Since the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, gathering in person was deemed unsafe and prohibited in many locations around the country. Accordingly, millions of Americans turned to technology in an effort to remain connected. It shouldn’t come as a shock, therefore, that we are now more fixated on our screen devices than ever before. According to 2019 data from the Pew Research Center, 96% of Americans own a cellphone. Thanks to smartphones, you can now binge Netflix virtually anywhere from the palm of your hand, often making face-to-face communication a secondary priority. But what happens when the desire to constantly socialize electronically takes over, and cell phones end up being used in dangerous ways when behind the wheel of a car?
Texting while driving is definitely dangerous, but what does the law say about this risky behavior? In California, holding your cell phone while driving is illegal. The California Office of Traffic Safety explains that drivers are prohibited from using a cell phone or any similar type of handheld device. Hands-free alternatives like talking while on speakerphone or using voice commands are the exception. Drivers under the age of 18, however, may not use a cell phone for any reason according to the law. And beginning July 1, 2021, a bill enacted in 2019 by the California State Legislature goes into effect. The law stipulates that any driver who is caught violating the handheld rule a second time (within three years) is subject to receiving a point on their driving record.
The California Highway Patrol is cracking down on cell phone use for good reason. Let’s look at some fast facts that give the full picture of the risks posed by distracted driving:
58% Hit by a Driver – California drivers surveyed in 2019 who said they had been hit (or nearly hit) by another driver who was talking on a cell phone or texting.
51% Made a Mistake – Over half of drivers surveyed admitted to making a mistake while they were driving and talking on a cell phone.
3x Increased Risk of Crash – Drivers who have to take their eyes off the road, or their hands off the wheel, to complete a subtask are three times more likely to be in a crash.
5s Eyes Off the Road – When you’re texting while driving, your eyes are off the road an average of five seconds at a time. When traveling at 55 mph, that is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field while blindfolded.
*Source: Go Safely California
Cell phones are just one of the many preventable distractions contributing to deaths and injuries on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration breaks down three main classifications of driving distractions:
Here’s what these distractions could look like in some real-life (and dangerous) driving scenarios:
Contact our top-rated team of expert car accident attorneys online or by phone today to pursue justice and secure a financial award for damages.
Despite the known risks of distracted driving (46.7% of Californians surveyed say texting while driving tops the list of the most serious types of driving distractions), accidents still occur, sometimes with fatal results. Let’s look at a few recent examples:
On the night of Saturday, March 6, a 67-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash on Interstate 5 in Sacramento by a suspected drunk driver who admitted to authorities he had been on his phone at the time of the collision.
CBS Sacramento reported that the 43-year-old BMW driver, Careem Mayfield, caused the crash, launching the motorcyclist into the next lane where he was struck and killed by oncoming traffic. Mayfield has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol, and driving with a license that was suspended due to prior DUI offenses.
In this case, the family of the victim could seek various types of damages in a wrongful death civil lawsuit. The family may even be able to seek additional punitive damages for recklessness that rises to the level of willful and malicious conduct given the nature of the driver’s conduct.
A 29-year-old California woman was fortunate to be rescued by a fast-acting Federal Express driver who witnessed her vehicle plunge into the Truckee River on March 8, the Sacramento Bee reported. The woman told authorities she had been singing “Happy Birthday” to her cousin on the phone in adverse weather conditions, causing her to veer into the river.
The FedEx driver heroically rushed into the water to help free the women from her sinking vehicle as it filled with water. He managed to open the door to the backseat and helped the woman escape before calling 911. The California Highway Patrol officer who arrived on the scene told news outlets that, in his own experience, drivers very rarely admit to being on their phones.
The woman was lucky to leave the scene with embarrassment rather than serious injuries, and her distracted driving could have easily resulted in the type of crash that causes severe harm to both people and property.
A March 2020 accident in South Los Angeles that took the life of a 12-year-old boy is especially personal for Dordulian Law Group’s Chief Investigator, Detective Moses Castillo. Castillo was handling the case as a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Traffic Division at the time. The early-morning incident involved a 43-year-old woman who was turning left from Woodlawn Avenue onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. As the woman approached the intersection, a young boy was walking in the direct path of the vehicle. The car suddenly struck the pedestrian. The boy, who was half a block from home on his way to school, died at the scene despite attempted CPR from a bystander.
The driver claimed she was not distracted by her phone. Police did not find evidence of drugs or alcohol and took the woman’s phone to perform a thorough analysis in an effort to determine the cause of the accident.
Detective Castillo, who was pictured in a Los Angeles Times report escorting the victim’s visibly distraught mother, told the paper “everything’s on the table” in the investigation into the young boy’s death.
In another case handled by DLG’s Detective Castillo, a woman checking her WhatsApp messages while driving failed to notice a 65-year-old man walking in the marked crosswalk. The vehicle struck the man, killing him instantly in what witnesses described as a gruesome scene. The driver was charged with felony vehicular manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to six years.
Ready to file a claim and pursue justice through a financial damages award? Our expert attorneys are available online or by phone now.
Author
"*" indicates required fields
