These days, most people don’t think twice about checking a notification that pops up on their smartphone. These devices are omnipresent in society now, to the point where they are taken for granted. Sometimes it takes a hard lesson to learn that, in some situations, putting the phone down or ignoring that notification is the best thing to do. When you’re driving, for example, is one such situation.
Distracted driving is commonly associated with cellphone use behind the wheel. Rightly so since, most likely, all of our readers have seen some driver just staring at a cellphone instead of watching the road and driving carefully. This behavior, along with engaging in other types of distractions while driving, can be common and deadly.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in one year alone—2020—over 3,000 people died in America as a result of distracted driving. That number likely includes those who were engaged in distracted driving behavior as well as innocent victims. Unless drivers start to acknowledge the danger of using a cellphone while driving, or even using a car’s “infotainment” system, talking to others in the vehicle or putting on makeup, for example, among other distracted behaviors, that number may rise as statistics for following years come out.
Personal injury options
If you have been involved in a car accident that was caused by a distracted driver and were injured as a result, you may have personal injury legal options to consider. If you can prove negligence or recklessness, you may be able to recover financial compensation from the distracted driver in the case.