Distracted Driving in LA
Causes of Los Angeles Car Accidents
In recent years, distracted driving has come under fire as both a common and deadly cause of car accidents. According to Distraction.gov, an official U.S. Government warning of the dangers of distracted driving,
more than 3,000 people were killed in car accidents that were caused by distracted drivers in 2010 with more than 400,000 suffering injuries from the same. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that distracted driving can come from three different sources: visual, manual and cognitive. Visual is often one of the most targeted as it involves drivers who operate their cars while looking elsewhere. Manual, on the other hand, involves drivers who actually take their hands off of the wheel to perform another task.
This is often what makes texting while driving such as touted danger on the road as it involves both visual and manual distraction. It, however, also involves a cognitive distraction, which is the distraction of the mind. This is the most difficult to define and track. For example, daydreaming when behind the wheel would be classified as cognitive distraction, however, there is almost no way to track that or create alerts if it becomes a problem. While there have been many measures to cut down on visual and manual distraction, there are few steps that can be taken to reduce cognitive distraction. In fact, there's concern it's only getting worse.
The National Safety Council (NSC) released a study in April of 2012 looking into "Why Driving While Using Hands-Free Cell Phones is Risky Behavior." While hands-free devices were initially viewed as the solution to distracted driving, the NSC raises concerns that it is just as bad as using your hands to hold the device. They noted that the National Transportation Safety Board issued a recommendation at the end of 2011 to implement a nationwide ban on all electronic devices for drivers, which included hands-free devices. Unfortunately, no states have taken any actions to ban hands-free devices and very few drivers recognize the danger of using them, despite the fact that the NSC calls them a "brain drain" and notes that the use of hands-free devices does absolutely nothing to eliminate deadly cognitive distraction.
How large of a danger is distracted driving?
According to the NSC, driving while distracted has now joined "alcohol and speeding as leading factors in fatal and serious injury crashes." The statistics do nothing but corroborate this point. Thousands of people die every single year from crashes caused by distracted driving; in a massive percentage of these accidents, drivers were utilizing cell phones. In fact, a recent report showed that almost a fourth of all Americans admit to using their cell phone regularly while driving. Three fourths admitted to doing it within the last month.
Cell phone use, however, is only a piece of the puzzle. Distracted driving has a much larger scope than simply picking up a phone. It is this broad definition that can get people in trouble. What someone might view as ordinary (such as putting on makeup while driving), could actually be a deadly cause of a car accident. Anything that requires a driver to take their eyes off the road, hands off the wheel or mind off the task at hand could be technically classified as a form of distracted driving. This includes adjusting the radio, eating or even talking to passengers in the vehicle with you.
One thing, however, remains certain. If you have been injured in a car accident that was caused by a distracted driver, you should not hesitate to pick up the phone and contact a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Lagstein Law Firm is dedicated to the success of their clients and will do everything possible to ensure that their clients have the high-quality representation that they deserve. If you would like to learn more of if you would like to schedule a free case evaluation, simply call.