April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. This year’s theme: What were you thinking?
Distracted driving is an epidemic on America’s roadways 
according to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Every single time you take your eyes off the road or talk on the phone while you’re driving – even for just a few seconds – you put yourself and others in danger.
In 2011 alone, over 3,331 people were killed in distracted driving accidents. According to a National Safety Council report, an estimated 1.6 million crashes are caused each year in the U.S. by drivers who talk (1.4 million crashes) and text (200,000 crashes) on cell phones.
Distracted driving is completely preventable; however, drivers still seem to think they can drive and text and talk at the same time. Our youth (age 20 and under) and inexperienced drivers are at most risk. Also drivers between the ages of 30 to 40 years old were more likely to have cell phone involved crashes. The Federal government continues to reach out to millions of Americans with the important message that “One Text or Call Could Wreck It All.”
Florida is currently one of the few states with no limits on texting while driving. A bill (SB 52) that would ban texting while driving in Florida was approved in its first committee (Senate Transportation Committee) in February 2013, but only after lawmakers added some exceptions.
Some of the most common types of distractions include include:
- Texting
- Using a cell phone or smartphone
- Eating and drinking
- Talking to passengers
- Grooming
- Reading, using maps and navigation systems
- Watching TV and videos
- Adjusting radio, CD player or MP3 player
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a car crash due to a negligent distracted driver and would like to learn more about your legal rights, please contact us here.
Resources:
For safety tips on distracted driving, please click on the following links where you can download a free Cycling Safety guide or to view our informative on-line safety video. We also provide other helpful links below.
- Distracted Driving Brochure – What You Should Know – https://murrayguari.com/images/MG-DistractedDriving-Trifold.pdf
- Distracted Driving Video – https://murrayguari.com/Video_-_Distracted_Driving
- AAA Foundation – www.aaafoundation.org
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov
- FocusDriven – http://focusdriven.org
- Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) – www.ghsa.org
- National Safety Council – www.nsc.org
- US Department of Transportation – www.distraction.gov
