Distracted driving has been the focal point of a lot of research lately, with campaigns to stop things like texting and driving showing up in West Virginia and all across the United States. Cellphones have contributed to a rise in distracted driving, of course, but they are not the only risk. Things like rubbernecking, talking to friends, eating while driving and even changing the radio station can cause accidents. Anything that pulls a driver’s eyes from the road is a distraction.
The numbers for 2013 have recently been examined, and they show an interesting change in statistics. First of all, more people were injured in 2013 than in 2012, as the numbers jumped from 421,000 to 424,000. While this is a small rise from a percentage standpoint, it is still a gain of 3,000 injuries during the year.
However, some stats seem to show that the campaigns are working, as the total amount of deaths from distracted driving fell. There were 3,154 such deaths in 2013, but that number is 6.7 percent smaller than the year before.
These numbers could be looked at in a lot of different ways, but one thing to consider is that automotive safety devices may simply have been more effective. These devices were able to keep people from being killed, swinging them out of the fatality category and over into the injury category. With the rise in one set of stats and the drop in the other, it shows that distracted driving still happens frequently.
If you’ve been injured by a driver who was on his or her cellphone or otherwise distracted, look into your rights today.
Source: Distraction.gov, “What is distracted driving?,” accessed May. 22, 2015
