Motor vehicle accidents: Distracted driving is still a problem

Distracted driving is a major problem in Illinois. According to a study done by The Zebra, distracted driving caused 8.5% of fatal motor vehicle accidents and 20% of the injuries from crashes in 2019. Deaths from distracted driving are slowly lowering each year, but the numbers are still too high.

What distractions?

The top three distractions to driving were eating (52.5% of respondents to the survey), texting (23.6%) and taking photos (11.7%). Over half of Android users reported using their phones while driving (55.1%), and 40.4% of Apple users admitted to doing the same thing. 59% of Apple users felt responsible for checking and responding to texts while they drove. Among Android users, that number dropped to 18%. Other big distractions include children in the back seat, pets and spacing out. The numbers are similar when comparing those who video chat while driving. Still, only half of the drivers believed that mobile devices impacted their ability to drive.

Compared to drunk driving

Comparisons of distracted driving to drunk driving are almost inevitable. Drunk drivers killed 29 people each day, while distracted drivers killed nine. But their economic damage was about even: $44 billion (drunk) and $40 billion each year (distracted).

Impacts of distracted driving

People given a citation for distracted driving were likely to be fined, from $87 to $762 or more. Additionally, if you have this citation, your insurance rates were likely to go up 50%. Everyone else’s insurance costs rise, too. Nearly 400,000 people are injured by distracted drivers as well. Distracted driving has wide impacts.

Give yourself an honest evaluation. People think that they are the ones who can pull off double-tasking. But they cannot. If you are injured by a distracted driver, you deserve to have the best representation, too. Talk to a lawyer, they may be able to help.