Cell phones have become an integral part of our daily lives. Mobile technology has drastically changed and improved over the years. Nowadays, we are able to accomplish almost everything with the help of our smartphones.
Be it communication, surfing the web, capturing and storing picture and videos, storing of important information or more complex tasks such as the remote provision of directions through GPS, modern smartphones have proven to be very useful devices. It is hard to imagine a world without our cell phones.
You can even use your smartphone to collect evidence after a car accident. However, despite how useful these devices are, cell phone use while driving has become an epidemic in the U.S.
Car accidents are an unpleasant reality that we have to deal with on a daily basis. A car accident can happen at any time or place resulting in deaths and/or life-altering injuries.
However, most of these accidents are preventable. Reports have shown that distracted driving through cell phone use is a leading cause of preventable auto accidents. The fact that over half of all the accidents that occur in the United States are as a result of cell phone use while driving.
In order to better understand the gravity of the matter and make better decisions to make American roads safer, it is important to first take a look at the statistics. The figures resulting from cell phone use while driving are downright startling.
Cell Phone Use While Driving Statistics
According to the National Safety Council, over 2.5 million people are involved in car accidents in the U.S each year. The reports further state that of these cases, 1.6 million involved the use of cell phones. This means that on average, 64% of accidents in the U.S have cell phone use involved.
Of all the cell phone uses that lead to distracted driving accidents, texting is the most dangerous. The statistics show that 1 out every 4 car accidents are as a result of texting while driving.
Over 350,000 injuries are reported each year from accidents caused by drivers texting while driving.The average annual number of injuries that result from distracted driving is 420,000 and texting accounts for over 80% of these injuries.
It might surprise you to find out that you are more likely to be involved in an accident while texting than while you are drunk. In fact, studies show that you are 6 times more likely to cause an accident while texting. When driving, all your focus and attention should be on the road and your driving.
When you take your eyes off the road, all it takes is 3 seconds for an accident to happen.People often take a minimum of 5 seconds to read and start replying to short text messages. That is 2 seconds above the bare minimum time it takes for an accident to happen.
Texting also heavily compromises your reaction time. If an accident is someone else’s fault, had you not been texting, you might have been able to react fast and prevent the accident. No matter the potential cause of an accident, texting increases the chances of the accident happening by 23 times.
When it comes to texting and cell phone use while driving, for obvious reasons, teenagers and young adults are the most affected. According to statistics, 11 teenagers die each day due to texting while driving. That’s a very big number of the young generation to lose unnecessarily. Of all the fatal accidents that teen drivers were involved, 21% were using their phones at the time of the accident.
Teenagers are 4 times more likely to be involved in car accidents while using their phones than adults.The reaction time of teenagers using their phones has been equated to that of a 70-year-old driver who isn’t using one.
Cell phone use while driving poses a major threat on our roads. Despite how skillful you are at driving, you should never overlook the dangers you put yourself and other road users in when you reach out to grab your phone while behind the wheel.
If you are in a serious car accident or have any personal injury questions, you need to find a top personal injury lawyer who focuses on motor vehicle accidents.