TEXTING WHILE DRIVING—IS IT REALLY WORTH YOUR LIFE?
We’ve all been there: driving along, and that important message comes in. You know it’s the one you’ve been waiting for all day. Surely there’s no real harm in sending one, quick little text while driving. It will only take a few seconds, right?
The cost of sending “one quick text” while driving could be much higher than you think! It may end up being quite hazardous to your health and, at the very least, expensive to your insurance policy. Alarming evidence and statistics linking texting to accidents, litigation, and death is mounting daily.
Recent studies have shown that individuals who text while driving are 23 times more likely to get into an accident. According to the Department of Transportation, the use of cell phones by drivers cause 1.6 million accidents a year, causing half a million injuries and 6,000 deaths. About 200,000 of those crashes are related specifically to texting while driving.
Teens are the most likely demographic to engage in texting while driving. A concerned innovator recently came up with his own tech-savvy text solution. Parents can now download a system called “Textecution,” which is designed to disable a phone’s Internet and texting functions when a person is traveling at 10 miles an hour or more.
WORSE THAN DRUNK DRIVING?
Other studies have shown that texting causes a staggering 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road. Car and Driver Magazine found that texting caused reaction times to be four times slower and even more dangerous than driving while intoxicated!
Car and Driver Study
The next time you think about picking up the phone to send a reply text while driving, you may want to take a moment to pause and reconsider; your decision my take your own life as well as someone else’s.
If you or someone you love has been injured by someone engaged in texting while driving, you need to speak with a legal expert. Contact a Palm Beach accident attorney at Fetterman & Associates for a free consultation to determine your best option after a devastating Florida auto accident involving texting while driving.
