A Recent Report Says that Drivers are Using Smartphones in Increasingly Risky Ways, Leading to More Distracted Driving Accidents
Distracted driving is 1 of the nigh mutual causes of auto accidents across the land. Whether a driver is using a handheld smartphone unlawfully to talk or text piece driving, or is simply trying to multitask behind the cycle inward a mode that takes his or her eyes off the road, these collisions happen much also oftentimes. According to a recent article inwards Forbes, distracted driving crashes are getting worse. More specifically, a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicates that “drivers are using their phones inward riskier ways,” resulting inwards more than crashes.
David Kidd, 1 of the co-authors of the written report, pointed out that there has non been an increment inwards distracted driving in recent years. Rather, the run a risk degree of distracted behaviour behind the bike has increased. For instance, fewer drivers are talking on handheld prison cell phones, only more of them are manipulating their phones in other ways, such every bit texting or using their smartphones for surfing the cyberspace. Kidd, who is a senior enquiry scientist amongst the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), underscored how “the observed shift in ring function is concerning because studies consistently link manipulating a jail cell ring patch driving to increased crash adventure.”
How much more dangerous is texting than talking on a handheld jail cell ring? Research shows that a driver’second chance of causing a fatal crash is 66% higher if he or she is utilizing a call up patch driving. In 2017, the IIHS too HLDI identified at least 800 motor vehicle crash deaths that were “attributed to drivers texting or using phones for things other than talking.” The total number of accidents attributed to distracted driving probable is underreported given that the data comes from drivers admitting to constabulary enforcement that they had been distracted at the time of the collision.
Learning More About Distracted Driving and Motor Vehicle Crashes
The article reports that the total number of fatalities connected alongside distracted driving has declined slightly over the terminal brace of years, simply that information may not paint an accurate portrait of distracted driving since researchers rely on self-reporting when it comes to collecting distracted driving information. In full, federal data cited distracted driving every bit the drive of ix% of all fatal collisions inward 2017.
According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), iii,166 people were killed inward distracted driving crashes inwards 2017, too 297 of these fatalities were immature people between the ages of 15 as well as xix. Drivers between the ages of xv and nineteen are about probable to present distracted driving behaviors than drivers in other historic period groups.
While prison cell phones play a major function inwards distracted driving collisions, it is of import to recognize that distracted driving involves more than than merely prison cell call up function. NHTSA defines distracted driving equally:
- Taking your eyes off the road for whatever argue (to send a text, or to accept a conversation alongside a passenger);
- Taking your hands off the bike for any reason (to purpose a smartphone, only too to consume a snack or modify the radio);
- Taking your heed off the task of driving (which tin pass off when a individual uses a jail cell ring, merely it tin can as well pass if the driver is simply having an anxiety-driven day that leads to the inability to focus on the road).
If you or soul you beloved was injured in a distracted driving car crash, y'all should hash out your case alongside an injury lawyer or a motorcar accident attorney.
