Legislation recently passed by the Ohio state Senate would prohibit drivers from engaging in text based messaging while operating a motor vehicle. Teens cited for violating the new prohibition, if it is signed into law by the state’s governor, will face stricter penalties than adults. Under the state’s proposed legislation, drivers younger than 18 years of age are prohibited from any form of communication using a handheld device while behind the wheel. The legislation, House Bill 99, was passed by the state’s Senate by a 25-8 vote. It will now go back to the state’s House of Representatives for concurrence. The legislation, if approved and enacted, would prohibit drivers of all ages from sending and reading text based messages while behind the wheel, but does not regulate the use of handheld communication devices for any reason besides text based communication. Voice communication, as well as the use of global positioning navigation systems, would still be allowed under law. For minors violating the law in a non-emergency situation would face a fine of $150 and an automatic license suspension of 60 days for a first offence. Repeat offenders would be fined $300 and given a mandatory one year license suspension.
As a San Bernardino personal injury lawyer, I hope these and other auto safety laws achieve their goal of making the roads safer for all motorists. If you or someone you care about has been injured in an accident linked to distracted driving, please consider contacting a car accident attorney in San Bernardino.
The state of Pennsylvania recently passed legislation prohibiting motorists from sending and receiving text messages while driving, but state law enforcement officials are having trouble enforcing the new law. Three of the most populous municipalities in Pennsylvania’s West Shore region — East Pennsboro and Upper and Lower Allen — haven’t ticketed a single driver for violating the state’s new texting ban, and neither have Lower Paxton or Susquehanna, two of the largest townships on the state’s East Shore. According to law enforcement officials, violations of the state’s ban on texting while driving are difficult to spot from the road under typical highway conditions. This problem is compounded by the fact that the state’s legislation prohibiting sending and receiving text messages while driving does not ban drivers from talking on their cellphones, so a driver holding a handheld communication device while behind the wheel of a moving automobile may not be violating the law. Texting while driving can be difficult to distinguish from talking on a cellphone even after a law enforcement official has pulled over a motorist. The fine for violating the state’s new texting ban is $50.
As a personal injury attorney in Riverside, I am hopeful that these new laws will help make the roads safer for motorists. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident linked to distracted driving, please consider contacting a Riverside car accident lawyer.
Approximately 80 percent of drivers between the ages of 16 and 21 said they think that sending text messages while behind the wheel of a moving motor vehicle is dangerous, but nearly 30 percent of young drivers surveyed admitted to sending a text message while operating an automobile within the past month, and a little less than half of those surveyed reported placing or receiving a cellphone call without the use of a hands-free device, according to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports.
Additionally, nearly half of the drivers surveyed reported having seen one or both of their parents using a cellphone without a hands free device. Accident statistics compiled by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate, however, that, proportionally, fewer people have been killed in fatal automotive collisions than at any time in the past 60 years. In 2010, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, a little less than one in ten fatal traffic accidents were linked to distracted driving. Drivers between the ages of 18 to 20 years old are the most likely to be involved in an accident linked to distraction caused by the use of a handheld communication device.
As a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, I have seen the serious damage that distracted driving can cause. If you or a loved one has been harmed in an accident linked to inattentive driving habits, please consider contacting a car accident attorney in Los Angeles.
Last month, law enforcement officials in Manhattan Beach cited 377 motorists for inattentive driving habits, according to a statement issued by the Manhattan Beach Police Department. April was declared National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and an increased enforcement effort on the part of the Manhattan Beach Police Department resulted in 327 drivers being ticketed for using a handheld communication device behind the wheel, 47 drivers being ticketed for sending or reading text based messages while operating a motor vehicle, and three drivers being ticketed for violating the posted speed limits because of distracted driving habits. Motorists can be cited for inattentive driving for reasons not related to handheld communication devices as well, according to law enforcement officials. Under state traffic laws, distracted driving can be defined as operating a vehicle while the primary focus is devoted elsewhere, including inputting data into a global positioning satellite navigation system or reaching to retrieve an item from the back seat of floorboard area of a moving vehicle. According to accident statistics released by the Manhattan Police Department, drivers using cellphones behind the wheel are four times more likely to be injured in an automobile collision.
As a car accident attorney in Los Angeles, I am hopeful that law enforcement officials are achieving their goal of increasing the safety on the roads in their jurisdictions. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident related to distracted driving, please consider contacting a San Bernardino car accident attorney.
Bethlehem high school students saw firsthand the consequences of drunken or distracted driving recently when a traveling safety education program staged a car accident at their school. The program, called “Every 15 Minutes” after the time, on average, between each fatal car accident linked to drunken driving that occurs in the United States. Students at Bethlehem’s Freedom High School watched a simulated car accident that culminated in the staged death of two of their classmates, and a six and a half year prison sentence for the student playing the driver responsible for vehicular homicide. In addition to the mock traffic collision, students listened to a speech presented by the parent of a teenage girl killed in a drunken driving accident. Event organizers say the program is effective because it makes the emotional experience of the real life consequences of a fatal car accident more tangible for teenagers. Students reported being moved to change their unsafe driving behaviors after witnessing the presentation, with some students saying they would not drive or ride as the passenger of a person under the influence of alcohol or get into a car with another teenager if the driver insisted on using a handheld communication device while behind the wheel.
