Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Distracted driving has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and is a leading cause of Boston car accidents and traffic accidents through the State of Massachusetts.
Boston Injury Lawyer Jeffrey S. Glassman and our entire staff encourage you to speak with your family — especially teenage drivers — about the importance of safe driving as we enter the summer vacation season. We begin our Safe Driving Series by looking at the dangers of distracted driving.
Nationwide an estimated 6,000 people are killed by distracted driving each year and more than 500,000 are injured. To put those numbers into perspective, someone is seriously injured in a distracted driving car accident every minute of every day.
The federal government is so concerned about the dangers of distracted driving (especially the dangers of text messaging) that it has established a federal website to act as a clearinghouse of information — Distraction.gov.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also developed sample legislation for use by states seeking to outlaw text messaging.
“Texting while driving, like talking on cell phones while driving, is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening practice,” said Secretary Ray LaHood. “This language, which we created with a variety of safety organizations, is another powerful tool in our arsenal to help the states combat this serious threat.”
Texting while driving is of primary concern because it most often involves young drivers — who are already at high risk for a car accident — and because it involves all three forms of driver distraction: Visual, manual and cognitive.
Other forms of distracted driving include:
-Eating and drinking -Talking to passengers -Dressing, grooming or applying makeup -Reading or looking at maps -Using on-board electronics, such as a CD player or navigation system -Watching video
Distracted Driving Facts:
-Using a cell phone while driving reduces the amount of brain activity focused on the road by 37 percent.
-Drivers under 20 have the highest proportion of distracted driving fatalities.
-Drivers who use a hand-held device are four-times more likely to be seriously injured in an accident.
-Using a cell phone while driving — whether hand-held or hands-free — reduces a driver’s reactions as much as driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08, the legal limit for drunk driving in Massachusetts.
If you have been injured in a Massachusetts car accident, contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call 877-617-5333.