NY Car Accident Attorney: Distracted Driving A Leading Cause Of Accidents

In a multitasking era it is very easy to become a distracted driver. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considers distracted driving any action that takes attention from driving.

Examples of distracted driving include:

• Using a cell phone or a smart phone
• Texting
• Eating
• Drinking
• Talking
• Using a GPS
• Applying makeup or brushing hair
• Reading
• Watching a video
• Adjusting the radio

Texting is considered a very severe distraction because it involves thinking about what to write, looking at the screen and using your hands to type all at once. NHTSA and Virginia Tech researchers report that it can make a crash 23 times more harmful than not being distracted at all. Texting causes a driver to take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. This is the same as driving completely blind, the length of a football field at 55 MPH.

Cell phones in general have been reported to cause 18% of all distracted driving fatalities in 2009 according to NHTSA. Carnegie Mellon researchers found a 37 percent reduction in brain activity related to driving when using a cell phone. Hands free devices are still considered risky, while voice activated instruments are not considered as risky because if you do not need to take your eyes off the road.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. This is the perfect time to acquaint oneself with ways to eliminate distracted driving:

• Give yourself plenty of time. Eat, drink, use the phone before leaving the house.
• Secure children comfortably.
• Groom before driving.
• Have radio set up before pulling away and know its functions ahead of time.
• Never use a cell phone, hands free device or text in the car.
• Pull off the road if you need to make a call or answer a text.

Contact us if you or a loved one has been in an accident due to a distracted driver’s negligence and are in need of a New York car accident attorney.