VA Personal Injury Attorney Examines Texting & Driving

(Newswire.net — July 22, 2015) Vienna, VA — It is amazing how we are overcome by modern technology and lifestyle. So overcome, that we have forgotten the essentials of life and have ignored the responsibilities we have in taking care of ourselves and our own. This is like a plague which has hit our world and is spreading so fast we cannot see it. No one really realizes this but this ‘plague’ is fatal. It can be fatal in the most extreme ways. And even though people are aware of this fact, the ignorance level is so high and so wide that they neglect it and keep on doing what can mean possible injury or death someday.

It is this addiction which we are going to target today. Specifically, I am talking about a more common addiction which everyone knows about. Everyone does it and a few wise ones even realize the dangers it holds. Yet almost everyone neglects it completely. It is texting. Yes, even looking at your phone and sending a message can be life-threatening. Am I making it sound like I am exaggerating? Well, I am not, because it is dangerous. Those of you who might have an idea of what I am talking about right now must be thinking about the most common issue with texting. We do it all the time. Now by that I mean that nothing stops us from texting while walking, sitting, cooking, watching television, playing, driving, working etc. Heck, a commercial I saw yesterday showed a man texting while sitting on the toilet. Is that what our generation has come to now? Is that how controlled we have become by a simple act that we ‘MUST’ do? Well, one of those things listed above kill people every year. The number of teen deaths caused by texting while driving now exceeds deaths caused by drunk driving. Now, that’s not something to overlook.

Yet, almost 77% of young adults think it is not a problem for them to text while they drive, and most say that they can multitask easily during their drive. However, it is a problem bigger than you think. About 11 teens die every day because of texting while they drive. In a year, 330,000 people in general get injured in car crashes due to texting. This proves that checking your texts and messaging while you drive can pose a serious threat to your health. In fact, studies show that texting while driving is six times more dangerous than being drunk while driving. Why is that? Because being drunk makes you mentally unstable. Plus you lose much of your vision. Yet still, your hands remain on the steering wheel and you have manual control over the movement of your vehicle. On the other hand, when you send a message, or use your phone, it involves all three of these controls; mental, visual, and manual, thus, increasing the chance of being in an accident by six times.  

This also proves how people are ignorant to this fact. At any given time, about 660,000 people across the globe are trying to use their mobile phones while they drive.

A recent news flash showed a multi-car, fatal accident on Interstate 66, causing a major traffic jam. The cause? Texting while driving. It only reminds us of how dangerous it can be. In fact, people don’t realize that they often do the very same thing that the driver who caused the accident was doing. During a social experiment, almost all of the participants admitted to having texted while driving numerous times. They suggested that they were very aware of the harmful effects of texting while driving and also of how many lives can be saved just by focusing on the road. Shamefully, however, it did not stop them from doing it again.

Adults have now become a carrier for this plague. Although adults are also involved in accidents caused by texting while driving, they do something much more dangerous. Most adults admit to texting while driving WHILE their children are sitting in the vehicle. One could argue that this causes the children to think there is nothing wrong in texting while driving because their parents have been doing it. Overall the chance of tragedy increases.

One American, Brock Deitrich has a similar story. He used to text and drive, and maybe if he was reading this article he would proudly say that he is still alive. No, he would not. Why? Because he used to do it in front of his daughter, who picked up the habit and before her 18^th birthday, her car crashed on an Ohio highway. Yes, she was texting and driving at the same time.

So please, learn how dangerous texting while driving is and how vast its effects are. It is a terrible habit that causes more teen deaths per year than drunk driving. So, no matter how confident you feel, you should never text, or even use you phone for that matter, while you are driving. A simple distraction can take your life. Please, for your safety and for your children’s safety, be careful and do not text while you drive.

 Paul Samakow is a personal injury attorney, auto accident attorney, and wrongful death attorney in Vienna, VA.

(Newswire.net — July 22, 2015) Vienna, VA —