As a Riverside car accident lawyer, I sincerely hope that safety education programs like this one are successful in reducing the number of auto collisions that occur on U.S. roadways every year. If you or someone you love has been injured in a traffic accident, please consider discussing your legal options with a personal injury attorney in San Bernardino.
Nearly 100 Minnesotans were cited for sending and receiving text messages while operating a motor vehicle during a recent single day focused enforcement effort. This saturation patrol was the result of a joint effort between 250 local and state law enforcement agencies. In comparison, an average day in 2011 yielded approximately 3.5 citations for text messaging while driving. So far law enforcement officials have reported issuing 97 citations to motorists for sending or reading text based messages while driving, but so far only 142 of the law enforcement agencies involved in the operation have reported the results of the focused enforcement effort. Though less than 100 instances of motorists being cited for text messaging while driving have been reported, law enforcement officers report pulling over more than 2,400 drivers for violating the state’s texting ban, according to a report issued by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety. Many of the law enforcement agencies involved reportedly focused on issuing official warnings to drivers seen sending and receiving text messages. According to safety experts, drivers sending and receiving text messages while driving is a contributing factor in 25 percent of all highway collisions.
A committee in the Ohio state senate is currently reconsidering introducing legislation that would prohibit drivers from sending and receiving text messages while operating a moving motor vehicle. The bill under consideration would punish text messaging while driving with a fine of up to $150. Under the legislation, engaging in text messaging while behind the wheel of a moving automobile would be considered a minor misdemeanor. Though the Republican majority in Ohio’s state House of Representatives has passed its version of this bill, but the legislation has been delayed in the state senate. According to senate leadership, the bill might be difficult for law enforcement officers to implement. The version of the bill currently being considered by the senate might include an amendment to prevent drivers under the age of 18 from using electronic handheld communication devices for any purpose while driving an automobile. The bill might be up for vote by the full senate later this week. Currently 35 states and the District of Columbia legally prohibit drivers from sending and receiving text messages while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle in motion.
As a Riverside personal injury lawyer, I am hopeful that these sorts of laws are successful in making the roads safer for all drivers. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident involving a distracted driver, please consider contacting a car accident attorney in Riverside.
A research study conducted by the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety discovered that many people continue to send text messages while driving, even though many of the drivers surveyed admitted to engaging in the behavior anyway. According to representatives from the automobile association, 94 percent of the survey respondents said they consider texting while driving to be a dangerous practice, but approximately 33 percent of survey respondents admitted to sending and receiving text messages while operating a moving motor vehicle. A spokesperson for the American Automobile Association’s Indiana branch said the state’s recently passed legislation prohibiting drivers from text messaging indicates positive progress toward safer roadways, but the association’s official position is that a broader effort will be required to effectively reduce the dangers posed by handheld communication devices. According to the association, a joint effort between automakers, cellphone manufacturers, mobile service providers and the government is necessary to discourage motorists from participating in the distracting practice of sending and receiving text messages while operating a moving motor vehicle. According to safety studies cited by the association, text messaging while behind the wheel is equally as or more dangerous than driving while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
As a Los Angeles car accident lawyer, I am hopeful that the roads can be made safe from the dangers posed by new technological innovations. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident linked to a distracted driver, please consider contacting a Los Angeles personal injury attorney.
For those still not sure that the act of texting while driving is dangerous, here’s one more study that seeks to convince you.
Under the banner of a project known as Generation tXt, students, under the guidance of University of Oklahoma School of Medicine faculty, looked at the driving habits of thirty students between the ages of 15 and 19. These participants were then tasked with submitting to a driving simulator in three scenarios: while not on a phone, while the phone was held down low as if to hide the device from police, and with the phone held in a position of their own choosing.
What researchers discovered was that neither position that the phone was held in would increase driving ability over the other position. Both placements severely impeded the ability of the teenagers to drive the vehicle properly.
The study debuted its results at an annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies on Sunday. The research was conducted in order to respond to those persons who say that anti-texting laws are forcing teenagers and other drivers to hide their phones in a way that makes it more difficult to drive.
I know how important studies like this are as a car accident lawyer in Ventura. I’ve long suspected that it doesn’t matter where a phone is held; what matters is that, in texting, your mind isn’t on the road ahead. I hope as a Ventura personal injury attorney that people can now begin to address the real problem.
I’ve often used this blog to discuss the dangers inherent in texting while behind the wheel of an automobile. But could the very act of simply anticipating a call coming through be posing a danger as well?
That’s what a new study suggests. Researchers at the University of Washington conducted a study which looked at the driving habits of 384 students at the university. These participants were put judged based off of what was being called the Cell Phone Overuse Scale. This scale was used to establish such cell phone usage problems as interference with other activities, call anticipation, having an emotional attachment to a phone, and recognizing when such usage is problematic.
Researchers then had these students fill out an anonymous survey which asked questions about their driving history, and then compared the data from the two scales.
What they discovered was that those persons who had been involved in a crash prior to the survey are far more likely to be regularly anticipating phone calls. This means that the sheer act of thinking about a potential call might then be posing an obstacle to safe driving.
It saddens me as a Fresno car accident attorney to see these kind of statistics. They show us that there’s still a lot of work to do before the threat of distracted driving is vanquished. I hope as a personal injury lawyer in Fresno that people will begin to see the dangers of this practice.
