NC Teens Still Texting After State Bans Cell Phones in the Car

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

Teen drivers are still not getting the message about cell phone usage. Cell phones have been linked to negligent driving and increased accidents as drivers take their hands off the road to dial and their mind off the road to hold conversations.

The worst culprits have been teenaged drivers and state legislatures have responded by enacting laws restricting that use of cell phones by teenaged drivers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has studied North Carolina’s law to ask how effective it has been. The North Carolina General Assembly enacted the ban in 2006 and drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from talking or texting while driving. Those who are caught doing so are fined. But IIHS researchers, who watched high school drivers leaving school both before and after the ban took effect and found that the teens are on their phones at just about the same rate.

One of the problems with the laws, says Anne McCartt, a senior vice president at the IIHS is that “Cell phone bans for teen drivers are difficult to enforce. Drivers with phones to their ears aren’t hard to spot, but it’s nearly impossible for police officers to see handsfree devices or correctly guess how old drivers are.” This is evidenced by the fact that North Carolina only issued 37 citations in 2007 for cell phone usage and has issued a grand total of 28 so far this year.

During the study, about 11% of all teenaged drivers leaving school before the ban were using cell phones. After the ban took effect, the percentage actually rose to 12%. Researchers watched students leaving 25 schools across the state.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia currently have some sort of cell phone restriction on the books ranging from complete restrictions to age bars.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

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Two of the VA injury attorneys with our firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Lewis and Shapiro have also selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Leiws and Shappiro, along with attorney John C. have been recognized as Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010.

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In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain-damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that increased to $60 million with interest compounded while the defendant pursued a failed appeal, and was confidentially settled during the appeal.

 

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