We have all seen a lot lately in the news about the dangerousness of texting and driving. It is estimated that over 16,000 deaths were caused by texting and driving. However, this number is probably greatly under-reported. I have been doing personal injury litigation for more than a decade, and not one defendant has ever admitted to being on the cell phone at all. Of course, sometimes it takes litigation and subpoenas to get their cell phone records to get the truth. You also have to move quickly, because many cell phone providers destroy records after six months.
Drivers don’t want to admit to being on their cell phones, because the simply know how dangerous it is and they don’t want to be stigmatized. Some also are trying to avoid liability. Texting while driving is even worse. Actually trying to type and drive is something that the new generation of kids are doing. They text all the time, what is the big deal about just being behind the wheel. This problem is growing, because it is not easy to stop. Even in jurisdictions that outlawed texting in driving, the number of wrecks increased. This increase was probably caused by the drivers holding their cellphones low to avoid being seen by other motorists.
Texting and driving is worse than driving drunk according to multiple studies including one done by Car and Driver Magazine and covered by CNBC. The reason for this is that drunken reactions are slower, but they still occur. If a driver is looking down while texting, there will be no reaction time at all for what can’t be seen. Texting while driving occurs right here in Greensboro and across North Carolina. In one tragic case, a teenager was texting to her mother when she wrecked and died. When police found her cell phone, the partial text was still there, uncompleted. If you are injured in a car wreck by a driver who was on the cell phone or texting, contact us quickly. We will need to get the cell phone records as soon as possible.