Most drivers believe that they can multitask while driving and still control the vehicle in a safe manner. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. An action – even the most minute, instantaneous task – that takes attention away from the road can have disastrous, deadly consequences.
Drivers have so much that they can do while they should be driving: eating, personal grooming, talking on the phone, reading a map, talking to passengers or manipulating a GPS system. One of the most pervasive activities is also the most deadly: texting while driving.
Driving can be interrupted by certain tasks. These interruptions can come in three forms:
- Manual distractions are those when you actually remove your hands from the steering wheel.
- Visual distractions are those that require you to remove your eyes from the road.
- Cognitive distractions occur when your mind wanders from the task of driving.
Texting, then, is all three types of distraction at once. Those texting will have to hold the phone in a hand while typing, remove his or her eyes from the road to read a message and fail to focus on his or her surroundings while thinking of a response to a received text. Drivers who are texting will typically fail to recognize stopped traffic, safety signals, pedestrians or other dangerous situations.
If you or a loved one was injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by a distracted driver, it is crucial that you speak with a personal injury attorney. Based on the facts of your case, you might be entitled to recover monetary compensation from those responsible for the collision.
