Despite legislation prohibiting the practice, a significant majority of college students in the San Diego area use their cellphones while driving, a new survey finds.
According to a research study that surveyed almost 5,000 students at San Diego area colleges including the University of San Diego, San Diego State University, California State San Marcos, the University of California San Diego, and eight other area colleges, an estimated 78 percent of the students surveyed reported using a cellphone to talk or text while behind the wheel of a moving motor vehicle, while only one in four students reported regularly using a hands free device when driving. Only 12 percent of the students surveyed reported abstaining completely from text messaging while driving. About 50 percent of the students surveyed reported sending text messages while driving on the freeway, 60 percent said they text message in city street stop and go traffic, and 87 percent reported sending text messages while stopped at a traffic light. According to a representative from the California Highway Patrol, college students are often over confident in their ability to perform multiple tasks while operating a moving automobile.
As a San Diego car accident lawyer, I have seen the catastrophic damage that can ensue when drivers stop paying attention to the road ahead. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident caused by an inattentive driver, please consider contacting a personal injury attorney in San Diego.
The Amarillo Traffic Commission held a public hearing recently to discuss an ordinance the city council is considering that would ban motorists from using cellphones while driving. Seven out of eight of the people who spoke at the public hearing were opposed to the potential safety guideline. A panel commissioned by city lawmakers to research the impact of cell phone use while driving and gather public response to a potential ban on cell phone use has been asked to determine whether an educational program teaching motorists about the potential dangers involved in using cell phones while operating a moving motor vehicle would be a more effective approach to the issue than a citywide traffic ordinance. According to an insurance adjuster on the panel, any form of distraction while driving can be just as dangerous as using a cell phone while driving. The owner of a commercial vehicle service recommended a regulation banning drivers from composing and reading text messages while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, but said that phone calls are sometimes necessary in the course of driving a commercial vehicle. Amarillo traffic commissioners are currently analyzing accident statistics to determine whether the city’s accident rate has increased due to cellphone use.
As a Ventura car accident lawyer, I have seen the damage that drivers can cause when they take their minds and eyes away from the road ahead. If you or someone you love has been injured in a collision, please consider hiring a car accident lawyer in San Bernardino.
If you’re involved in a life-threatening accident that requires immediate medical attention, then it’s imperative that you get to a trauma center as quickly as possible, and a new study suggests that you might be better off traveling by air than on the street.
The Journal of the American Medical Association has just published a study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine which claims that accident victims with severe injuries are 1 to 2% more likely to survive if they’re transported to a trauma center via a helicopter rather than via an ambulance.
In compiling their findings, the researchers looked at 224,000 patients that had to receive treatments, 162,000 of which traveled in an ambulance. By taking the findings just at face value, ambulances come out on top, with an 89% survival rate versus an 87% survival rate amongst helicopters. But once researchers factored in age, distance away, likelihood of survival, and other factors, the numbers reversed themselves and helicopters came out on top.
Researchers are quick to point out that this shouldn’t be used as a blanket scenario, and that each case should be taken on its own merits depending on distance and time factors.
I found this study incredibly interesting as a car accident lawyer in San Diego. I regularly read stories about persons being rescued and transported to a hospital to receive injury treatments, but I never thought to consider which method of transport was safer. I hope as a San Diego personal injury lawyer that this research is the first step to saving the lives of accident victims all across the country.
I often talk about the dangers of texting while behind the wheel of an automobile, but a new study sheds some light on a practice that could be just as dangerous.
A new article in a journal called Human Factors shows that a process as seemingly simple as choosing a song from an MP3 player could greatly increase the risk of a crash. A study was conducted in which 50 persons between the ages of 18 and 25 were tasked with selecting a song from a playlist while driving a vehicle in a simulator environment. Road conditions were varied by the researchers to reflect regular obstructions such as construction zones along the roadway.
