Austin Personal Injury Lawyer Comments on Distracted Driving, Walking, Cycling, Motorcycling

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 1, 2016 – One word sums up living in the electronic century: distracted. That distraction is the root cause of a large number of injury and fatal accidents.

There appears to be good news on the horizon, somewhat tempered by more bad news following in its wake. According to State Farm Insurance Company texting while driving accidents have declined thanks to a heightened awareness by drivers that impaired driving may kill or get them fined.

Add to this mixture the reality that law enforcement now uses real-time location finders to determine if a cell phone/smart phone was involved in an accident.
“There are 46 states with texting while driving bans. Of those 46, 36 restrict using handheld mobile devices while driving, and 14 have banned texting completely,” said Bobby Lee, an Austin, Texas, personal injury attorney.

State Farm’s recent survey suggested that 36 percent of drivers would quit texting while behind the wheel is they knew the police would stop them. Roughly 48 percent said they would stop if it could lead to an accident. Nonetheless, distracted driving happens every day, all over the nation. The National Center of Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) adds that their 2012 data shows that out of 30,800 collisions, 378 happened because a driver/drivers were using cell phones. There were also 415 deaths.

What is possibly even more alarming is a 2013 survey published by the California Office of Traffic Safety (COTS) indicating that 70 percent of drivers surveyed said they had been involved in a near miss or actual collision due to the simultaneous use of cell phones.

“Texting while driving is on the radar of virtually every state that is determining how to deal with the use of e-devices while behind the wheel of a vehicle. But, texting while driving is not the only disturbing issue law enforcement deals with on a daily basis. Throw in distracted walking, distracted biking and distracted motorcycling and the picture gets grimmer,” Lee said.

According to a recent survey done by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), 60 percent of pedestrians are glued to their smart phones, 38 percent are out-of-it in the first place and just not paying attention and 64 percent of them are interacting with their cell phones. Thanks to distracted walking, preventable accidents are happening with alarming regularity.

“The most disturbing fact is that e-devices entice people into an immersive world of alternative realities. When that happens the reality of the present is gone and the reality of a serious injury or death increases exponentially. Watch where you are going. Nothing is more important than arriving home alive,” said Lee.

To learn more, visit http://www.lgrlawfirm.com Lee, Gober & Reyna 11940 Jollyville Road #220-S Austin, Texas 78759 Phone: 512.478.8080