Text Messaging While Driving: A Recipe for Disaster
By: Kevin Stouwie
Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law
Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
As mobile phones have become nearly universal, there has been an enormous increase in the number of people who send and receive text messages, and a corresponding increase in the quantity of text messages per mobile phone user. With this rise in popularity of text messaging, “texting” while driving has become such a serious road safety threat that several states have passed laws making such conduct illegal. Despite the enactment of “no texting while driving” laws, text messaging is becoming a greater concern for all of us with each passing day.
What Text Messaging Statistics and Events Tell Us
In 2008, a tragic Metrolink train accident occurred in southern California. The train engineer failed to stop at a red light, killing at least 25 people and injuring far more. After investigating the horrible crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that the train driver was sending and receiving numerous text messages all day (including one within 30 seconds of the crash), instead of watching the rails and doing his job in a proper manner.
The above example may seem rather extreme and uncommon. However, text messaging in cars is something that may be occurring around us all the time. The operator of an automobile who texts while driving presents an incredibly serious transportation problem. Thus far, 14 states and the District of Columbia forbid the practice.
(See: http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html ) Furthermore, a U. S. News and World Report article cites one study that found as many as 20 percent of all drivers do some text messaging while driving. The numbers are even more disturbing when you consider estimates for drivers between the ages of 18 and 24. As many as sixty-six percent of this group may be texting while driving. These drivers are already a more dangerous group as a whole; anyone who’s ever had to insure a teenage driver already knows all about this statistical fact. See: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/02/11/outlawing-text-messaging-while-driving.html
We have long understood that talking on a mobile phone while driving presents an increased risk, primarily due to the concept known as divided tasks, which tend to divide one’s attention. It appears thus far that talking on a cell phone, as risky as that may seem, is nothing compared to the risks of texting while driving. Given the added distraction of looking down at a small cell phone screen and/or keypad while typing out a message, texting while attempting to properly drive is a very serious threat to road safety.
Although it may be difficult to prove that the hidden reason for a car accident was that the driver at fault was texting, it is generally quite easy to prove that the driver was not paying attention to what he/she was doing. At Stouwie & Mayo, we have already begun looking beneath the surface of every serious car accident case, in order to determine whether text messaging played a role in causing the accident. Naturally, the insurance companies do not want such evidence to be brought to light, because they know that such conduct is outrageous to a sensible jury, and this fact alone makes the case nearly indefensible in a courtroom.
If the trend continues, I would expect some technology may be developed that will either disable the text function if the phone is traveling more than five miles per hour, or some other similar concept. Beyond whatever technology looms on the horizon, public awareness of the problem is critically important. Since we each have a choice as to whether we text message (or use a cell phone) while driving, we must start by making ourselves and our own loved ones safer by not texting (or using cell phones) when we are operating a potentially lethal weapon otherwise known as a car.
If you have been injured in a car accident, regardless of whether texting played a role, I invite you to contact our firm so we can help you evaluate your case. We have been successfully representing clients in this field for many years and know how to obtain the full financial sums available to injured parties under the law. The consultation is always free, and we don’t get paid unless we successfully conclude your case to your satisfaction.
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice, as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.