Distracted driving is a major cause of crashes that kill or injure people. While the authorities have taken measures to deal with this, such as banning people from hand holding their phones while driving, distraction continues to be a major problem.
This is because distraction is multi-faceted and can work in three ways:
Physical distraction
Banning handheld phone use addresses physical distraction. Yet even then there are many other activities that are fully legal but still physically distracting. People take one or both hands off the steering wheel to reach for things, hold food or drink, gesticulate, change the radio and more.
Mental distraction
You might not be holding a phone but if you are talking on it, or listening to a message it is playing, then the phone is mentally distracting you. The same can be said for other activities, such as conversing with passengers, planning what you will have for lunch, reflecting on how your date went or listening to the news bulletin on the radio.
Visual distraction
Banning handheld phone use may have lessened people looking at their phone screens, but if it is in a holder in front of you, you can still see it, so it can still visually distract you.
Other things that could do the same include your passengers, advertising hoardings, people in the street or the landscape outside.
Safe driving requires your hands on the wheel and your eyes and mind on the road. If a driver who is not doing all of these things injures you, then claiming compensation may be an option to investigate.
