Texting While Driving

A recently released national report shows exactly how dangerous texting while driving can be.

Almost 1 in 5 auto drivers who answered the survey has sent or read a text message at the time they were operating a motor vehicle. This was despite just about all of them would consider doing something like that unacceptable.

A statement accompanying the survey noted that:

The new technologies that help us multitask is our everyday lives and increasingly popular social media sites present a hard-to-resist challenge to the typically-safe driver. Enacting texting bans for drivers in all 50 states can halt the spread of this dangerous practice among motorist nationwide, and is a key legislative priority for AAA in state capitals.

Despite nearly all of the respondents saying that they thought that the habit of texting while operating a motor vehicle to be unacceptable and dangerous, 18% of them admitted that they had sent at least one text while driving in the month before the survey. In one of the surveys the results indicated that at least 93% of the 1,000 licensed drivers surveyed were in support of a national ban on sending text messages while a person was at the wheel of a vehicle.

One survey, at least, found that a total ban on texting while driving is favored. Approximately twelve states have put bans into place, and bills creating a national texting ban were introduced, but not yet passed, in Congress. The entire known wireless industry –including mobile phone manufactures, cell carriers, and many Internet companies represented who belong to the trade group “CTIA-Wireless Association” all support local and state efforts to ban sending or reading text messages while driving.

Our nation’s capital and eighteen different states have enacted laws banning texting while driving and making it illegal and so far seven separate states and D.C. have also banned talking on any hand held device while driving. This is reported by the trade group “Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.” Multiple other safety oriented groups support a national ban on using mobile phone or tables, and/or texting while driving.

The American Administration has reported that at least 58,790 people died and 515,000 were injured in the last year when in vehicle accidents whose cause related to distracted driving. Distracted driving was a factor in at least 16%of all the fatal vehicle crashes in the year 2008. This gives us good, solid proof about the dangerousness of using cell phones while driving. This newly released data set underscores the problems involved in distracted driving by younger drivers. The majority of distracted driving accidents involved those who were aged 20 and below. At least sixteen percent of the all under 20 drivers who were involved in fatal accidents have been reported as being distracted while operating a motor vehicle.

The “Nation Safety Council” has requested a complete ban on mobile device use by anyone driving. Other groups have petitioned their government representatives to eliminate or place severe restrictions on talking or texting by while driving large van, motor coach or tractor trailers. Other advocacy groups have concentrated on text messages sent by drivers, which have increased from almost 10 billion per month in December of 2005 to in excess of 110 billion in December of 2008.

If you have been hit by a distracted driver, we can help.

Are you in Corpus Christi? Have you been in an auto accident with a texting driver?

Give Carabin Shaw a call. We can help. Call us at 361.444.1111, local if you’re in Corpus Christi.