WHY TEXTING AND DRIVING IS THE WORST TYPE OF DISTRACTED DRIVING

A recent survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) determined that driver distraction is responsible for at least 80 percent of all car wrecks. In the state of Kentucky in 2014 alone, more than 53,500 car crashes that ultimately resulted in 169 fatalities and 14,000 injuries could be attributed to distracted driving.

As for how distracted driving is defined, the NHTSA refers to any activity that is not directly related to driving to be a distraction and therefore a potential risk factor for a driver becoming involved in a collision. In fact, in a study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, they found that cellphone use while driving reduced driver’s responsiveness by at least 37 percent.

In another statistics, researchers with the University of Utah tracked hand-held or hands-free cellphone use and its impacts on driver responsiveness. In conducting that research, its researchers determined that either type of phone use while driving had the potential to impact driver response at the same rate as the impairment a drunk driver with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 would have.

Among the different types of distractions, there are visual, cognitive and manual ones. Each is thought to be capable of making you take your eyes or mind off the road or remove your hands from the wheel.

Among these three types of distractions, texting is one that is most dangerous as it distracts a driver on all three levels listed. House Bill 415 was passed into law on April 15, 2010. It prohibits texting and driving while a vehicle is in motion for drivers of all ages.

It, however, allows for anyone 18 and up to make a call, use a GPS system or read using an e-reader, factors that can still distract. GPS use by minors requires them to enter in their information manually when the vehicle is not yet in motion.

If you or someone you know has either been injured or killed as the result of having been struck by a distracted driver, a Bowling Green, Kentucky, motor vehicle accident attorney can provide advice in your legal case.

Source: Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, “Distracted driving,” accessed April 14, 2017