Texting and Driving Facts

The Dangers of Texting while Driving

The primary task of any driver is to focus on the road. Any form of distracted driving leads to less attention to detail and slower reaction times, which can easily cause or exacerbate road accidents in many circumstances. Even the best and safest of drivers will inevitably face situations where the people and vehicles around them increase the risk of accidents, and if a drivers’ attention is at all split, the chances that these near-misses may become real and life-threatening accidents increases.

Since the rise of the smartphone, cellphone use has become possibly the most significant type of preventable distraction to drivers. Talking on the phone, reading from the screen and most critically sending text messages while driving have all been accepted almost universally as dangerous and potentially lethal behavior.

While it is difficult to study the effects of texting while driving without putting test subjects in danger, there is research indicating that texting or even just reading from a phone screen while driving may in fact be more dangerous than driving while intoxicated.

Texting and Driving Statistics

Phone use is involved in around 1.6 million crashes every year in the United States, which is at least a quarter of all road accidents. Almost a third of those accidents cause injuries and 6,000 of them result in fatalities. Younger road users are disproportionately affected, making texting while driving the leading cause of death among teenagers with 11 teens killed daily across the country. Within California, talking on a cell phone or texting is the number one source of distraction for drivers.

On average, someone sending a text will take their eyes off the road for five seconds at a time. During this period cars travelling at 55mph will travel the length of a football field, and most avoidable crashes provide a window of less than two seconds of reaction time. On top of this, cell phone texting while driving has been shown to produce ‘inattention blindness’ where the brain doesn’t even realize that its driving has been critically impaired.

Laws Against Texting and Driving in California

The Vehicle Code in California prohibits the use of any handheld electronic device while driving, including phones, for any and all purposes. Anyone caught using their phone while driving will face a fine of $20 for the first offence and $50 if they have been fined previously.

Devices designed to be voice-operated and hands-free may still be used, as can systems that are built into vehicles. Cell phones may be mounted the windshield, but only if calls can be activated or deactivated using a single tap or swipe of the screen.

The Law Offices of Norman G Fernandez serves clients in Irvine, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, and surrounding areas.

With many years of experience in all kinds of personal injury claims and all across California, our law firm is ready to advise and to fight for you and your rights. If you have been involved in a car accident, whether or not you are at fault and whether or not you have been injured, our specialized car accident attorneys and investigators have the background and the knowledge to explain all of your options and help you to select the best possible course of action.

Our areas of practice relating to personal injury include:

• Car Accidents
• Automobile Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Bus Accidents
• Train Accidents
• No Fault Car Accidents
• Minor Car Accidents
• Negligence
• Physical Injuries
• Emotional Injuries

We represent clients all over California and travel to meet them. Our offices are based in:

• Anaheim 
• Bakersfield
• Chula Vista
• Irvine 
• Long Beach
• Los Angeles
• Riverside 
• San Bernardino
• San Diego
• Santa Ana

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• Car Accident Claim Time Limits
• Drinking and Driving Facts
• What to do after a minor car accident

Call Us Today for Quality Legal Representation You Can Count On!

Law Offices of Norman G. Fernandez
800-816-1529
18685 Main Street #101-193 Huntington Beach, CA 92648