We all know about the dangers of distracted driving and how taking your eyes off the road, even for a few seconds, can have tragic consequences. Several years ago, a much-cited study conducted by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that a driver going 55 m.p.h. who takes their eyes off the road for just five seconds travels the length of an entire football field, completely unaware of what is in front of them.
Our Norfolk car accident lawyers have successfully represented many clients who were seriously injured in crashes caused by distracted drivers. If you have been injured in a distracted driving accident, call our firm to find out what legal options you may have.
Distracted Driving Statistics
Unfortunately, the now-common dangers of distracted driving have not stopped people from using their smartphones while they are driving to text, check their emails, or check their social media accounts. According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than 800,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone at any given moment during daylight hours. This is exemplified by the alarming number of fatal distracted driving accidents that take place every day across the country.
In response to these alarming statistics, vehicle and smartphone manufacturers are continuing to develop technology that enables users to rely more and more on voice-activated usage. This allows drivers to still use their smartphones to communicate but entirely hands-free.
However, studies have found that voice-activated technology can be just as dangerous. It takes almost half a minute for the driver’s brain to catch up with what the eyes are seeing when the brain is focused on something else while driving.
The Hangover Effect of Distracted Driving
One major study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic & Safety found what researchers referred to as a “hangover effect” when a driver has been engaging in an activity that distracts them from focusing on their driving. Researchers had participants do common tasks while driving, such as talking on the phone, listening to an audiobook, and listening to voice-activated emails. They found that these activities cause an extreme distraction for drivers, compared to other tasks, like listening to the radio, which only caused a minimal distraction.
The study found that even if a driver is stopped at a light or parked while reading or listening to text messages, the brain is still focused on that activity and not on the driving when the driver begins driving again. Researchers compared this to “inattentive blindness,” where the driver looks but does not see what is in front of them — like pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles, and traffic signals. It can take the brain up to 27 seconds to refocus according to some studies.
New Technology
Will new technology help drive down the number of distracted driving crashes? Based on the results of this study, it seems unlikely since most new technology employs voice-activated features. Vehicle infotainment systems, which take information from the driver’s phone (text messages, emails, GPS, etc.) and put the information on a screen in front of the driver, enabling them to read the messages while they are driving, still require the driver to take their attention away from the road – which has proven to be deadly time and time again.
Call Our Personal Injury Law Firm for Legal Assistance
Our dedicated Norfolk car accident attorneys have successfully represented many victims and their families whose lives were forever changed because of the negligence of a distracted driver, like the $235,000 car accident insurance settlement we obtained for one client who suffered multiple injuries when another driver failed to yield the right of way.
Contact Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp for a free case evaluation and learn what legal options you may have. For your convenience, we have offices in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
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Andrew Stover limits his law practice exclusively to personal injury law. Andrew is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and the Virginia Beach Bar Association.
