Texting While Driving

Texting while driving is one of the most common — and most dangerous — varieties of distracted driving. Cellphones have become nearly ubiquitous, and people who talk on cellphones while at the wheel or who engage in texting and driving may believe they are being careful. They may tell themselves they will only text when their cars are stopped, but then continue texting when in traffic. The result is increasingly hazardous traffic conditions. Evidence of texting and driving, obtained through cellphone records, can be important in developing a strong injury claim or wrongful death claim after a car accident or truck accident case.

Ohio Car Accident Lawyers Can Investigate To Discover Whether Another Driver Was Texting And Driving

Distraction.gov, a U.S. government website that disseminates information about distracted driving as a traffic safety hazard, cites statistics and other facts regarding the widespread phenomenon of texting and driving:

• The National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), as cited by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), reports that at any given moment, about 660,000 drivers are using cellphones or other electronic devices throughout the U.S.
• The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) reports that “Activities performed when completing a phone call (reaching for a phone, looking up a contact and dialing the number) increased crash risk by three times.”
• VTTI also reports that sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. In this amount of time, a car going 55 miles per hour can travel the length of a football field.
• The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) reports that about one-fourth of teenage drivers respond to text messages while driving, and 20 percent of those (and 10 percent of their parents) admit to having extended texting interactions while driving.

Clearly, texting and driving puts drivers, passengers, bicyclists and pedestrians at risk. If you were injured or if a family member was killed in a car or truck accident, your personal injury attorney should initiate an investigation. A thorough investigation can provide evidence of texting by a driver at the time of the accident. Your case for compensation can be substantially strengthened with a demonstration that another driver was negligently texting and driving.

What was the cause of your accidental injuries in Cincinnati, Cleveland or Columbus, Ohio? Texting and driving? Accident attorneys at Clark, Perdue & List Co, LPA, can use this information to build a strong case for you.