Encountering a distracted driver can lead to an auto accident with injuries and death. This is true throughout Connecticut and across the nation. The dangers of texting and driving and other distracting behaviors behind the wheel are obvious. Simply looking away from the road for an instant can cause a crash. With the amount of concentration required to send and read text messages, read emails, surf the Internet and multitask, it is easy to hit another vehicle or a pedestrian, go into the opposite lane of traffic, run off the road and more. Research is useful to understand the statistics for these accidents, and a new study says that certain parts of Connecticut have higher risk for distracted driving crashes in the state.
The Connecticut Safety Research Center and the Travelers Institute says that from 2015 through the first six months of 2018 had nearly 1,392 distracted driving accidents in New Haven. This included texting and driving, using their phones for other purposes and even eating when behind the wheel. In Hartford, there were 1,055 distracted driving crashes. In Bridgeport, there were 899.
The information was accrued by the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Transportation. Some roadways were deemed more dangerous than others. The more treacherous roads for distracted drivers and auto accidents because of it included the shoreline’s Interstate 95, Route 2 west, Middletown’s Route 9 north, Meriden’s I-91 north, and I-84 in Hartford and Waterbury.
This research provides greater insight into how many car accidents happen because of distracted driving and where. While people might be fundamentally cognizant of the commonality of distracted driving, these numbers make it abundantly clear as to the number of accidents that happen because of it. For people who have been injured or lost a loved one in a distracted driving accident, the medical expenses, lost wages and long-term damage can be personally and financially destructive. The key to a legal filing for distracted driving car accidents is often the accident investigation. After that, car accident victims can seek guidance to determine what their legal options are and how to proceed moving forward.
