People in California who are texting and driving may be endangering themselves and others on the road. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 9 people die daily and around 1,000 are injured in accidents that involve distracted drivers. The five seconds it may take to receive or send a text means looking away from the road for the distance of a football field when a car is traveling at 55 mph. Around one-third of drivers have said they text while driving.
Looking at smoking cessation, increasing seat belt usage and reducing the incidence of drunk driving indicates that education is generally not enough to change behavior. Punishment followed by education tends to be more effective. The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety reports that companies that have rules and enforce them with punishment are safer than those that do not.
The history of drunk driving indicates that attitude changes tend to follow changes in law. Although the first drunk driving laws were passed in 1917, it took the efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, starting in 1980, to push for greater change. Enforcing seat belt laws also increased compliance. It may be that the same kind of legal enforcement is needed to curb distracted driving and cellphone use in particular.
People who have been involved in a car accident might want to contact Costa Mesa auto accident injury lawyers. If the accident was caused by someone else who was texting and driving or distracted in some other way, that driver may be responsible for people who are injured. However, that driver’s insurance company might offer too little in compensation or dispute who is responsible. The driver might even lack insurance. In these cases, an attorney may be able to assist in filing a lawsuit against the driver.
