Kids today grow up almost as attached to their cell phones, iPod’s and other mobile electronic devices as they were at birth to an umbilical cord. When they learn to drive, they’ve already got the habit. The problem is, driving while texting, emailing or calling can prove fatal.
Some recent research indicates teen car crash traffic accident fatalities have increased, and this is due to two things: a rising rate of teens driving at night, and a rising rate of teens who use a cell phone or send or receive text messages while driving.
Between 1999 and 2008, nighttime fatal crashes involving teen drivers increased by 10 per cent. Such deaths rose at a lower rate for older age groups, while driving fatalities in general began a decline.
A senior research specialist for the Texas Transportation Institute, Bernie Fetts, told the Associated Press that the increased deaths come from a “perfect storm” of key elements. One is driving at night, which is inherently more risky for anybody in any age group. Another is texting or calling while driving, which impacts a person’s ability to focus on driving.
Frequently teens stress that it doesn’t matter, because they’re so skilled at sending texts. Bu regardless of their fluency or dexterity, texting diverts a portion of their attention from the far more vital task of driving, where a single moment of distraction can cause a fatal result. Indeed, about 6,000 Americans die annually because of drivers who talk, text or email, and about half a million will suffer injuries.
Americans are starting to become alarmed about the severe effects of texting or calling while driving. That’s why 23 states so far have passed laws to ban texting while driving. The national organization FocusDriven, based in Grapevine, TX, was created to fight distracted driving due to cell phones or texting, much as Mothers Against Drunk Driving was formed to fight DUI car crashes.
Oprah Winfrey of talk show fame also has created her own response to the car carnage: a “No Phone Zone” pledge for teens to sign. Those who sign promise not to text or use their cell phone while they are driving.
Jim S. Adler & Associates strongly endorses such safe driving initiatives and exhorts all drivers of all ages to save their phone calls and texts for a proper time – when they aren’t responsible for guiding a multi-ton vehicle through complicated traffic at often high speeds. Teens may say such calling and texting won’t be enough to divert them from driving safely, but those who have died in texting car accidents indicate otherwise. Texting car crash accidents occur daily, and your teen’s surprise first time may prove to be their fatal final time.
Jim S. Adler & Associates is a longtime Texas personal injury law firm with offices in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Channelview. The law firm offers a free case review and represents victims of auto, car, SUV, truck, motorcycle, bus and other traffic accidents, as well as drunk driving accidents.
