Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

Two new studies have revealed that not only is it dangerous for teens to text and drive, but that it is dangerous for them to even think about texting while driving.

While a variety of studies have concluded that as a major form of distracted driving, texting and driving is dangerous, some people have argued that banning the practice might actually make driving more dangerous by forcing texting teens to conceal their cell phones from view while driving to avoid getting ticketed.

One of the new studies found that texting and driving is dangerous no matter where the phone is located. Twenty-two teens using a driving simulator were told to drive under three different conditions: texting and driving with a cell phone hidden from view, texting with a cell phone in a preferred position, and driving without a cell phone at all.

The results indicated that there was no “safe position: that made texting less dangerous. The teen texters were up to eight times more likely to drift into another lane and were twice as likely to be in near misses with other cars and pedestrians (without even realizing it), whether the phone was put away or not.

Even more frightening were the results of the second study that looked into whether the thought or anticipation of cell phone use affected the risk of car crashes among younger Americans.

After questioning University of Washington undergrads about their cell phone usage and looking into their crash records, researchers concluded that younger drivers who frequently anticipated a call or text while driving were more likely to be involved in an auto accident.

Florida still doesn’t ban texting while driving.

Distracted driving is dangerous and it makes the roads and highways of Florida less safe for everybody. If you have been injured in an accident caused by a distracted motorist, the responsible parties should be held liable. Call the Tallahassee cell phone car accident attorneys at Farah & Farah at (800) 533-3555 if you have any questions about your legal rights today.

Apparently the note that texting while driving is dangerous has not reached the Florida Legislature yet. Despite the fact that 71 percent of Floridians would back a law that bans texting while driving, the legislature one again killed any meaningful legislation that would have dealt with it.

Insiders were unsurprised that legislation stalled in the House of Representatives, which has proven historically hostile to laws dealing with texting bans. The Senate proved more conducive to a new anti-texting law, having moved their distracted driving bill (SB 416) through four different committees. The Senate bill would have made texting while driving a secondary offense.

An officer can issue a citation for a secondary offense, but only after a motorist has been pulled over for a primary offense. So, in the Senate scheme, a motorist could not have been pulled over for texting while driving, but could have been ticketed for that offense if they had been pulled over for a primary offense like speeding or running a red light.

House Speaker Dean Cannon had confirmed his hostility to an anti-texting bill when he stated that he opposed “one more layer of prohibitive behavior” from the state government. The companion bill to SB 416 was never even considered.

In the first ten months of 2011, there were 2,218 distracted driving crashes in Florida. Of those crashes, texting contributed to 145 of those accidents. Although that sounds low, authorities say the percentage is probably much higher because many drivers won’t admit that they were texting after they have been in an accident.

If a distracted motorist has injured you or somebody you know, you have the right to take the liable party to court to recover medical bill costs and to be compensated for other damages. Call a Farah & Farah’s personal injury attorney in Florida at (800) 533-3555 for a free, no-obligation consultation today.

Sources: http://handsfreeinfo.com/florida-cell-phones-texting-laws-hands-free-info;
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/majority-of-floridians-support-ban-on-texting-while-driving/1212516

Florida has never had a ban of any kind of texting while driving, and this year’s Florida legislative session may be a repeat of years past. The parents of a teenager killed in a head-on auto accident in 2008 because the other driver was texting behind the wheel came to Tallahassee to share their story with lawmakers hoping this year will be different. The girl’s parents told TBO.com that losing a child is something you never want to experience, especially from something that could have been avoided.

In their case, their 17-year-old daughter was returning home from a play rehearsal at Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School in Spring Hill about 7:15 p.m. A 19-year-old was eastbound on Hudson Avenue near Hays Road when she crossed the road and hit the first teen head-on. Both girls were wearing seat belts, and both died at the scene.

Texting While Driving

A ban on texting while driving has passed three Senate committees so far this legislative session, but it is yet to be heard in the house. Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Irv Schlosberg who also lost his daughter in an auto accident, say there are obstructionists who do not want to see any sort of legislation or ban on texting.

The proposed legislation would make texting behind the wheel a secondary offense, meaning that you could not be pulled over for that offense alone. You could receive a ticket for texting after being pulled over for something else.

Distracted Driving

Texting while driving is thought to remove your focus on driving by 400 percent. The American Medical Association (AMA) has called texting behind the wheel a “public health risk.” Yet Florida has never had any kind of ban, whether just on teens, on texting, or on cell phone use at all.

Federal estimates are that every year, 6,000 individuals are killed in car crashes by distracted drivers.

If you have been injured in an accident caused by a distracted driver, the distracted driving accident attorneys in Jacksonville of Farah & Farah can help you get compensation for your injuries. Please call (800) 533-3555 for a free consultation.

Source: http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/feb/05/parents-of-fatal-texting-accident-want-b-19946-vi-25928/; http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/article899658.ece

Of the many dangers on the road in Jacksonville and throughout Florida that we have to contend with, perhaps the greatest hazard of them all is: ourselves.

According to the NHTSA, we are driving ourselves to deadly distraction— to the tune of 5,474 traffic fatalities in 2009 alone. Although any activity that can divert a person’s attention away from the task of driving — such as eating, talking to passengers, grooming, or adjusting a car radio — is considered distracted driving, it is cell phone use and texting while driving that is drawing the greatest scrutiny from state governments and federal agencies.

According to various studies, drivers who use a hand-held device while driving are 4 times more likely to get into crashes while those who send and receive texts create a crash risk 23 times greater than driving while not distracted. Sending and receiving a text while driving takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. A vehicle going 55 mph covers an entire football field in that time.

Even more frightening, 40% of American teens say that they have been in cars where driver cell phone use put people in danger.

While 9 states currently prohibit drivers from using handheld cell phones and 35 states ban texting while driving, Florida has no restrictions on cell phone use while driving. In November of 2011, the Department of Transportation (DOT) prohibited the use of hand-held cell phones by interstate truck and bus drivers while operating their vehicles.

Driving any vehicle should command a person’s complete and full attention. If you have been injured in a Florida accident by a distracted driver, call a Farah & Farah Florida personal injury attorney at (800) 533-3555 today.

Source: http://www.distraction.gov/

We often report on distracted driving of all forms, but changing clothes while behind the wheel? As if putting on makeup and eating breakfast was not bad enough, a driver in Melbourne was observed by a witness changing clothing when she drove into the back of a school bus from Viera High School in Melbourne when school was letting out December 6. According to a report by the Florida Highway Patrol, children were getting off the bus at Oak Park Drive and St. Andrews in Suntree but fortunately they were not hurt. The clothes-changing driver, a young woman, was airlifted to a local hospital.

Distracted Driving

The distracted driving injury lawyers in Jacksonville of Farah & Farah is glad that no one was injured in this bus crash that could have been much worse. In fact, distracted driving was blamed for 448,000 traffic injuries and 5,474 fatalities in the U.S. in 2009. And as traffic fatalities are declining nationwide, the number of traffic crashes related to distracted driving has increased from 10 to 16 percent from 2005 to 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports the age group responsible for the greatest number of distracted driving crashes was the under-20 group.

Farah & Farah advises drivers to consider your time behind the wheel as one of intense focus. Not paying attention can mean that in a second or two your life could be over or forever altered. Driving is not downtime between point-A and point-B to be filled with busy work. We’ve seen the end result of too many casual and reckless drivers who must now try and pick up the pieces of a life they once knew and will never be the same.

Source: http://www.wesh.com/news/29937016/detail.html; http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811379.pdf