April Is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
April 17th, 2021
April may be known for its various festivities like Easter, sporting events coming into full swing, and springtime fully blooming over.
April is also designated as Distracted Driving Awareness Month, a time where communities learn about the catastrophic–and often lethal–dangers of distracted driving.
The Austin car accident lawyers of Ramos James Law, PLLC are taking a look at what exactly counts as distracted driving, along with some advice on how you can prevent such a potential disaster from occurring.
What is Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving can range anywhere from:
- Texting and driving
- Eating or drinking while driving
- Changing playlists/adjusting GPS while driving
- Reckless driving/speeding
- Conversations or heated arguments with passengers
These types of instances keep you from putting your full attention to the road, potentially leading to serious car accidents in the blink of an eye.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), 9 individuals are declared dead and 1,000 are injured on a daily basis resulting from distracted driving accidents.
In 2019, 3,142 individuals lost their lives across U.S. roadways as a direct result of these types of accidents, which accounted for 8.5% of all U.S. roadway fatalities that year.
Additionally, cell phone use while driving can dramatically take a toll on your brain’s focus by 37%. Texting or posting on social media can take away a person’s ability to focus on the road for an average of 5 seconds, which is more than enough time to be involved in a preventable tragedy.
Key Tips to Avoiding Distracted Driving
While nobody can prevent a car accident, the best thing we can do as drivers is to:
- Avoid multitasking while driving. Refrain from doing anything that will keep your attention off of the road, including phone use, radio or playlist changing, eating or talking on the phone, even through Bluetooth technology. The safety of you and your passengers should be prioritized first and foremost.
- Use your iPhone and Android technology to limit features before driving. Turning on these features prevent certain functions while a car is in motion. It can be significant in avoiding a catastrophic accident.
- Ask your passengers to kindly respect the fact that you are driving. A good friend or companion should always refrain from distracting whoever might be behind the wheel at all times. Additionally, a passenger should act as a second pair of eyes for a driver in order to help them navigate around safely.
Austin Car Accident Attorneys Ready to Represent You in Your Distracted Driving Accident
When a distracted driver causes a car accident, it can leave you or a loved one with serious injuries and costly damages to your property. Because of this, it’s always in your best interest to seek legal representation from the Austin car accident lawyers of Ramos James Law, PLLC.
Our attorneys will fight tooth and nail in order to earn the recovery you deserve for any physical and emotional damages you wrongfully endured.