The Rise Of Distracted Driving

Distracted driving has been around since the dawn of the automobile, but over the last few years it’s on the rise. The culprit…the proliferation of social media accessible mobile devices.

I saw this recently on a Facebook friend’s post…

“I almost got killed today while driving, by a teenager on her phone who almost broadsided me with her huge SUV. If I had not veered hard and drove off the road she would have hit the driver side of my car head on. I can only thank God I was actually paying attention. I was so shook up and I had to get out of my vehicle and calm down. When are people going to understand driving & talking on the phone impairs you like drugs and alcohol. Your focus goes to the phone and not your driving. The teenager never even stopped and to be honest was so involved on the phone not sure she knew what happened. If she did know she ignored the mess and kept going even after I was clearly off the road and in trouble.”

Sadly, more and more people are witnessing first-hand the epidemic that cell phone usage is adding to driver’s distractiveness while behind the wheel. This is precisely why manufacturers of these mobile devices are taking some-what of a proactive stance by adding apps and sensors that detect when a vehicle is moving then shut off all incoming texts, social media notifications and calls to those devices. Although it’s the user’s responsibility for using these apps and sensors.

Luckily for my Facebook friend she still has fantastic reflexes and was able to swerve away from a head on collision. But, what if she wasn’t able to? What if there was no shoulder to pull over to? What if she had collided with the oncoming vehicle?

Over the years I’ve shared many articles about distracted driving, and yet it seems more and more people (not just teenagers) are entering the roadways while engaging in some sort of cellular activity.

Social media has given us the ability to connect rapidly with our fans, friends and followers and when we hear a ding we have to immediately check to see who is sending us what. Unfortunately, we’ve become conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs to check our devices constantly. In 2015 a study was revealed that suggests the average cell phone user checks his/her phone 45 times per day. But by 2017, that statistic jumped to 85 times a day. Yet, millennials (those between 18-26 years old) will check their devices up to 150 times per day.

Distractive driving is by all means negligent driving. Any time you take your eyes off the road to glance down at your phone you are putting yourself, your passengers or the traffic around you in danger. And depending on how fast you’re traveling a split second glance to look at your phone could be all it takes to veer into another lane and cause an accident.

We are committed to providing high quality legal service which includes an uncompromising pursuit of our client’s legal interests, while being accessible and attentive to our clients during times of personal challenge. We understand that auto accidents also bring emotional stress over how to pay medical bills and replace damaged property. We are devoted to serving our clients by assisting them in dealing with their auto insurance company, their health insurance carrier, and the other driver’s insurance company.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a distracted driver and that injury happened in Indiana, pick up the phone and call The Law Offices of David W Holub at (219)736-9700 today.

We put our experience and resources to work for car crash injury victims throughout northwest Indiana with one object in mind: to maximize your compensation.

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