The most common types of distractions while driving involve talking or texting on a cell phone, with scrolling social media following right behind. The common denominator in all three distractions is a smartphone.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports over 3,300 people are killed annually due to distracted driving accidents. Nearly 300,000 more suffer injuries from accidents relating to distractions while driving.
If you suffered an injury or lost a spouse or family member in a distracted driving accident, schedule a free consultation with an experienced Fayetteville distracted driving attorney immediately. You may be entitled to recover substantial compensation for financial losses and other damages.
Fayetteville Distracted Driving Guide
- What Is Distracted Driving?
- Who is Most at Risk for Engaging in Distractions While Driving?
- The Most Common Types of Distractions While Driving
- What to Do if Injured You Are in a Distracted Driving Accident
- A Personal Injury Attorney Skilled In Distracted Driving Is Ready To Help
What Is Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving involves any activity that diverts a motorist’s attention away from driving. There are four primary categories of distracted driving:
- Manual Distractions: Occurs when drivers take their hands off the steering wheel for any reason.
- Visual Distractions: Occurs when drivers take their eyes off the road for any reason.
- Auditory Distractions: Occurs when a driver is distracted by music or other auditory noises, such as crying babies and screaming toddlers.
- Cognitive Distractions: Occurs when a driver takes their mind off driving.
Some common types of distractions while driving engage multiple categories. For example, smartphone use is a manual (hands off the wheel), visual (eyes off the road), auditory, and cognitive distraction.
Who is Most at Risk for Engaging in Distractions While Driving?
Unsurprisingly, older teens and young adult drivers are more at risk for distracted driving. A Centers for Disease and Prevention Center (CDC) survey found:
- An alarming 39 percent of high school students who drove in the past 30 days sent texts or emails while driving on at least one of those days.
- Student grades didn’t affect the decision to text or email while driving, with the issue spanning all grade averages.
- Students who sent texts and emails while driving were more likely to report other risky driving behaviors, such as not wearing a seat belt —or driving or riding with a driver who has consumed alcohol.
Among fatal crashes in the U.S. involving distracted drivers, a higher percentage of motorists ages 15–20 are distracted than of motorists ages 21 and older.
Additional crash statistics show that an average of 13 percent of distracted driving accidents are due to cell phone use. Percentages of distracted drivers by age group that were on their cell phones at the time of the accident show:
- Ages 15-20 —17 percent
- Ages 21-24 —16 percent
- Ages 25-34 —23 percent
- Ages 35-44 —20 percent
- Ages 45-54 —12 percent
- Ages 55-64 —8 percent
- Ages 65-74 —3 percent
Drivers 75 years and older are on their phones one percent or less at the time when involved in distracted driving accidents. However, they made up six percent of the overall distracted driver population.
Distracted driving accounts for 15 percent of injury collisions and 9 percent of all fatal motor vehicle accidents. Drivers who have been injured or suffered the loss of a loved one in a distracted driving accident should speak with a wrongful death lawyer to discuss recovering financial compensation for damages incurred.
The Most Common Types of Distractions While Driving
The most common types of distracted driving include using a cell phone, eating, adjusting controls, smoking, reading, grooming, listening to music, tending to pets or children, and rubbernecking.
Talking on Cell Phones
Talking on a cell phone is the number one distraction on the road today. It requires a driver to take their focus off driving and place it on whatever conversation they’re having.
Sometimes, those conversations also come with big emotions that are distracting. Drivers who are not hands-free are manually distracted, in addition to the auditory and cognitive distractions of talking on the phone.
Texting or Using Apps on Cell Phones
Texting or using smartphone apps, primarily social media apps, while driving is another significant cause of distracted driving accidents. Drivers using social media often are distracted because they record videos or go live behind the wheel.
Some drivers cause accidents by following dangerous TikTok trends. For example, the Keke challenge involved drivers jumping out of their slowly moving vehicles to dance to a Drake song to gain internet clout. It caused several motor vehicle accidents, resulting in injuries.
Using a Navigation System
Drivers using global positioning systems (GPS) apps and navigation devices are responsible for distracted driving accidents. Using GPS requires drivers to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the steering wheel.
Eating and Drinking
Eating and drinking are manual distractions that require a driver to take their hands off the steering wheel. They may also lead to accidents inside the vehicle, such as spilling hot beverages or other messy items that shift your focus to cleaning and off the road.
Smoking
Smoking is more than just a nasty habit; it’s a common type of distraction while driving that causes accidents and injuries. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports smokers have a higher risk factor for traffic accident deaths than non-smokers. Reasons include:
- Smoking ignites fires
- Smokers tend to have underlying health issues exacerbated by accidents
- Smokers are more inclined to engage in other risky behaviors (speeding, aggressive driving)
The most significant risk factor with smoking while driving is that it is a type of distraction responsible for motor vehicle accidents. Smoking is a visual distraction that causes a driver to search for cigarettes and lighters.
Smoking is a manual distraction that requires a driver to take their hands off the wheel, and it can be a cognitive distraction, causing a driver to zone out and take their mind off driving.
Adjusting Controls
Adjusting controls, such as climate or radio in a vehicle, is a significant factor in distracted driving accidents. The modern use of touch screens instead of physical knobs requires drivers to take their eyes off the road, in addition to their hands off the wheel.
Reading
Reading while behind the wheel is a serious distraction. In addition to scrolling news and social media feeds, distracted drivers have caused accidents reading mail, newspapers, magazines, books, and e-reader devices.
