There is a reason why New York state and nearly every state in the country has increased its enforcement of texting and driving. The number of people who die in accidents caused by drivers who are more focused on sending a message to their friends than they are on other motorists’ safety are measured daily. On average, there are nine people who die every day because of texting and driving.
Sadly, the number of distracted driving deaths is growing, too. Between 2010 and 2011, 64 more people died in distracted driving crashes. It is unclear how many people have died in these kinds of accidents in 2012, but it just may be more than the 3,331 people who died in 2011.
As part of a public awareness campaign by AT&T, the communication company surveyed both adult and teenage drivers about their habits behind the wheel. What was shocking was that there was a larger portion of adults than teenagers who admitted texting while driving. While it is very possible that more adults were willing to self-report their bad behavior than teens, there are still far more adult drivers than teenage drivers in New York and in the country, meaning that it is much more likely that there are a higher number of adult drivers texting behind the wheel than teens.
And, it is not that these adults are unaware of the dangers of texting while driving. The communications giant also asked them if they knew texting and driving was dangerous and 98 percent said they did. So, despite recognizing the inherent danger in distracted driving, many adults continue to do it.
When distracted drivers do cause accidents, however, the injured party is usually able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver responsible.
Source: USA Today, “Texting in traffic: Adults worse than teens,” Larry Copeland, March 28, 2013
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