the hashtag #IHopeIDontCrash. The widespread nature of this behavior is shocking. According to a study commissioned by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, two for every five students who drove a car last month did minimally one text when driving. It is why the greatest proportion of distracted driving deaths comes to teens.
On average, individuals will look at one of their text messages for a good 4.6 seconds. While operating a car at 55 miles per hour, this means that he or she takes eyes off the road ahead for a whole football field’s length.
Penalties for Distracted Driving
There are fines of from $200 to $500 for driving while talking on or playing with a cell phone. The antagonist in a car accident can be subjected to “common law negligence” if their actions lead to injury or the death of another person. A Dallas personal injury lawyer might sue for such legal treatment in a case.
This could mean that the driver had to pay to cover lost wages, medical expenses, other expenses the victim suffered, and pain and suffering-related costs. This is why you need to contact a good Dallas personal injury lawyer if you are injured while driving a vehicle in the greater Dallas area.