Driving and Texting

Serving Dallas and North Texas

Texting and driving has become even more dangerous than drinking and driving. The number of drivers who text while they drive is simply astonishing, and if you think it is just teens just texting behind the wheel, you are wrong. Even adults are now endangering the lives of others because they are trying to accomplish too much while driving. Rarely does anyone actually pull over to send a text, and even though many states have laws against texting while driving, drivers are sneaking their texts by holding the phone in their lap or down by the console. What seems like a very brief look away from the road can lead to serious or deadly car accidents.

In 2008, at any given moment, more than 800,000 Americans were texting, making calls, or using a handheld cell phone while driving during the daytime. With distracted driving killing nearly 6,000 Americans in the same year, it's no surprise that cell phone use is risky for drivers and is now more common than drinking and driving.

It is estimated that 110 billion text messages were sent in one month in December 2008 while only 10 billion were sent three years earlier. That statistic alone illustrates what a worldwide phenomenon texting has become. It is almost impossible to know how many of those texts were sent while the phone user was driving, but it is safe to say that if just one text was sent while operating a car, then too many were sent. The Dallas auto accident attorneys at Polewski & Associates have represented victims who have suffered serious personal injuries such as brain injury, spinal cord injury, burns, loss of limbs, and multiple fractures. If you are guilty of texting while driving, you should think twice before committing this crime because you could take someone’s life in the few seconds your eyes are off the road.

Texas is one of the many states that have put a ban on cell phone use while driving. If you get caught doing this, you may have to pay a hefty fine, especially if you are a repeat offender.

Here are some statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to prove just how common texting while driving actually is:

• One-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States send text messages while driving
• In 2008 almost 6,000 people were killed and a half-million were injured in crashes related to driver distraction
• At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone
• Four out of every five accidents (80%) are attributed to distracted drivers while drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nation wide
• Texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated

With numbers like this, the chance of you being involved in a car accident with a cell phone user is quite high.

If you live in Dallas or anywhere in north Texas and were involved in a car accident with a cell phone user, please contact the knowledgeable car accident attorneys at Polewski & Associates today to schedule your no-cost consultation.