How dangerous is distracted driving? Each day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,600 are injured in car accidents caused by distracted driving, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Recent media campaigns have focused on the alarming number of people who text while they drive. This is a serious and dangerous distraction, but anything you do that takes your focus away from driving is a distraction. Some other distractions include:
In 2013, 3,154 people were killed and approximately 424,000 were injured due to distracted drivers (Distraction.com). This includes not just the distracted driver but the others involved, including passengers and those on the road. A distracted driver could hit a car with an entire family, an 8 year-old on the sidewalk, a man crossing with the light or a bicyclist obeying all traffic laws.
Here are just a few of the many stories:
In April 2014, one teenager was killed and three more hospitalized after a distracted diver crashed into them. The group of four teens — three boys, ages 14, 15 and 16, and a 16-year-old girl — were walking along the north shoulder of the highway in Manteca, CA, when Mia Aguiar drove off the road and crashed into them.
Matthew Oliveri’s life changed at age 22 on September 10, 2004 when a distracted driver went through a stop sign while playing with the radio. Matthew (in photo) was hit head-on and ejected from his truck. Now he is paralyzed from the neck down.
In April of 2014 a 32-year-old Courtney Ann Sanford, of Clemmons, N.C., was taking selfies and updating her Facebook profile immediately before she lost control of her car and died. The text that killed her: “The happy song makes me HAPPY.”
71-year-old Elmo Lewis died on January 26, 2014 when a distracted driver in crashed into his red pickup truck.
On October 10, 2010, 5-year-old Xzavier Davis-Bilbo was crossing the street near his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he was struck by a young woman who was texting while driving. Xzavier, who had dreams of becoming a football player, was left paralyzed from the diaphragm down.
On July 17, 2009, 21-year-old Casey Feldman was struck and killed by a distracted driver as she crossed the street in Ocean City, New Jersey.
What can you do?
No text is worth the risks of a life. If a text, call or Facebook status is going to take your attention away from the road, pull over.
We understand how devastating these accidents can be and we can help answer any legal questions you have and help you understand your legal options—at no cost and with no obligation. We have helped victims and their families help feel some sense of justice and collect needed compensation for medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering and other related costs. Contact us today for a free consultation by calling 516-874-0466 or filling out our webform.
Goldstein and Bashner
