Distracted Driving a Big Problem in South Florida Pt. 1

Distracted Driving a Big Problem in South Florida Pt. 1

Distracted Driving a Big Problem in South Florida Pt. 1

Personal Injury Lawyers | A new study analyzing the prevalence of distracted driving captured video of several thousand motorists moving along a South Florida highway. In just 20 minutes, study authors found:

  • 150 drivers talking on the phone;
  • 17 drivers texting;
  • 12 drivers eating;
  • 6 drivers distracted by some other form (i.e., reading, applying makeup, staring at the mirror, looking in the backseat, etc.)

What that tells us is that of the 2,000 cars that went by, 9 percent of drivers were preoccupied with some task other than driving. That’s probably a low number because it only counts those distractions that are actually observable. Distractions such as listening to the radio or having an involved conversation with a passenger are not immediately observable from the outside. Again – this was on a highway, where speeds easily exceed 70 mph. Bear in mind that when you take your eyes off the road to send a text while traveling at 55 mph, you travel the length of a football field without looking. 

The report, published by www.sr22agency.com, revealed a total of 185 distracted drivers on I-95 in just 20 minutes. It’s a wonder there weren’t more car accidents.

The results are not all that shocking, given the statistics reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last year. Of the 30,057 fatal crashes in 2013, a total of 2,910 involved distraction. Again, these are only the distractions about which we know. Distraction is not as easily a quantifiable phenomenon as, say, impaired driving, which can be determined by a simple blood test.

Distracted driving crashes reportedly killed 3,154 people in 2013 – 10 percent of the total 33,000. It’s also a factor in 18 percent of all crashes with injuries and 16 percent of all total crashes.  Injury Lawyer Florida

 

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