Distracted Driving Accident Attorneys

Distracted Driving Accident 

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past several years, you have personal experience and knowledge of the risks of distracted driving that have grown with the spread of cell phones. Distracted driving presents a rising danger of injury and death on the freeways of Georgia and throughout the United States. As Evans Georgia attorneys taking on personal injury and wrongful death cases statewide in Georgia, the attorneys of Fleming & Nelson, LLP have seen many of the causes of driver distraction.

Public awareness of driver distraction as a wide-spread public safety issue is generally equivalent to awareness of drunk driving dangers decades ago. Car accidents caused by driver distraction account for hundreds of thousands of injuries and thousands of deaths each year in the United States. Since the majority of people who cause a crash while distracted do not confess that to a law enforcement officer, these numbers are most likely significantly underreported.

The 10 most typical sources of driver distraction are:

1. Generally distracted or “lost in thought” – A driver’s mind might roam far from the car and road long enough to have terrible repercussions. You might have experienced this on a lengthy car trip, thinking of some difficulty in your personal life or job, then recognizing that you had driven miles without even realizing it. Normally the only means to get details concerning this kind of distraction diligent cross-examination of the driver who caused the crash in a
2. Cell phone usage – There are studies and research showing cell phone usage while driving is generally equivalent to 0.08 gr/% drunk driving. Even hands free cell phone usage might present a significant driving risk. While hands free phones reduce the distraction of looking at and manipulating a phone, the cognitive distraction can take the driver’s mind off the For good reason, interstate truck drivers are banned from texting and handheld cell phones while driving.
3. Outside person, object or event – Taking a look at somebody or something outside the car, like rubbernecking at an accident scene or glaring at people in other vehicles, is a frequent distraction.
4. Other passengers – While small talk might not be much of a distraction, more intense conversation with others in the car can put significant demands on your situational awareness.
5. Reaching or using for a device, gadget, tool or other item brought into the car.
6. Eating or drinking – A lot of people who try to eat anything difficult or messy to handle are especially susceptible to driver distraction accidents. Condiments spilling down one’s clothes can temporarily appear more important than safety of other individuals on the road.
7. Adjusting audio or A/C controls – Adjusting the A/C or radio for even a second is a factor in some traffic
8. Adjusting controls or devices, such as seatbelts and mirrors, in operation of the car.
9. Moving objects – Moving things in the car such as family pets and bugs can lead you to take your eyes off the
10. Smoking related – A driver might be distracted by lighting or putting out a cigarette or cigar, or losing a lit cigarette on the driver’s lap.

More frequently, driver distraction is suspected but unproved unless the driver confesses to it. There are no chemical examinations for driver distraction. Police do not inspect cell phones without a search warrant, for which probable cause would be needed. In lawsuits, as Georgia lawyers, at Fleming & Nelson, LLP we subpoena cell phone billing documents of the driver at fault whenever feasible but defendants utilize many excuses to obstruct access to records of phone calls and texting.

Inattention blindness

All the causes of distracted driving accidents relate to a psychological phenomenon called “inattentional blindness.” A person whose mind is on one thing might neglect to identify things that are plainly apparent right in front of them. A driver immersed with a cell phone conversation, perhaps even hands free, might fail to stop at a stop sign or see a red light.

We offer free consultations. We can help. Call the law offices of Fleming and Nelson  today at 706-434-8770 if you have been in a distracted driving accident in Evans Georgia.