Distracted Driving in Idaho: A Danger to Everyone
Distracted driving, often caused by cell phone use, is linked to 25 percent of U.S. car crashes, according to a study released this past July by the Governor's Highway Safety Association, a non-profit group whose focus is to improve safety. The study indicates that cell phone use raises the risk of motor vehicle accidents, and texting while driving raises the risk even more. The study also reveals that some drivers are distracted about half the time when they are behind the wheel, and distracted driving contributes to 16 percent of all traffic fatalities.
This is one of the many studies done in recent years that underscore the dangers of distracted driving in Idaho and around the country. One study even found that drivers texting on their cell phones have a reaction time equal to that of drunk drivers. And a study conducted by Virginia Tech University states that texting truck drivers are twenty-three times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who put their cell phones down to drive.
Texting While Driving
Texting while driving poses its own particular dangers. Texting impairs driver's abilities, and slows down their reaction times. Drivers who text remove their hands from the steering wheel and their eyes from the road ahead of them. What if someone runs in front of their car? What if the car ahead of them slams on its brakes?
Another danger of texting while driving is that it removes the focus and concentration of the driver from the road, other drivers, and the environment. This increases the risk of a car accident with another driver or a crash caused by a problem with the road or changing weather conditions.
Idaho Cities Are Stepping Up
Cities in Idaho are pushing to pass city ordinances prohibiting texting while driving. This push comes after the state failed to pass proposed legislation that would have created a distracted driving offense for using a cell phone.
The Idaho legislature also ignored two other bills in 2011 that would have banned all handheld cell phone use while driving as well as texting while driving, so it appears city ordinances may be the only way laws will be enacted to prevent this type of distracted driving.
Injured By a Distracted Driver?
While state law does not directly punish distracted drivers, families of those killed in car accidents or individuals injured in crashes in Idaho can bring a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for their injuries.
Idaho personal injury law recognizes the difference between an accidental crash and a car accident caused by a reckless driver. While non-economic damages — such as pain and suffering — are usually limited to approximately $300,000 per person, this is not true in reckless driving accident cases. If the person injured in a distracted driving accident can prove reckless conduct by the driver, particularly if the driver was texting while driving, the victim may be able to avoid the non-economic cap and receive more compensation.
