Birmingham Personal Injury Attorney News: Alabama Drivers can be Hurt by Inattentive Cell Phone Users
It’s a shame that here in Alabama with all our modern conveniences, those same labor-saving devices can cause nearly as much harm as good. I’m talking about cell phones and inattentive drivers. As a Birmingham personal injury lawyer and motorist myself, I how often a fatal or near fatal accidents happen due to distracted drivers. Texting, of course, is one of the worst activities a person can do while operating a motor vehicle. Police say it’s almost worse than drunk driving.
This may be the reason why President Obama called for a nationwide ban on cell phone texting just last month. Representing folks who have lost a loved one through the negligence of another person is something I do for a living. Many victims and their families are put in terrible circumstances as a result of a traffic accident or other disaster that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for the carelessness and sometimes callousness of someone else.
According to a recent news article, new data out shows that cell phone use while driving is a direct cause of nearly one-third of all traffic accidents. This is a shocking statistic, yet the National Safety Council (NSC) announced that 1.6 million crashes each year are caused by drivers using cell phones -- a staggering 28 percent of all crashes. And, based on accident data collected from across the United States, the NSC estimates that of those 1.6 million crashes, 200,000 are caused by drivers who are texting.
Of course, people have been saying for years that cell phone use while driving is a very risky distraction. Apparently texting is an even higher risk, according to Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.
Fortunately, legislation has been introduced in the Alabama Legislature that would make texting while driving illegal in the state. In fact, a study by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows more than half of all drivers reported having used a cell phone for either talking or texting while operating a motor vehicle. That same study indicated that 60 percent of the drivers said they use a hand-held phone, compared to 34 percent who use a hands-free phone.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 11 percent of drivers at any one time are using cell phones. That’s one car out of every ten that you see in traffic has a person using a cell phone -- either talking or texting on it. Think about that the next time you’re at a traffic light.
Cell phones can be hazards, TimesDaily.com, January 25, 2010
