Driving distracted is a menace to the motorists of New Jersey. According to federal data, distractions account for about 10 percent of all fatal car crashes. What’s more, these unnecessary diversions come in all shapes and sizes: for example, a hot cup of coffee that gets spilled, a child begging for attention or a call on a cellphone that needs to be answered.
People have been changing the way they use cellphones over the past few years, making them riskier. A decade ago, people used to talk on their cellphones, and that was the extent of their usage. However, people today use phones to text, send emails and surf the internet more than they use them to make calls. The likelihood of a driver using a phone for something other than a phone call is 57 percent.
The problem is that using phones in such a manner increases the possibility of getting into a car crash and makes drivers 66 percent more likely to lose their lives behind the wheel. To make matters more concrete, the number of avoidable fatalities on the road related to operating a phone was around 800 deaths during 2017 according to some estimates. This should come as no surprise as operating a phone forces a driver to look away from the road, diverting their attention from what is in front of their vehicle to what is on their hand.
As a result, people are advised to tuck their phones away during their commute. However, even if someone does the sensible thing and puts their phone away, there is no guarantee that the person in the car next to them will do the same. Therefore, anyone who has been affected by a car crash might benefit from reaching out to a professional attorney to learn what their options are.
