Combating Distracted Driving the Goal of Federal Website

9/9/2011
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Combating Distracted Driving the Goal of Federal Website

Teens are most likely to put themselves and others at risk for injuries and death in distracted driving crashes.

Some 450,000 Americans got injured due to the actions of a distracted driver during 2009, and another 5,474 U.S. resident got killed in such accidents.

I'd go on, but instead, I'll point you to the source of these terrible statistics so you can read yourself the toll distracted driving takes on a daily basis. Distraction.gov, maintained by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, features a continuous stream of news about serious and deadly distracted driving accidents, summaries of state distracted driving laws and action plans for reducing distracted driving. The site also draws attention to the problems of "distracted operating" by train engineers and airline pilots.

A truly crushing feature of the website is a series of -- frankly -- too many videos of parents, brothers, sisters and friends telling the stories of loved ones who lost their lives in traffic accidents caused by drivers who were talking a cell phone, texting or doing something else besides keeping their eyes and minds on the road. Here is just one of the Faces of Distracted Driving tributes:

A Stats & Facts page on the NHTSA site also presents a partial list of actions that constitute distracted driving because doing them takes drivers' hands off the wheel, draws eyes and attention away from other vehicles and pedestrians, and makes it easy for drivers to miss or ignore stop signs and red lights. The list begins with the definition "Distracted driving is any nondriving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing." It consists of the following distracting actions:

Using a cell phone
Eating and drinking
Talking to passengers
Grooming
Reading maps and directions
Using a PDA or navigation system
Watching a video
Changing the radio station, CD or MP3 player.

As a Virginia Beach, VA-based personal injury attorney who has represented many victims of crashes caused by other people who simply were not paying attention while they were driving, I know that every effort must be made to reduce distracted driving. I welcome Distraction.gov and the federal government's wider focus on all forms of distracted driving and operating.

EJL

Category: Car Accident Lawyers & Motorcycle Accident Attorneys

Labels: cell phone Cooper crashes caused by distracted drivers distracted driving distracted operating injuries killed loss of life NHTA teens texting while driving traffic accidents VA personal injury attorney

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.

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