Not -so-Fun Facts About Distracted Driving Car Accidents
As car accident lawyers representing clients in New York, including Long Island, we are deeply familiar with the frequency and severity of crashes. We have seen them all; victims injured in drunk driving accidents, children on their bikes hit by speeding cars, and families’ lives ruined by negligent truck drivers.
Something many car accidents have in common is that whatever their underlying cause, chances are the driver was distracted. Whether the distraction was from texting and driving, driving while excessively tired, drinking, eating, or talking on the phone, it does not matter. All accidents caused by distraction can have the same devastating results; injuries and fatalities that might have been avoided with proper diligence behind the wheel.
We have compiled some interesting and frightening facts that show just how dangerous distracted driving is and how car accidents affect our country.
- Between 2 and 2.5 million individuals in the US are in some form of road accidents every year.
- Of these accidents, more than 1.6 million involve the use of a cell phone.
- Approximately 30,000-40,000 people die in car accidents in the US every year
- More than 300,000 of the accidents that are caused by texting while driving result in severe injuries.
- Distracted driving accidents are underreported.
- Most US teenagers own a cell phone and use it regularly to call and text.
- More than 50% of these teens talk on the phone while driving, and more than 30% text on the road.
- About 1-in-4 car accidents in the US is the result of texting while driving.
- Texting behind the wheel is more likely to cause an accident and is, therefore, more dangerous than driving while drunk.
- It takes an average of three seconds of distraction, such as taking your eyes off the road, to cause an accident.
- Studies indicate that reading a text message while driving results in at least 5 seconds of distracted driving.
- If the average speed is 55 mph, a driver travels about the length of an entire football field in five seconds.
- The chances of a crash occurring, even one not caused by a distracted driver, is increased by more than 20x when someone texting while driving.
- Dialing a phone number while driving imparts even greater danger than reading a text.
- More than 10 teenagers die in the US every day because they were texting while driving.
- Nearly a quarter of teens involved in fatal car accidents were using their cell phones at the time of the crash.
- Teen drivers have a 400% higher chance of being in a car accident while driving than adults.
- A quarter of teenagers report that they respond to at least one text while they are driving. Not one text a day, but each and every time they get behind the wheel of their cars.
- 10% of adults and 20% of teens admit that they engage in full conversations via text while driving
- When asked, 77% of adults and 55% of teenagers respond that they can easily handle texting while driving.
- A University of Utah study found out that a teen driver’s reaction time while using a cell-phone is the same as that of a 70-year-old driver who isn’t using one.
- When teenagers text while they drive, they veer out of their lane approximately 10% of their total drive time
- Close to 50% of young teens have been in a passenger while the driver was texting.
- More than 1500 children in the same age group are killed each year because of crashes involving texting and driving.
Call Our Car Accident Lawyers at Levine and Wiss, PLLC, if you are injured in an accident with a distracted driver. You can reach our experienced, compassionate personal injury lawyers at 888-GOT-HURT. Call us today for a free evaluation of your case.
Find out from Levine and Wiss if you are entitled to collect compensation after you are hurt in a car accident.
