Federal safety organizations say car crashes are the number one cause of accidental death in the U.S., and they’ve also found that 80 percent of those crashes are related to drivers being distracted by things like using a cell phone.  For that reason, eleven States and the District of Columbia have banned the practice of texting while driving, and nine other states have the same ban for beginner drivers. 

Florida is home to the 14-year-old Clermont girl who logged 35,463 monthly text messages twice this past year.  One trillion text messages were sent in just the United States last year. Text messaging is part of our supposedly multi-tasking way of living. Even under the best of circumstances, our brains don’t deal well with more than one thing at once. Texting behind the wheel of a couple of tons of steel moving down the road is a bad idea.

The National Safety Council says that “using a wireless communications device while driving is one of the most significant distractions that affects driving performance…  The relative risk, frequency and duration of cell phone use and text messaging make these activities much more likely to lead to a crash or near crash than most other activities people do in vehicles.”  It recently called on drivers to stop using cell phones and messaging devices, implored businesses to execute policies prohibiting such usage, and urged all 50 states to pass legislation prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving.  The safety council says cell phone use in general is a part of an approximated 6 percent of all crashes across the nation, which works out to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year.  Even the American Medical Association recently labeled text messaging while driving “a public health risk” citing a study that found that text messaging while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent not concentrating on the road. 

However, it may soon be illegal for Florida drivers to text message while behind the wheel, if state Representative Doug Holder (R-Sarasota) has anything to say about it.  The bill would prohibit reading, manually writing or typing, or sending messages on electronic wireless communication devices while operating a moving vehicle.  Whether the bill passes or not, drivers should always refrain from texting, eating, looking for items dropped on the floor, playing with the radio or other distracting activities while driving!

For additional information, including a Driver Education a Driver Education Book for Parents, please visit http://www.safedriver.com/.

Contact the Kane Law Firm, P.A.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of an automobile, truck, motor vehicle or car accident in Florida and have specific questions or concerns about compensation for your losses, your insurance policies or your legal rights, please call the Florida Automobile Accident Attorneys at the Kane Law Firm, P.A. in Maitland - Orlando, Florida at (407) 644-KANE (5263), submit a contact form on our website, or email us at Info@KaneInjury.com. Our personal injury lawyers will to assist you by diligently pursuing the individuals or companies that caused your injuries, determining what insurance is available, and maximizing your recovery.

We offer a free initial consultation, and if we agree to take your case, we will work on a contingency basis. This means we will get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.