Go to navigation Go to content

Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton

All We Do is Injury Law

Toll-Free: 1-800-752-0042
Phone: 1-757-460-7776

PHONE: 757-460-7776
TOLL FREE: 800-752-0042

Get help Now!

Interested in working with us? Call us on 1-757-460-7776 or fill out this quick form and we will contact you within 24 hours!

 

Practice Areas



Virginia (VA) Car Accident Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC  



Blog Category:

Car & Motorcycle Accident Attorneys

1/14/2010
Richard N. Shapiro
Comments (0)

Banning Texting, Cell Phone Use While Driving the Focus of New National Organization

Virginia and North Carolina are among the 19 states that prohibit drivers from using electronic devices to send text messages while in motion. If a newly formed national advocacy group called FocusDriven succeeds in its mission, every state will also enact bans on texting while driving.

Any person on the highways of Norfolk, Virginia Beach or any other city cannot stop at a stoplight without seeing almost every other driver surrounding them talking or texting on a cell phone. With nearly every driver owning a cell phone and using it to do business or just talk to family or friends, the temptation to text and e-mail while driving is nearly irresistible, especially to teen drivers.

FocusDriven, which has the support of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has the primary goal of limiting distractions for drivers. At the top of the list of those distractions are hand-held cell phones, especially phones drivers use to send and receive text messages. Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood went even further when discussing the launch of FocusDriven, saying, "I'm on a rampage about distracted driving. I'm not going to give up on it. I'm going to do everything I can to try to make sure people drive safely--without cell phones, without Bluetooth, without Blackberries."

LaHood's agency hosted a Distracted Driving Summit in September 2009, and President Barack Obama issued an executive order last October that prohibits individuals from texting while driving government vehicles. That is a good start, but it's only a start.

Studies have shown that distracted driving is as dangerous as drunk or drugged driving. Real-world examples of how hazardous it is to use cell phones, PDAs or laptops from behind the wheel are also depressingly numerous. A California (CA) woman fatally crashed while texting just before New Year's 2010. In 2007, a tractor trailer driver reaching for his cell phone slammed into several cars on I-64 outside of St. Louis, killing three people and injuring many others. In all, each day in the United States, as many 8,000 traffic accidents involve a driver using an electronic communication device.

State and federal officials must act to discourage distracted driving, and particularly texting while driving. More importantly, drivers need to turn off and put away their cell phones, PDAs and other electronic devices every time they get on the road.

EJL

Labels: accident cell phones distracted driving drugged driving drunk driving injury lawyer killed PDAs Rick Shapiro semis texting traffic accident


 

Best Injury Lawyers in Virginiainjury, lawyer

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia Beach, VA-based injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and we have handled thousands of car accident, truck wreck, and motorcycle crash cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself.

We've handled car accident cases throughout Virginia including Richmond, Fairfax, Alexandria, and the Hampton Roads region including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Suffolk.

Our primary office is in Virginia Beach at the intersection of Diamond Springs Road and Northampton Boulevard. We also have an office on Eaton Street in Hampton. All of our accident injury attorneys were raised in Virginia and have deep roots with the community.

Our Virginia injury law firm has been recognized as one of the best injury law firms in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report since 2010. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed on the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Rick and Jim were named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of lawyers receive. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms.

We also offer free special reports on distracted driving and the Best Guide to Car Accident Injuries in Virginia.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer a free, initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us at 1-800-752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail and we will get back to you shortly.





Virginia Beach, VA Personal Injury Attorneys
Virginia (VA) Personal Injury Lawyers
Specializing in Virginia Wrongful Death & Injury Law 


There are no comments.

Post a comment

Post a Comment to "Banning Texting, Cell Phone Use While Driving the Focus of New National Organization"

To reply to this message, enter your reply in the box labeled "Message", hit "Post Message."

Name:*

Email:* (will not be published)

Website:

Message:

Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

For security purposes, please enter the graphic text in the box below: [hit F5 if you can not read the text]