Texting While Driving Causes Car Accidents

Car Accidents maybe on the rise in the League City, TX and across the nation due to distracted drivers.  A new study just released says that everyone seems to know how dangerous it is to text and drive; however, many drivers are still doing this dangerous combination.  Texting and driving has been compared to being as dangerous as drinking and driving.  This is because both cause individuals to not be able to immediately respond to what is occurring on the road leading to a collision of the motor vehicles.

The study says that, “98 percent of motorists who own cellphones and text regularly said they were aware of the dangers, yet three-quarters of them admitted to texting while driving, despite laws against it in some states. Two-thirds said they have read text messages while stopped at a red light or stop sign, while more than a quarter said they have sent texts while driving.” Many might feel that they can do several things at once while behind the wheel of a car. However, this is a common misconception that many fail to realize puts themselves, passengers, and others on or near the road in danger and leads to a motor vehicle accident to occur.  Many need to learn to put the phone down break away from their technology addiction while driving.

AT&T is who put on the study in part of its anti-texting and driving campaign to help spread the word of the dangers of the activity and to help gain research on what many drivers are really doing behind the wheel. AT&T is working to expend the availability of a free app that it has for phones that will silence text messages and alerts when someone is moving 15 miles per hour or faster. This issue seems to be about educating the public and breaking free from the perception that it is okay to text and drive.

In Texas, it used to be common place to have open alcoholic drinks while driving on the roadways. Many people would not think twice about drinking some beers while coming home from work or while on a road trip. There was even an old joke that starts with one person asking how for it is to some other city. The other person would respond oh… about a 6 pack. Thanks to MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, and several others, it’s now uncommon for a punishable offense to drink and drive with an open container. Likewise, society needs to shift toward away from its acceptance of texting and driving. 

Some of the common reasons while drivers said they text while driving in the study include:

•  Forty-three percent of the texting drivers said they want to "stay connected" to friends, family and work. Nearly a third did it out of habit.
• Twenty-eight percent said they are worried about missing out of something important if they don't check their phones right away.
•  More than a quarter believes that their driving performance is not affected by texting, and just as many people said they believe that others expect them to respond to texts "right away."
• Just 6 percent answered that they are "addicted to texting," although 14 percent admitted that they are "anxious" if they don't respond to a text right away, and 17 percent feel "a sense of satisfaction" when they can read or respond to a text message.

Greenfield, one of the individuals who study technology addiction and its impact on the brain compares smartphones to being the world’s smallest slot machine. He continues by saying that smartphones even can affect our brain in the same way as gambling or drugs can. From Greenfield’s comments it is not hard to see how dangerous and serious an issue texting while driving is and how so many car accidents can occur from this dangerous habit. “Greenfield said people should not use their phone at all while driving, but acknowledges that this might not be realistic. Apps, public education and laws that ban texting and driving, he said, will all help change people's behavior, just as anti-drunken-driving laws and public education campaigns have reduced drunken driving over the past few decades.”

So as a society let’s all put down our phones together and not text while driving. If you are in a car and see someone doing this dangerous activity please ask them to stop. Car accidents can happen in the blink of an eye or the glance of a text message. After a car crash many can suffer personal injury from to the collision. There have even been several unfortunate cases where individuals die from fatal injuries from texting while driving car accidents. If you have been injured by a distracted driver in a car accident, please contact a League City Personal Injury Lawyer who can fight to protect your legal rights.  

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