Staten Island Texting While Driving Accidents
Texting and Driving Don’t Mix
Since 2001, it’s been against the law to use a cell phone while driving In New York State (except for emergencies). In recent years, the state has made the penalties tougher, and with good reason: over 3,300 people were killed in 2011 across the US in vehicle accidents blamed on distracted drivers, and an increasing number of those accidents have been caused by drivers who text while behind the wheel. Those who text and drive might be the biggest threat on our highways today: one study recently came to the staggering conclusion that drivers who text on the road get into accidents up to 23 times more often than those who drive drunk.
Unfortunately, quantifying the risk doesn’t stop people from taking it. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety produced a report in 2013 showing that even while 95% of Americans recognize the risk of using phones while driving, almost 70% of those surveyed admitted to using their phone from behind the wheel within the past 30 days. The survey went even further, reporting that around one-third of all drivers (and more than half of younger drivers) acknowledge that they had texted while driving “fairly often or regularly” in the past month.
Despite the law, New Yorkers use their phones on the road as much as others. Our state police wrote over 30,000 tickets for texting while driving in 2012, which was a jump of over 230% from 2011 (and the number of guilty drivers is still increasing). It should shock no one that with so many distracted drivers on the road, serious and even fatal accidents happen. Media reports of fatal vehicle incidents have become so common that they no longer lead the news. But this doesn’t make them any less serious or any less tragic to those caught up in them. If a distracted driver has injured you, or someone close to you has been injured or killed, finding a Staten Island attorney who will take up your cause is an important step in the process.
It has become more common for witnesses to actually observe phone use in texting while driving accidents, and sometimes the offenders actually admit their phone use to police. But cases are not always this easy to prove. Other facts at the accident scene can imply that a driver was operating negligently (such as texting), including:
– Drifting across lanes or onto shoulders or sidewalks
– Ignoring clearly visible signs and signals
– Inconsistent speed or sudden acceleration or deceleration
– Causing a rear-end collision
– Unsafe lane changes
– Failure to brake before impact
A Staten Island Lawyer With Texting While Driving Knowledge
When you’ve been the victim of a texting while driving accident, it’s important to have someone else to turn to for help. Find an attorney to tackle the job of accident investigation, filing forms, and moving the legal process forward. A good firm will do that, while you stay focused on recovering. Kuharski, Levitz, & Giovinazzo are ready to assist you today.