What the study found was that the longer the playlist, the more likely a driver was to have decreased driving performance. This occurred chiefly because they were forced to constantly glance to the MP3 player to find their song. Aftermarket controllers, which purport to prevent distractions, were also tested, and researchers found that these controllers actually forced a driver to look away from the road more rather than less.
All in all, researchers say that picking a song from an MP3 player is much more difficult than simply flicking a switch on a radio to go to a new station.
Just when I think I’ve heard about every road danger there is as a car accident attorney in San Bernardino, here comes a new distraction that many people probably don’t think about. It just goes to show that everyone needs to pay attention to the road at all times. I know as a San Bernardino personal injury lawyer how hazardous the road can be, and nothing should be done to further imperil a person’s life.
A new survey sheds some light on the disturbing practice of texting while behind the wheel of car.
Following a poll of over 6,000 persons by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it was discovered that 90% of people believe that texting or emailing while driving is an unsafe practice. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that these same people will voice their opinion when texting while driving happens in their presence. In fact, only half of all drivers older than 65 would say something to such a distracted driver, and an even more underwhelming 33% of passengers between the ages of 18 and 24 would speak up. These statistics come despite the fact that the poll also shows that these same young drivers were 300% more likely to report texting or emailing at the time of an accident.
To help combat this ever increasing problem, the Department of Transportation used the announcement of these findings as a way to also introduce a program known as the Distracted Driving Design Challenge. The DOT is tasking teens with coming up with some kind of catchy icon that shows distracted driving dangers and can be used on various social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
I find it quite sad as a personal injury attorney in Riverside that the practice of texting while driving continues to be an issue. Young drivers who have only recently gotten their license are in the biggest danger from such a practice, yet these statistics show that these are the very persons most often doing the texting. I hope as a Riverside car accident lawyer that these awareness campaigns work.
Informing motorists on risks associated with using handheld communications devices while driving and providing drivers with safer techniques for using these devices might be more effective than passing laws to prohibit their use entirely, according to a report released recently by the Linkoping-headquartered Swedish National Road and Transport Institute. The report suggests that a combination of various risk management strategies such as providing accurate safety information regarding handheld communication devices to motorists and helping them to use cellphones more safely could offer more benefits than passing legislation to outright ban cell phone use while driving.
The reports authors suggest that traffic collision statistics do not provide adequate evidence that cell phone prohibition laws reduce the risk of distracted driver related auto collisions, at least in part because motorists often ignore such laws. Countries that allow cell phone use with hands free devices, the study’s research shows, do not see a significant decrease in the number of traffic collisions caused by cell phone use.
Sweden is one of only a few European nations that does not currently restrict the use of handheld communications while operating a moving motor vehicle. Other countries allowing drivers to use cell phones without hands-free devices include Malta, Albania, Serbia, and Moldova.
As a San Jose car accident attorney, I hope that every measure is taken that will effectively increase the safety of motorists. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident linked to a distracted driver, please consider contacting a San Jose personal injury lawyer.
According to news sources, a new study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that road traffic fatalities in 2010 decreased significantly to historic lows of 1.10 per 100 million vehicle miles. Advances in safety technologies and increased police enforcement are contributed to helping bring down the numbers.
The conclusions of that the study offers helps shine the spotlight on effective measures and practices being taken that have effectively lowered fatalities on the roadway. These measures can include the advances being made in safety technology by automakers such as side airbags, anit-locking brakes and electronic stability control systems just to name a few.
The study also found that seat belt usage is currently higher than ever, while awareness and enforcement campaigns geared towards preventing drinking and driving seem to be paying off. Future innovative technological advancements to prevent drunk drivers from getting behind the wheels as well as additional automobile safety features will continue to make motorists and pedestrians safer on the nations roadways.
As a personal injury lawyer Los Angeles, I urge all drivers and passengers to comply with existing traffic laws. I hope that this information will help raise awareness around the benefits of wearing seat belts and that nationwide safety campaign currently being enforced can help make people on the road safer. If you have been injured in a car accident at the fault of someone else, contact a Los Angeles car accident lawyer to help you as soon as possible.
