Key Takeaways
Distraction-related collisions:
- Significant Risk: Distracted driving greatly increases the likelihood of accidents, leading to severe harm or death.
- Common Causes: Activities like texting, eating, or talking while driving are major contributors to distracted driving accidents.
- Cognitive Distraction: Even brief distractions, such as sending a text, can divert attention long enough to cause serious accidents.
- Prevention Tips: Reducing access to phones and avoiding multitasking while driving can help prevent these accidents.
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Distraction-related collisions killed 3,522 people in the US in 2021. This was a year when people were largely living on lockdown at home and were not commuting to work on a daily basis due to the pandemic.
People who drive distracted might be texting, eating, or talking to other people in the car. No matter the reason that someone is engaged in distracted driving, there is a significant risk that their actions will lead to significant harm, property damage, and even death.
Many people drive distracted all the time and do not believe that their actions are dangerous because they have been lucky enough to get away with doing so. However, the odds are never in their favor, and it is all too easy to become a statistic when you drive distracted.
If you have been harmed in a distraction-related collision, you need to reach out to the team at Kilpatrick Bullentini today. We are the best Carson City auto accident attorney for the job, and we can help you get the compensation you deserve to get back on your feet after a car accident.
What Are Distraction-Related Collisions?
Distracted driving refers to any activity that takes your attention away from the road as you are driving. This might be calling someone on the phone, texting, or even eating and drinking while you are driving. Fighting with kids in the backseat or trying to read billboards and other items along the road can also lead to accidents.
When you get into an accident due to these activities, the accident is typically upgraded in consequence and might even lead to criminal charges. There are so many reasons why distracted driving is dangerous, but many people are not aware that they are driving distracted until they get into an accident.
Humans tend to believe that they can multitask, but studies have shown that this is impossible. You can only reliably focus on one task at a time, and dividing your attention while you are on the road just means that you are not 100% focused on the road or road safety.
How do Distraction-Related Collisions Take Place?
These kinds of accidents happen largely because people believe that they are not actually distracted from their driving while they engage in other activities that take their attention away from the road.
Cell phone use is one of the most significant causes of accidents each year on US roads. Cell phones cause you not only to look away from the road but also require that you use one hand to hold the phone.
Studies show that even sending a simple text message takes your eyes away from the road long enough to allow you to traverse the length of a football field. This is more than enough time to get into a serious car accident without ever seeing it coming.
The biggest challenge of cell phone use is that people are not aware of how significantly they are cognitively distracted by their phones as they are driving. Taking your mind off of driving is almost as dangerous as taking your eyes off the road. Even people who are looking at the road in front of them might not have the cognitive space to respond to things like brake lights in front of them or an object in the road.
No matter what kind of distraction is taking place while you are driving, you open up everyone around you to the chance that you will cause a fatal car accident. Particularly when traveling at highway speeds, the margin for error is very small, leading to accidents that happen in what feels like the blink of an eye.
Since it takes about 27 seconds for your eyes to recover when looking away from your phone to check out what is going on in front of your car, it is no wonder that distracted drivers often show zero reaction to driving risks right in front of them.
How to Prevent Distracted Driving Accidents
The first thing that you can do to prevent distraction-related collisions is to put your cell phone where you cannot readily access it while you are driving. Also, be aware that for many people, talking while driving, even with the help of integrated car/phone systems, is still significantly distracting. You should always pull over safely to send a text message or call someone to prevent accidents.
Be sure not to turn to look behind you at those in the backseat while you are driving. Also, avoid eating and drinking while on the road. All of the activities that you might be tempted to engage in while you are on the road, which requires that you take a hand off the wheel or your eyes off the road, can lead to a fatal accident.
Always be aware that you are not infallible or uniquely capable of avoiding getting into an accident if you are texting and driving, eating and driving, or looking away from the road.
Being realistic about the dangers of driving, even without distractions, can help to prevent fatal car accidents.
Distraction-Related Collisions Claim Lives
No one who is texting and driving or eating a hamburger while they are on the road ever intends to kill someone else driving around them. However, it doesn’t matter what the intentions of a distracted driver are if someone is killed due to their lack of focus on the road.
If you have been harmed in a distraction-related collision, we can help. We can offer you access to a skilled auto accident lawyer in Carson City who will work hard to get you the compensation that you deserve to get back on your feet after your car accident.