Daydreaming
Have you ever been lost in thought and missed your exit? It happens frequently for drivers who are not focused on driving because they’re driving daily commutes that have become familiar. Familiarity may cause a driver to let their guard down or, in the case of driving, become less focused and distracted.
Looking at an Outside Person, Object, or Event
Drivers distracted by objects, people, or events outside the vehicle are a significant factor in distracted driving accidents. The act is called rubbernecking because it causes drivers to turn their necks and focus on the distraction instead of the road in front of them.
Car crashes are a common event that results in rubbernecking. Drivers are enamored by accident scenes, leading to a chain reaction of other drivers rubbernecking, taking their eyes off the road, and causing other accidents.
Personal Grooming
Personal grooming is a type of distraction while driving that includes taking your hands off the steering wheel and your eyes off the road. It also involves a visual distraction of searching for personal grooming items. Examples of personal grooming types of distractions while driving include:
- Applying makeup
- Applying lotions and creams
- Plucking eyebrows or chin hairs
- Shaving
- Brushing hair
- Brushing teeth
- Tying a tie
- Putting in or removing contact lenses
- Putting on or removing jewelry
All of these acts of personal grooming are driving distractions that are responsible for causing accidents and injuries on the roads today. Drivers who incorporate these habits into their driving routine are at a higher risk of causing motor vehicle accidents.
Reaching for Something in the Vehicle
Reaching for something inside the vehicle requires a driver to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel. Drivers rationalize it’s only for a few seconds while fumbling about. However, at 55 mph, five seconds amounts to traveling the length of a football field (120 yards or 360 feet) with their eyes closed.
Talking to a Passenger
Drivers can become distracted when engaging in conversations with passengers in their vehicles. This is a cognitive and auditory distraction. However, depending on the driver’s nature, it may also be a visual distraction for eye-contact speakers or a manual one if they talk with their hands.
Overwhelming Emotions
Drivers experiencing overwhelming emotions while driving may be distracted and cause motor vehicle accidents. Anger and sadness are two emotions that can be dangerous to process behind the wheel.
Moving Objects
Moving objects inside a vehicle can cause a driver to become easily distracted and dangerous behind the wheel. For example, unrestrained pets or a bug flying or crawling about causes drivers to take their eyes off the road. It may also involve taking their hands off the steering wheel.
Tending to Children
Parents tending to children is one of the most common types of distractions while driving. Reaching for dropped bottles and sippy cups, fidgeting with car seat fasteners, and fumbling around for items in a diaper bag are all ways drivers become distracted when tending to children in their vehicles.
Listening to Music
Drivers who listen to music, especially at loud volumes, may be distracted and cause accidents, resulting in injuries. Besides the auditory distraction, drivers remove their hands from the steering wheel to adjust controls. They may also sing and dance around to the music rather than focusing on driving.
What to Do if Injured You Are in a Distracted Driving Accident
Distracted driving accident victims who suffered an injury have several things to handle immediately following the incident. Here are four critical next steps:
Get a Medical Evaluation
Regardless of how you feel or if there are apparent signs of injuries, you must get a medical evaluation immediately following a motor vehicle accident. Several symptoms of injury take hours or even days to develop after an accident, such as whiplash and concussion.
Have a medical professional give you a comprehensive medical exam to assess any injuries or medical concerns resulting from the accident. Their exam may include labs, x-rays, and other imaging.
Follow Your Medical Recovery Plan
After assessing your symptoms and injuries, your doctor will give you a discharge summary with instructions for your medical recovery plan. It’s critical for healing and recovery to follow the plan, including common limitations and restrictions, such as:
- Physical restrictions (bending, squatting, heavy lifting)
- Driving restrictions
- Mental health restrictions
- Being put on light-duty work
- Not returning to work
Your doctor may also refer you for rehabilitation services, including physical, vocational, occupational, and massage therapy. Chiropractic care is another standard referral. You must complete your rehabilitation steps after a distracted driving accident.
Each state has a statute of limitations on filing distracted driving claims. Ignoring injuries can prove detrimental to recovering financial damages.
Document Accident, Injuries, and Damages
Documenting the accident, injuries, and damages sustained is vital for keeping accurate accountings and proving loss. A post-accident journal is ideal for documenting:
- Detailed account of the accident while fresh in your mind
- Dates of the accident and all following medical treatment
- Any daily limitations you are experiencing because of the accident
- Detailed account of pain and symptoms associated with the accident
- Mental and emotional state
- All expenses associated with the accident
The more detailed and consistent the entries are, the better chance your personal injury attorney has at proving negligence and calculating damages for your distracted driving claim. Post-accident journals are especially helpful in establishing non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Hire an Attorney
The sooner you hire an attorney after a distracted driving accident, the better. Retaining a lawyer has many benefits to securing money in your insurance claim, including:
- Higher education in law
- Extensive knowledge of local, state, and federal laws
- Comprehensive case investigation (gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, consulting with expert witnesses, accident reconstruction)
- Thorough determination of all damages (monetary and non-monetary)
- Experience and familiarity with handling insurance companies
- Skilled negotiators
- Trial and courtroom experience
Distracted driving attorneys work in contingent fee arrangements, which means the client pays no upfront or out-of-pocket costs. Working for contingency allows everyone to retain legal representation, regardless of their financial situation.
Your personal injury lawyer will only get paid if they successfully secure compensation for your injuries and damages. Ask your attorney what their contingency fee is during your initial consultation.
A Personal Injury Attorney Skilled In Distracted Driving Is Ready To Help
Schedule a free consultation with a Fayetteville personal injury lawyer to discuss the circumstances of your case. They will help you determine eligibility and compensation for your claim.