It has been called the drunk driving of this generation, and for a valid reason. The number of people killed in accidents related directly to distracted driving is increasing, and there is a vast body of research to prove it.
Teens and Distracted Driving
According to statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 10% of all motorists below the age of 20 involved in fatal accidents were reportedly distracted at the time. In fact, the under 20 age group is a high-risk category for distracted driving. Teenagers are heavy consumers of social media and smart phone technology, a deadly combination that increases the potential that they are glued to their devices while at the wheel.
Texting While Driving
According to statistics, at any given moment in time, there are at least 660,000 American drivers using their cell phones at the wheel. That number has remained steady since 2010 in spite of the fact that during this period of time a number of states have passed laws banning texting while driving.
One often-quoted study that confirms the risks of texting while driving was conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. It found that texting while driving, or reaching for a cell phone while driving, increased the risk of an accident by three times. According to the same study, a motorist who is texting while driving takes his eyes off the road for approximately 5 seconds on an average, and when the car is traveling at 55 mph, that is sufficient time to travel the length of a football field.
Georgia has a ban on texting while driving for all drivers. That means that if you are involved in an accident caused by a texting driver, you can file a claim that holds the other motorist liable for your injuries. Proving that the other motorist was texting at the time, however, is often complicated because cell phone records are not easily accessible to everyone. Your attorney will be able to access those records in order to prove that the other motorist in your accident was texting in the seconds before the accident, which can greatly increase your chances of winning your Atlanta car accident case.