Texting While Driving

Distracted Driving Accidents

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), car accidents are the leading cause of death for American teens. In 2008 alone more than 3,400 teens between the ages of 15 and 18 were killed in auto accidents and teen drivers are four times more likely to be in a collision than older drivers. While the overall lack of experience increases a teen driver's crash risk, distracted driving, particularly when it involves texting while driving is especially dangerous for teens and adults alike.

The CDC reports that in 2008, nearly 6,000 people were killed in distracted driving crashes and over 500,000 people were injured. Distracted driving involves engaging in any activity that takes the driver's attention away from the primary task of driving such as texting while driving. There are three elements to distracted driving and they include visual distraction (taking your eyes off the road), manual distraction (taking your hands off the wheel), and cognitive distraction (taking your mind off driving).

Texting is the most serious form of driver distraction as it takes the driver's attention away from driving more frequently than anything else and for longer periods than other forms of distraction. Novice drivers under the age of 20 may be in the highest risk category due to the fact that they have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal collisions, but nobody is immune regardless of age. The U.S. Department of Transportation has been leading the effort to stop texting while behind the wheel and since 2009, it has held two distracted driving summits, banned texting while driving for all commercial drivers, and launched campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of texting while driving.

Contact a Chico Car Accident Attorney at The Law Office of Adam Sorrells

California is one of the states that have recognized the dangers of distracted driving. In California, it is against the law for all drivers to use handheld cell phones, and there is a statewide ban against texting while driving. However, despite this ban, tens of thousands of California drivers break the law each and every day and text anyway.