Statistics Tell the Story of Why Texting While Driving Causes Accidents
Forty-eight states (all except Missouri and Montana) have banned texting while driving for all drivers. Missouri bans it for drivers 21 years or younger.
(Reference: National Conference of State Legislatures)
Facts About Texting While Driving
The following statistics and facts were determined for the years 2012 through 2018:
- Of all fatal crashes across the nation, 9 percent involved texting while driving.
- It takes approximately 5 seconds to answer a text. When driving 55 miles per hour, 5 seconds is the time it takes to travel 100 yards, the size of a football field.
- Cell phone use resulted in 4,637 deaths caused by car crashes in 2018.
- The risk of causing a car accident due to texting while driving is 6 times greater than due to drunk driving.
- Using a cell phone while driving (hands-free and hand-held) reduces driver reaction time by as much as a blood alcohol content of .08%.
GPS Devices Also Result in Dangerous Driving Behavior
Using a GPS device is a similar behavior to texting while driving and also causes accidents.
(Reference: The National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the National Safety Council, and The Zebra internal reports)
What Does Texting While Driving Mean from a Legal Perspective?
If your injuries fall under the serious injury threshold or exceed damages of $50,000 (link to previous blog), you can pursue a lawsuit based on the other driver’s negligence. Your personal injury lawyer must prove the other party had fault in causing the car accident. Texting while driving is against the law and points to negligence. Furthermore, statistics show the dangers involved with texting and provide strong evidence in a car accident case. When assigning fault for the accident, the court is likely to assign a large percentage of fault (if not all) to the driver who was texting.
If you have suffered a serious injury and believe the other driver texted while driving, you should discuss the accident with a personal injury lawyer. A lawyer can explain your rights to recover compensation for damages.