If someone dared you to strap yourself into a 4,400 pound piece of steel and drive it blindfolded across the length of a football field, would you do it? Of course not. Yet every time you send or receive a text message you are doing just that. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the cold hard facts are that if you text and drive it increases your chance of a crash by 23%.
“I’m so drunk” (Text sent by a young man 22, before hitting and killing another driver in Australia)
If you feel like you are hearing a lot more about distracted drivers than you have in the past, you are right. A study done last year by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed that 9 out of 10 Americans view distracted driving as a much larger problem today than it was three years ago.
“I love you” (Text sent by a young man, 21, before running over an Amish buggy and killing three children in rural Indiana)
Some states like (VA) Virginia have created legislation to make driving while texting a primary offense. VA State police have already written 567 drivers citations in the first six months of the law being active.
“Where u at?” (Text a young woman, 18, was responding to when her car struck a bridge and careened into oncoming traffic in Arkansas. She died 8 days later.)
As Virginia car accident attorneys we know that one of the most tragic consequences of a distracted driving crash is the loss of a loved one. This is why our firm participates in the “End Distracted Driving” program. We travel to area high schools and give seminars on the human impact that distracted driving can take. Other forms of distracted driving include eating, changing CD’s, radio stations, applying makeup and interacting with passengers and pets. But text messaging, checking e-mail and facebook still remain the mother of all distractions.
CT