Recent research has looked at the human brain’s ability to multi-task like driving and talking on the cell phone at the same time. The conclusion is that people are not as efficient as they think at being able to concentrate on two things at once. Car crashes and serious personal injury may be the result of driver distractions like cell phones. The researchers found that there was a delay of up to a second when people in the study were given two tasks at the same time. One second may not sound like much, however, one second can mean the difference between life and death on the road. A car going 60 mph is traveling at about 90 feet per second. A one second delay in response time on the highway can lead to killing someone or yourself. That precious second of attention has been the cause of many wrongful deaths and injuries in vehicular wrecks.
As I was driving down the road in my car the other day, I saw another driver in a truck move slightly into my lane. I looked over and saw a young man attempting to push buttons on a digital device while driving. He was clearly not paying enough attention to the road. He did not even realize that he had drifted into my lane. I am lucky that a crash did not occur. I had to react quickly to try to prevent a wreck by moving over, given the tendency of SUVs to flip over. Simply this maneuver even without contact between the two vehicles could have resulted in an accident in which I and my children were either killed or hurt. I was really angry. However, this situation is far from uncommon. Drivers have to pay more attention to the road and have less distractions. People need to realize and be educated that driving while talking on a cell is almost as dangerous as drunk driving. I hope that the law in Virginia (VA) will evolve to limit these distractions to prevent accidents in the future.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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